Walking through the rainforest this morning, the sun was filtering through the trees and the light was glorious, it took me back a few years to a trip to Iguassu Falls on the border of Argentina and Brazil. These extraordinary waterfalls are spectacular, spanning a wide breach of the Iguazu River. Yes, depending on which side of the falls you are the spelling is different – in Spanish speaking Argentina they use a ‘z’ and with the Brazilian Portuguese patois, it is spelt with ‘s’or actually a ‘ç’ cedilla.

This particular trip to South America saw me cross overland, or rather over lakes in the Andes, from Chile to Argentina in a region known as the Switzerland of the South, heading to Antarctica and onto to Iguazu. Flying from Buenos Aires to Iguazu you sit glued to the window of the aircraft hopeful of a glimpse of the falls. This peering out of aircraft windows is a feature in South America – flying from Sydney into Santiago, the aircraft flies south-east to catch the tailwinds of the Roaring Forties before heading north up the coastline of Chile – if you are seated on the starboard side of the aircraft you have a bird's-eye view of the snow-capped Andes... extraordinary.

On arrival, we walked the footpath across the braided flat of the river above the falls, following the roaring sound and heading towards the water spray we could see high above the landscape until we came to the precipice and the falls themselves. Spectacular! The path continues along the river so that you can look back to see the height and spread of this side of the falls.

We then headed to the Brazilian side – crossing the border in a car and driving through the national park to our hotel Das Cataratas. If you visit Iguassu, I urge you to splash out and stay here at this beautiful historic hotel. The only hotel located in the national park, this really is a treat. 

Colonial in style and painted pink... a couple of nights are required to soak in the atmosphere. The most marvellous feature of the hotel is getting up early morning (we were woken by two toucans tapping on our window) and walking down to the falls before the gates to the park open. Literally, we were the only people on the walkways and had this spectacular view to ourselves. On the Brazilian side, the walkways look up to the face of the falls – take a raincoat/umbrella because the spray can saturate you.
There are lots to do. One day we rode bikes through the rainforest to kayak on the river above the falls. We took a boat ride up the river to the face of the falls. We enjoyed bird spotting and our beautiful hotel with meticulously cared for grounds, and we loved these extraordinary waterfalls.

Travelling Places would be delighted to help you plan a journey to South America – if you haven’t been you are in for a wonderful experience!

Contact P: 07 5545 1600 E: travel@travellingplaces.com.au