Argentina - Iguassu and Buenos Aires -2018

Iguassu Falls – Argentina side

There is a way to cross the border from Brazil into Argentina we had studied as part of researching, which involves catching a public bus to the Brazil border, getting off for immigration checks, waiting for another bus to take us to the Argentinean border and immigration, then wait for yet another bus to take us to Puerto Iguassu? then yet another bus to the entry of Iguassu National Park.

Whilst it’s hugely cheaper, the time taken we thought was way too long, so after talking to the hotel in Brazil, one of them came with us to negotiate a fixed rate for a taxi to take us through all the borders and to the National Park entry.

Apart from being significantly shorter in time, it ended up being the quickest set of border crossings we had experienced in a long time.

From Brazil into Argentina

With all our bags soon stored in lockers, as we were only be visiting for a 4-5 hours before flying to Buenos Aires, we walked to the first of a number of railway stations, where we collected a free ticket to catch a small train to the next station.

Trains within Argentinian Iguassu Falls National Park

Our carriage was full of a large group of extremely happy tourists who sang very loudly as we rattled along the tracks. We were going all the way to the end so we collected yet another ticket and were soon off again.

From the next station, we had to make a 1.5km walk along a timber boardwalk above a very fast flowing river until we reached our objective… The Devil’s Throat.

Standing on walkway across river heading to The Devil's Throat

As we approached the end of the boardwalk and the deafening sound, we could also see we were in luck, the wind was blowing all the heavy mist away from us… we wouldn’t get soaked!

Nearing The Devil's Throat

In front of the railing was the fast flowing river coming towards us before  literally dropping over the curved falls in front of us and disappearing into the mist seemingly below our feet.

The Devil's Throat

It was staggeringly beautiful as we absorbed what we were looking at, the sheer power of this mass of water flowing over the falls.  It was simply mesmerising! 

It was truly hard to leave this spectacular place but we had limited hours so we made the return journey along the boardwalk and one train, where another circuit walk of ~2kms begins.

This time we were greeted with a walk following along the face of where multiple falls cascaded down long drops at viewing points very close to the flowing water.  The Argentinian falls seemed to be a more intimate experience because of how close we were to the spectacle that is Iguassu.

Standing near the edge of the falls

A boa approaching the falls below

With a palpable sense of elation and having collected our bags, we made our way to the airport for our early evening flight to Buenos.

Flight from Iguassu to Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires – Palermo

Having visited Buenos in 2014, we were only having a 2 night stay this time and had chosen to stay in the arty and hip district of Palermo, and as promised by Priscilla, our host during our stay, Roberto was waiting to transfer us from the airport.

Roberto, a very affable elderly gentleman, spoke no English but during our drive kept describing very loudly, well we think that is what he was doing, the various sights along the way.

Once in the hotel, he showed us up a flight of stairs, opened the door to our room, explained where everything was, pointed to some signs telling us when and where breakfast was, then said, “Priscilla morning” and left.

Rob leaving our boutique hotel in morning

Priscilla was a vibrant individual when we met her in the morning and paid for the room, constantly advising us on things we could do and see in Palermo, markets to visit, the best places for coffee and other things to see.

Artwork in great coffee shop in Palermo

She also told us we should consider trying the restaurant at street level directly below because they have good food and happy hour starting from 6:30pm.  She also told us the restaurant had been rated in the top 50 within Latin America.

Priscilla was very open about the current state of the Argentinian economy, which she described as going back into the GFC with very high inflation and a currency out of control.

More street art in Palermo

Enjoying a beer at a roof top bar

Well we took Priscilla’s advice and spent a delightful and relaxing day roaming extensively throughout Palermo until it was time for dinner, so elected to try out the restaurant below us.

We went downstairs at 6:20pm to enjoy happy hour to be met by a queue of people already waiting on the footpath… little odd we thought.  Right on 6:30pm, the doors opened and a man came out.

On hotel balcony with the restaurant below

He explained that happy hour wasn’t what we thought it was, happy hour was the opportunity to get a 40% discount on anything on the menu, so long as we had paid and left the restaurant by 8:00pm.

The Argentinians love their meat, so we both ordered a steak and one side each.  Next lesson about Argentina came when our meals arrived… they were huge, so large in fact that we couldn’t eat it all!

Promptly at 6am next morning, Roberto was again waiting for us to take us to the correct port to catch a ferry to our next destination across the River Plate.

Our route within a small part of Buenos Aires

Whilst our time in Buenos Aires may have been short is was most enjoyable indeed and until the next post… go well.