One thing we did not mention in our last blog post, all the trees in Mendoza were brought in from different parts of the world. As the region is a desert, there are few native trees. After our visit in the man-made green city, we took a flight to Puerto Iguazu to see what nature created.
Flower in Iguazu National Park
The City of Puerto Iguazu has a population of about 82,000 people and with Iguazu Falls just 18 km (11 miles) away from the city, much of the city’s infrastructure is built to access the falls.
Iguazu Falls, Argentina
Iguazu Falls, Argentina
Iguazu Falls, Argentina
Iguazu Falls, Argentina
Iguazu Falls, ArgentinaAt Devil's Throat - Is it feeding time?
Iguazu Falls, ArgentinaDevil's Throat
Iguazú or Iguaçu comes from the Tupi- Guarani language family. “Y” means "water", and "ûasú” meaning "big".
Iguazu FallsDevil's Throat
The waterfalls come from the Iguazu River on the border of the Argentine province of Misiones and the Brazilian state of Paraná. Together, they make up the largest waterfall system in the world (from Wikipedia). About 80 % of the waterfalls are on the Argentinian side and 20% on the Brazilian side. Hence you get about 80% of the panoramic view on the Brazilian side. Some say that you can get much closer to the falls on the Argentinian side, but we got wetter on the Brazilian side. If you ask, which side to visit, we’d say both! We really enjoyed seeing both perspectives.
Iguazu Falls, Brazil
Iguazu Falls, Brazil
Iguazu Falls, Brazil
Iguazu Falls, BrazilWe got soaked walking the causeway
We saw a lot of Coaties (also known as the coatimundis, members of the raccoon family) and monos (monkeys in Spanish). There were tons of them in the rest- and eating areas of the Iguazu parks and sometimes they’d follow you on the trails. A bird that we did not expect to come after our granola bars was the Plush-crested Jay. Beautiful bird!
Plush-crested Jay
Coatis
Waiting for the spoils
Making new friends
Once we thoroughly enjoyed the falls, we looked to see what else there is to see in the area.
Catching the last lightBlooming tree, Puerto Iguazu
We walked to the Triple Frontier where you can see Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, only separated by the river. Nice little area with fountains, musicians playing music and vendors selling their arts and crafts.
Puerto IguazuOn our way to the triple frontier
Triple FrontierOn the left Paraguay
On the Right Brazil
Enjoying some music
Quiet time at the fountainTriple Frontier
Not so quiet time at the fountain - but more fun!Triple frontier
One morning, we went to Parque das Aves on the Brazilian side. We expected to walk through an open park and enjoy the birds in their natural habitat but actually it was more like a well-made zoo. For what it was worth, we got to see many pretty exotic birds and our first Toucan.
Parque Das Aves, Brazil
Parque Das Aves, Brazil
Parque Das Aves, Brazil
Parque Das Aves, Brazil
Parque Das Aves, Brazil
On our final day, we spend several hours at the Jardin de los Picaflores – Hummingbird Garden. The garden was inside a private home. They hung about 20 hummingbird feeders and created a very inviting atmosphere for the birds. We photographed and watched them for hours – until closing time! We were literally at arm’s length from them. Cute little colorful things.
Humming bird gardenPuerto Iguazu
Humming bird garden Puerto Iguazu
Humming bird gardenPuerto Iguazu
Humming bird gardenPuerto Iguazu
After four nights in Puerto Iguazu, we went back to Buenos Aires for a week.
Good Bye IguazuFrom the plane back to BsAs
* mouse over images to see captions.