October 22nd, 2006 | 
Author: The main reason for coming to Fox de Iguacu is to see the waterfalls there. The falls themselves are divided between Argentina and Brazil and it’s possible to see them from both sides.
Although the falls are probably the star attraction, there is one other which is worth a visit if only to admire the scale of the construction, and that’s the Itaipu Hydroelectric Plant, the largest in the world.
We only had a few days to play with because we had our onward flight to Manaus already booked. Originally we were thinking of doing the tour to the Argentinean side first, but because we were also hoping to go to the hydroelectric dam we changed things around to fit. Providing the tours to the dam are on, which usually means any day except Sunday, one day is enough to visit both the Brazilian side of the falls and still have time to visit the Itaipu Dam. In the end, that is exactly what we did.
To see the Brazilian side of the falls you need to catch a local bus which drops you right outside the entry point. Your ticket includes transport once inside, which leaves at regular intervals in the form of a double-decker open top bus. The Brazilian side offers an overall view of the falls rather than a close-up experience, but there’s not quite as much to do on this side as on the Argentinean one. As a result, the Brazilians have tried to make the most of what they’ve got by putting in walking trails to create more of an experience and by also offering a range of activities associated with the falls such as rafting trips, abseiling, rides in speed boats.
You can walk from where the bus drops you off to an array of restaurants and a large plush hotel, stopping at various points to admire the excellent views across the falls via sets of stairways and platforms. These culminate in a large platform swung out across the base of the most impressive falls of all – the Garganta do Diablo Falls but more of that later. We were extremely impressed and in fact both felt that the Foz do Iguacu Falls were more spectacular than Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.
Having seen the falls from the Brazilian side we set off by bus to visit the Itaipu dam. This largest hydroelectric works in the world is the result of a joint Brazilian-Paraguayan venture to the tune of $18 billion and has the capacity to generate 18 million kilowatts, enough electricity to supply the energy needs of Paraguay and 25% of Brazil’s total energy. Apparently the concrete used in the dam could pave a two-lane motorway from Moscow to Lisbon! Staff at the dam provided us with an excellent guided tour of the facilities from the top of the dam itself down into its depths. This included a tour of the control room which was staffed by a mixture of Brazilians and Paraguayans and included a line in the middle marking the border between the two countries. It was a thoroughly enjoyable and extremely interesting tour and comes highly recommended even to technophobes like me!
The following day we took a bus again but this time across the border into Argentina to visit this side of the falls. This time the guide on our minibus took our around these truly incredible falls and unlike the Brazilian side with its great panoramas this was to be a truly close-up experience. However, we started off our day with a rather wet experience, without even getting close to the falls, having set off in what can only be described as a caterpiller like semi-aquatic vehicle for a tour of the forest surrounding the falls when the skies opened and we all became drenched! Feeling rather wet we got off this strange vehicle and walked down some steep steps to the water’s edge for a fast and furious ride. Sadly this brought back unwanted memories for Darren and I of our whitewater rafting experience in Uganda as we moved at high speed towards the huge swathes of water above us. The captain of our speedboat teased us a little with some gentle showering under some of the smaller falls until we were driven under some huge ones where all you could see were massive quantities of white water in front of you!
After our exciting (?!) boat trip we wandered along the length of the Argentinian falls exploring the range of paths on offer to take you through the surrounding forest and out onto platforms alongside each set of falls where you could feel the spray hitting your face. The highlight of the whole day however was to see the spectacular ‘Garganta do Diablo’ or ‘Devil’s Throat’. These are reached via a ride through the forest in an open-sided train followed by a walk along a set of metal platforms built across the waters at the top of the falls. These culminate in a large platform which stretches right out over the top of the Garganta do Diablo where the incredible sound hits you first. As you look out over the edge you see the huge quantities of water falling over a massive drop. The power of the water is truly incredible and is set off by beautiful rainbows.
All in all we’d recommend definitely visiting the Foz do Iguacu falls from both the Brazilian and the Argentinian side for the incredible panoramas and and amazing close-up experiences!
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