Last night we went to a nearby restaurant called Jasy. It was a beautiful evening and the restaurant had a rather romantic setting – we had an enjoyable dinner.
This morning is the start of our final day in Puerto Iguazu and the weather continued to cooperate. After breakfast the lodge staff picked up our luggage and stored it for the rest of the day while we headed out at 8am back to Iguazu Falls (Argentinian side).
This time we did the Gran Aventura (adventure boat ride) on the river up to the falls. When we arrived at the boat headquarters, there was already a middle aged rugby team in line ahead of us. They were quite boisterous and a number of them were very large.
They counted out people and they put the rugby team into the loading area for the first safari truck that drives to the river. Then they added another couple to the area. The lady went to the staff and said something. Her and her husband went back into the area with us and two younger guys were put on with the rugby guys. As they drove off John said to me, “That boat is going to be riding low in the water”.
I was quite relieved not to be on the truck with them. You could hear them loudly laughing and joking as they drove off. We got on the next truck.
We had to take the truck for 25 minutes through the jungle to the departure point. On the way our guide told us about the birds and animals in the area…there were lots but we didn’t see any on our drive.
We were one of the first ones off the truck and had to walk down hundreds of stairs to the dock on the river. They had wet bags for each of us to put our backpacks into and then one guy put a life jacket on us and the next guy fitted us. It was like being in an assembly line of water safety.
John and I followed the directions given to us and we got on a full boat.. the one with the boisterous rugby players. There weren’t many seats left and we ended up sitting behind the largest guy who took up two seats.
The boat started going and he sprawled across both seats and leaned out the boat, totally blocking my view. John was horrified when I tapped him on the shoulder and motioned that I couldn’t see. He kindly unsprawled.
The boat ride to the falls was crazy…Rapids and whizzing around for maximum activity until we got to the falls where we could take photos. Then it was time to put everything in the wet bags that you wanted to keep dry and the boat took us under some of the smaller falls for a complete dousing… to ensure we were soaked they did it twice more. It was definitely the hardest shower I’ve ever had but it was a riot.
When we landed back at the dock a large caiman was hanging out in the shallow water. He started slowly swimming towards shore. After taking a few pictures of him, I climbed the almost 200 steps to where we caught the bus.
The rest of the afternoon we did the Upper Circuit waterfall trail for more spectacular views from catwalks that run along the top of the falls. The trail then winds through a peaceful area of streams and rivers that are lazily making their way to the edge before their dramatic plummet. We saw a few more caimans in these waters.
Our driver picked us up at 4pm and we returned to the lodge where we had a little over an hour to use their facilities to shower and organize our luggage before the cab picked us up at 6pm to take us to the airport.
Buenos Aires, here we come.
Costs
Adult admission to Iguazu Falls National Park: 800 pesos per person. If you validate your ticket when leaving and return the next day admission is reduced by 50% (400 pesos).
Gran Aventura: 2,500 pesos per person
Iguazu Jungle Lodge- $150 CAD per night