It's bittersweet for me to announce I am leaving Buenos Aires, Argentina to continue my journey around South America. I've had an amazing two months here and made some lifelong friends, but I'm also really excited to explore more of this beautiful continent. Two of my friends from the United States arrived here in BsAs a few days ago and we are traveling together for the next three weeks through Mendoza, Argentina; Santiago, Chile; Valparaiso, Chile; La Paz, Bolivia & Uyuni, Bolivia. I'm so so excited for this adventure and can't wait to share more with you! After the next three weeks I'll be heading to Cartagena, Colombia for an undetermined amount of time, so if you have any recommendations for Colombia I would love to hear them!
When I was seven years old, my grandparents got a horse for their ranch so all of the grandchildren could learn to ride. Her name was Annie. I ended up being the only cowgirl in the bunch and rode for almost seven years. I showed, rode in the mountains, did barrel racing, cattle sorting, jumping, you name it! It's something that was such a huge part of my childhood and I miss it a lot.
It's been years since I've been able to go riding, so when I was planning my move to Argentina, visiting an estancia was on my "must do" list. Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Estancia La Margarita and enjoyed horseback riding, great food and people for three days! Estancia La Margarita is near the tiny town of Tapalque and about five hours outside of Buenos Aires. It was so nice to take a break from city life and be in the countryside, and galloping in the fields around the estancia made me feel like a kid again.
I didn't hear much about Iguazu Falls before coming to Argentina. Of course once I got here it was definitely on everyone's "must do" list, but for being one of the largest waterfalls in the world I'm surprised I didn't know more about it. Earlier this week some of my housemates and I made our way to this world wonder for a little get away. It was two days full of dancing, butterflies, giggles, rainbows and of course some of the most spectacular views I've ever seen!
Here's some tips and what I would recommend if you're planning a trip to Iguazu soon (which you should be!):
Where to Stay: Book a room through Air BnB, more specifically, book a room at Andrea's place! Her property is located on the outskirts of town and is on the water looking across the river at Paraguay. She is extremely sweet and helpful and basically planned our two days at the falls for us! The below itinerary was following her recommendations! I recommend her 100%!
Brazil Side:
- I didn't think I would be able to see this side of the falls at all because I didn't get a visa ahead of time. Andrea assured us that it's no problem to cross the boarder without one so we took the risk and took a taxi to Brazil. I'm glad we did, because it was a breeze getting across. The only boarder crossing stop you have to make is on the Argentine side and they don't check for that. I have heard of other people being denied access or fined, so if you are going to try and cross the boarder just know that those are risks.
- Before heading into the park, cross the street and check out the Parque das Aves. If you are a bird or animal lover this is an awesome place to go! Just think, colorful tropical birds flying all around you! (Just don't look up with your mouth open.)
- Once back at the falls, take the bus inside the park to The Path of the Falls stop. There's a nice long trail with views and vistas all the way to the Devil's Throat Balcony.
- We stayed at Devil's Throat Balcony until the early evening. It was amazing being there during golden hour and most of the people had already left so it felt like we had the park to ourselves. It seemed that way because indeed most of the tourists had left the park because of how late it was. We ended up missing the last bus to Argentina. Luckily we were able to take a bus into town and then catch a separate bus back to Puerto Iguazu. If you are planning on taking a taxi back, you don't have to worry, but if you are planning on bussing it make sure to pay attention to when the last bus leaves!
Argentina Side:
- The park opens at 8:00am, get there at 8:00am. The Argentine side of Iguazu falls is enormous and the trails are really long so be ready to walk a lot!
- Start the day off with a hike on Macuco Trail. Not only is the vegetation along the trail beautiful, but there's a waterfall at the end that you can swim at (so make sure you bring your bikini!).
- There's a train that takes you through the park. It leaves every 30 minutes, so be sure to plan each stop. We didn't pay attention to that, so we got stuck waiting a few times.
- On the Argentine side, there's two trails you can take to see the falls, the upper and the lower. Andrea recommened hitting the upper circuit of the waterfall first then heading down to the lower trails. The lower trail also takes you to where you can take a speed boat under the falls. We were running low on time so we skipped the upper trail and opted to just do the lower circuit and the boat ride. The views from the lower trail are insane and riding a speed boat through waterfalls is by far one of the coolest things I've done!
- Take the last train up to Devil's Throat and experience the sheer power of the largest waterfall in the park. The balcony on the Brazilian side offers a great view of Devil's Throat, but on the Argentine side you are literally on top of it.
Special thanks to Gavin, Jenny & Thea for making this trip unforgettable!
