Iguazu Falls, spanning the border between Brazil and Argentina, is one of the largest and most spectacular waterfalls in the world. With a height of 260ft, it is significantly taller than Niagara Falls (167ft) and four times as wide! While Jog Falls in India (830ft) and Kaieteur Falls in Guyana (741ft) are much taller, Iguazu is famous for having roughly 275 individual flows spanning 1.7 miles! Both Brazil and Argentina have a national park on their side of the Iguazu River. We were able to visit both sides. This post will be about the ARGENTINA side. In Brazil, where they speak Portuguese it's Iguaçu, and in Argentina where they speak Spanish, it's Iguazu.
There are two main circuits, Upper and Lower. Once inside the park, a free train takes you to the trailhead of either. The Upper circuit is about half a mile and takes about an hour to walk the trail with catwalks over the 200ft waterfalls. The Lower circuit is longer and takes 2-3 hours. Another section is called Garganta del Diablo, The Devil's Throat. That's where we started.
As soon as we got off the train, we saw tons of butterflies! It was magical!
This Plush-crested Jay was also right at the trailhead, and we spotted more further down the trail.
The raised walkway stretches from tree to tree over the river and eventually over the falls.
At lunch the coatis were trying hard to find some scraps. I have video of them walking right up to the kids! Afterwards we began the upper circuit with catwalks over the falls.
I was super excited to find a Black-fronted Piping Guan near one of the smaller falls. I also saw one during the train ride. Below is a Black Capuchin and a couple Western Collared Spiny Lizards.
I returned alone the next day to bird the Macuco Trail. On this hike thru the jungle, I saw very few people. The warning signs at the trailhead did make me slightly nervous to do this alone! I had read this trail is frequently closed due to pumas. Check out the instructions for encountering or getting attacked by a puma or jaguar....
Keep calm. DO NOT RUN!
Back away backwards. NEVER turn your back on it!
Try to appear larger than you are.
If you're attacked, push it away forcefully.
Fortunately, I did not encounter one. I would have loved to see one from the bus though, and I did look closely.
An Agouti ran across the trail in front of me. Fun sighting!
Birding, since I've lost my hearing in one ear, has been a challenge. I've learned to depend on someone to point out where the bird is calling from. Here I was alone, and with the dense jungle habitat it was extremely hard to locate where a bird was calling from. Though I missed quite a few birds and the frustration finally brought me to tears, I still ended up identifying 27 species, and thanked the Lord for the opportunity to get great looks at this Red-crowned Ant-tanager! The highlight of my day!
Here the trail ends overlooking the top of Arrechea Waterfall. You have the option of descending a series of steep steps to view it from below, before heading back.
Of course I took that option. This was a good trail for birding. I wouldn't recommend it for people who are not into plants and wildlife as the payoff of this one waterfall isn't as exciting as the other trails.
I took the bus back from here to town then walked to the hummingbird sanctuary, which I explain in another post.
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