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- Iguazu Falls: Largest Waterfall System in the World
As I wrote about here and here….
There are certain gems in Latin America that really stand out for their immense natural beauty.
And honestly is one of the things that I love most about this region is all of the natural beauty outside of the cities.
Not only the great sights themselves…
But also the diversity in scenery that you can find down here.
So many people who haven’t been down here think its all deserts and beaches.
Maybe with a hot tittied Latina with mojitos somewhere in the background…
And while the hot tittied Latina with mojitos part is true anywhere….
Even Bolivia!
It is definitely not all just deserts and beaches down here.
You have waterfalls, savannahs, rainforests, ice glaciers and much more.
And speaking of waterfalls….
One of the best waterfalls in Latin America and even the world is located in a little pocket of the region…
Between Argentina and Brazil.
Iguazu Falls.
But what is this area like?
Brief Description of Iguazu Falls
Iguazu Falls is technically the largest waterfall on the planet if you count the 275 individual falls that makes it up.
If you are going by the waterfall with the largest curtain of water, then that would be Victoria Falls to be fair.
According to this source here.
Either way, it’s definitely one of the most impressive waterfalls on the planet with great sights for anyone who wants to visit it.
Which if you want to….
You either have to go to a place in Argentina called Puerto Iguazu or go to a Brazilian town called Foz do Iguazu.
This site can be seen either in Argentina or Brazil then but some people do travel to see it from nearby Paraguay also.
You’d simply have to take a bus from Ciudad del Este in Paraguay to Puerto Iguazu in Argentina by crossing the so-called “Friendship Bridge.”
At any rate, to cover some basic history of this impressive area…
Iguazu Falls were formed roughly 135 million years ago when a volcano erupted with basaltic lava.
The lava ended up covering a desert area that existed at the time. Once that mixed with the sandstone, it helped pave the way for Iguazu Falls to form overtime.
It took a while obviously but Iguazu Falls finally formed only about 20,000 years ago more or less…..
As water started to flow from the Iguazu River, breaking the weakness in the bedrocks that existed from before and forming into the Iguazu Falls.
Source for that is here.
Either way, Iguazu Falls got its name from the Guarani or Tupi language. In this case, Iguazu just means “water” and “big.”
According to this source here.
But that’s the basics about some of the history and meaning of Iguazu Falls.
You can learn more by clicking on the links provided above.
But let’s get to my own experiences now in this part of the world.
Traveling to Iguazu Falls
So at the time, I was living in Buenos Aires, Argentina for a few months doing some work.
And I had to travel to a part of Argentina called Misiones.
Which happened to have Iguazu Falls located in that area of Argentina.
Here is a picture of what I saw as my flight was going towards Posadas, Misiones.
And here are some pictures of the capital of Misiones – Posadas.
Either way, I got onto a bus after I finished my work to go to Puerto Iguazu.
I remember as I was looking out the bus window from Posadas to Iguazu and back to Posadas a few days later…
That the countryside reminded me of Iowa.
Where I am from.
It seemed relatively rural and agricultural.
Perhaps replace the corn with yerba mate or whatever really…
But regardless, it reminded me of Iowa.
And once I got to Puerto Iguazu, I remember the town itself wasn’t all that impressive looking.
Looked a tiny bit run down from what I remember.
Well, once I got there, I checked into my hotel for the few nights I was going to be there.
And found out how to get to where Iguazu Falls are.
If I remember right, what I paid to enter the park where the falls are wasn’t too expensive.
Relatively cheap.
From what I am seeing online, it seems to cost around 35 to 40 bucks more or less for a ticket on the Argentine side.
There’s the Brazilian side that you also have to pay a ticket to see if you want to separately but I never did.
Anyway, once inside the park…
I remember seeing quite a few tourists obviously.
And also plenty of monkeys all over the place!
They were quite friendly and not aggressive at all.
A tiny bit intimidating for me since I don’t think I ever saw too many monkeys before except a few times in Bolivia.
Well, here’s some photos of the monkeys I saw in the park for Iguazu Falls.
At any rate, I had to walk down what you see here in this photo – “the green path.”
And as I kept walking…
I saw more water flowing around and had to cross this little bridge here.
As I kept walking, this noise kept getting louder until I finally got to the waterfalls.
Here’s plenty of photos of what I saw.
What a site!
It was definitely impressive and absolutely worth the cost to visit.
Like I said, one of the little gems of Latin America for all its natural beauty that it offers.
Here’s some more photos.
Before ultimately I ended up walking around the park and got to a lower level.
Where you would get wet from the water falling down but also get a closer view from below as you can see here in these photos.
Well, that was the trip in short.
Just wanted to share a little bit about the place and also talk again about some of the beautiful spots of Latin America.
This region, despite its negatives, is full of amazing natural scenery.
Here’s a final picture of when I was on a bus going back to Posadas.
As I said, definitely worth the price and time to visit for anyone stopping by this part of the world.
And here’s a video below of the place for you to enjoy.
Got any experiences or questions yourself regarding this topic?
Drop them below.
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Thanks.
Best regards,
Matt