MO goes Around the World

We traveled to South America in February, 2023. At that time I researched traveling to Iguazu Falls but it didn’t seem feasible. On the World Cruise in 2024, an overland was offered to the falls but it seemed a bit pricey so Joe and I passed. This time I was determined to go.

We departed the hotel at 3:00 AM for the lengthy drive to the airport. And then the wait began. Two hours until flight time. I had chosen Fly Bondi as the transportation. I could have done better but more one that later.

A two hour flight and we landed at an airport about the same size as Augusta.

Our friendly tour guide Vanessa met us outside. Argentina has lots of rules for tour guides. Vanessa is from Brazil so she has to hire a driver from Argentina to pick up her guests at the airport. Weird.

We made our way to Parque Nacional Iguazu. Step one, board the train.

There are many trails in the park for various views of the falls. Not all are suitable for older folks.

Vanessa had a plan. Hike the upper trail, and then the middle trail and then the lower trail and then the boat ride at 12:45.

After the upper trail we took the train back to the middle stop, bought some sports drinks and rested. There are cages for people to consume food so as not to be disturbed by the wildlife.

While on the rest it was decided that the first trail had been sufficient and we would fast forward to the boat ride to the falls. Vanessa was able to move up the reservation and so we headed to the boat ride.

Getting to the boat involved another hike and then a safari style truck ride to the stairs (I think Vanessa said 300 meters down). On the way down we were issued a waterproof bag in which we could put our belongings that we would like to stay dry.

At the bottom we were issued a life jacket, boarded the boat and off we went.

“Take the boat ride,” he said. “It will be a blast,” he said. Thanks Bob.

I’ll admit it was fun. We got really wet. But the climb back up to the truck was brutal. And the skies were beginning to darken. But we did it!

With the skies beginning to darken we asked Vanessa to take us back to the airport. Time to return to Buenos Aires.

Easier said than done. Fly Bondi had already proven itself to be an unreliable airline as the two reservations had been changed multiple times resulting in a much shorter visit than I had planned. So I had made an extra return flight on Aerolinias Argentina. It proved to be fortuitous. We ended up not taking the Fly Bondi flight because of check-in screw ups (four hours ahead online, two hours at the airport). I had waited in line at the counter to check in for 45 minutes, but that didn’t count. AA was kind enough to change us to an earlier flight that took us to the airport that is virtually in downtown Buenos Aires. So it worked out well.

Take aways from this adventure…It was okay as a day trip. Seeing the falls from the Brazil side would have been nice. But crossing the border can take up to two hours each way. In planning, contacting the tour guide (I used ToursbyLocals.com) first would have been the best. That person would have been very helpful in suggesting ways to get there. Getting there as early as possible was great. We beat the crowds and some of the heat. Flying to and from the downtown airport would have been less Uber and probably a bit more cost on the airline side.

Check that off the bucket list.