The Igazu Falls, which side is better?
Argentinian vs Brazilian side of the largest waterfall system in the world
The Igazu Falls are waterfalls of the Iguazu River situated on the border Argentina and Brazil. They make up the largest waterfall system in the world.
We’d heard that backpacking around South America would require taking long night busses, but nothing could have prepared us for our first journey from Buenos Aires to Puerto Igazu. We couldn’t afford to fly to the falls so we were doomed to take the 18 hour overnight bus.
Now, we consider ourselves modestly seasoned travellers, but we had thus far managed to avoid cramped and stuffy night busses in South East Asia. James in particular was not looking forward to our first one.
We opted for “Cama” tickets which is the middle class and were pleasantly surprised — though at €50 each they cost us the same as a European flight!
The seats were huge, reclined almost flat, and came with a blanket and pillow. Dinner was included, but it was gross so we were glad we ate before boarding. However, we were given mini bottles of red wine so we were pretty happy!
We polished off our wine, the lights went out, and the loud Spanish films started. Thankfully, I had packed my earplugs and we settled down to try and get a few hours sleep.
The bus arrived 4 hours late, which didn’t seem like a lot overall, but we had been on it for nearly 24 hours! We stepped out into 30 degree heat and intense humidity. If you have read any of my previous articles then you know that one of the few times James and I argue is when we are hungry — and we were both tired AND hungry!
Sweating profusely and bickering about how to get to our apartment we stopped to grab a pizza and a beer. Big beers in Argentina are a whopping 1 litre and are served in insulating containers or buckets of ice. Within a few minutes we had changed into shorts, cooled down a bit and were happy again!
For some stupid reason we walked to our Airbnb — a grueling task in the tropical climate. When we arrived there was no one to be seen and ended up sitting outside the gate for a while. Our host was very apologetic but he didn’t hear us ringing both the doorbells while he was having a nap!
Puerto Igazu
If you’re lucky to have more money than us you will likely be able to avoid the night bus and fly to Foz Do Iguaçu in Brazil. Apparently a town with a bit more going on (perhaps because everyone has more disposable income) but we still enjoyed a few nights in Puerto Igazu on the Argentinian side.
The Igazu river separates Argentina from Brazil and Paraguay. Every night each country puts on a light show at the same time. It lasted for about half an hour and I imagine that the dancing lights in the mist would have looked wonderful if it wasn’t a really windy night!
Argentinian Side
It was super easy to get to the Argentinian side of the falls. There was a bus every half an hour so we just flagged one down and paid a few Pesos to take us. They were easy to spot as they had “Cataracas” written on the front — waterfalls in Spanish.
Everyone told us the food was really expensive in the park and suggested we take our own. They didn’t mention that there’s almost nowhere in Puerto Igazu to buy picnic food… We ended up buying some fruit, crisps, and a weird huge breaded steak sandwich from the small supermarket near the bus station.
The Argentinian side of the park is really big and it is recommended to spend 4–6 hours there to make the most of it. There are several different walks which lead you around the falls and provide different viewpoints.
Since the park is huge, there’s also a train which will drop you at the start of each walk. We started with the “Devils Throat” which is the furthest away and then worked our way back towards the entrance with the upper walk next, and then finally the lower one.
Signs everywhere warned us not to pet or feed the Coatis. Regardless of how cute they look they are pests and can be vicious if hungry — kinda of like me! Obviously most of the tourists didn’t listen and were posing for selfies with them and finding it funny that they were climbing their legs begging for food.
Even though the falls were the main attraction we loved the jungle walks and wildlife on the Argentinian side. We were even lucky enough to see several toucans!
Brazilian Side
The next day we set out to visit the Brazilian side of the falls. Getting there was only slightly more complicated.
There were a few companies providing a service from the bus station which would take us across the border into Brazil and then on to the falls. The return journey resulted in four more stamps in our passports — which may not sound like a lot but we are fast running out of pages!
At the time of visiting (October 2018) the Brazil entrance ticket cost us the same in Euros as the Argentina entrance (about €15 each). I am not sure if was because we visited on the weekend but as soon as we got off the bus it was absolutely carnage.
There were huge queues for “manned” self serve ticket machines — yes there were staff at each one helping people press buttons to buy their own tickets! Once we had a ticket the only way to get to the park was by shuttle bus. We queued for about an hour to have our tickets checked for the bus and then two hours more for the actual bus.
When we finally boarded the bus it stopped several times along the way where you could get off for extra activities which of course, cost extra. Needless to say, the whole thing felt like a money spinner and we were starting to question our decision to visit the Brazilian side at all.
The shuttle bus method of transport meant that ~70 tourists all disembarked at the same time. We were dropped off at the first viewpoint for the falls and while everyone else rushed to take selfies we watched several people lose their packed lunch to the Coatis!
At the end of the walk we were able to get really close to the water. We walked out onto a platform in front of one of the roaring falls and got totally soaked! This was a very cool ending to the Brazilian side.
Which side is better?
For us the Argentinian side wins.
Even though the weather wasn’t the best for us, and the water was brown because it had been raining a lot, the falls from both sides were still absolutely spectacular.
We felt like we got more value for money on the Argentinian side as we had an entire day out exploring in the jungle and saw a lot of wildlife. The size of the park and the various walks meant that the crowds diverged rather than following the same route, so it felt less busy. The entrance method on the Brazilian side was crazy, queueing for hours to take a bus was less than fun. We thought the Argentinian side felt more magical!
If you only have time to visit one we highly recommend doing it from Argentina.
