Iguazi Falls 2026

Iguazi Falls 2026

Brazil and Argentina

Two countries share Iguazi Falls. The upper side of the Falls is on the Argentina side of the Iguazu River while Brazil sits mostly on the lower side of the Falls. Where the Iguazu River empties into the Parana River, about 10 miles downstream of the Falls, is the intersection of Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina. At this conveyance sits three towns referred to as the Triple Frontier: Ciudad del Este, Paraguay; Foz do Iguacu, Brazil; and Puerto Iguazu, Argentina. My base was in the largest of the three, Foz do Iguacu. And while Paraguay missed out on the tourist boom that the Iguazi Falls presents for the neighboring countries, they capture their share of commerce due to no sales tax like Brazil and Argentina have. So the dinero (or dinheiro in Portuguese-speaking Brazil) the two tourist cities make on the Falls are spent in Paraguay. That made me think about the stories of the 1849 California gold rush. It’s been said that the people that really struck it rich were the merchants that sold shovels and picks.

The total metropolitan population of the Triple Frontier is close to one million. Foz do Iguazu is the largest of the three cities, but feels much smaller. It doesn’t have the constant city-wide crimes like Rio de Janeiro. I felt safe walking around town in the evenings. In Rio, evening walkers are referred to as victims. Two business trips to Rio more than a decade back left a bad taste and I had no desire to return to Brazil. Fortunately, Iguazi Falls being on my bucket list forced me to visit Foz do Iguazu where I had a much better Brazilian experience. I visited the American Embassy (designated by the golden arches) for supper, located in a huge mall a couple of miles from my hotel. At large traffic intersections I saw jugglers juggling in front of the cars for donations. Each one had a different shtick: one was fully made up as a clown juggling balls; one was on stilts juggling balls; and one was juggling bowling pins. Parents here don’t have to take their kids to the circus. They can just walk them down to the nearest busy intersection. Teacher: “How did you spend your summer vacation?” Julio: “My Dad took us to the intersection of Main and Broadway where we watched the jugglers perform!” This wouldn’t work in Texas. We already have too many clowns in traffic.

At 7 am, I met my guide, Eduardo. It was 5 degrees Celsius. Or 41 degrees Fahrenheit to the unwashed. Seasonally, June is equivalent to our December below the equator. I had traveled with a light winter coat, a hoodie, and a windbreaker. It was a clear day that would warm up, so I wore the hoodie and packed the windbreaker in a backpack. Our first stop was the Argentina National Park that occupied the upper side of the Falls. A train takes everyone to the top section of the Falls, then there is a series of walkways back. The Falls extend for nearly two miles, but the walkway has to wind around obstacles and is probably closer to three miles.

Iguazi Falls is the largest waterfall system in the world. There are falls around the world that are taller, wider, or have greater flow rates, but Iguazi has 275 individual cascades covering nearly two miles. Our first stop was after a one-mile hike (or several kilograms) over walkways suspended above the rushing river to the largest individual cascade, Garganta do Diablo, or the Throat of the Devil. Long ago, native children playing in the river would get too close to this part of the Falls and be swept over and killed. So the elders named this cascade Garganta do Diablo and created some legends to scare the children and keep them away. Because a 270 foot drop onto jagged rocks in boiling water roaring like thunder evidently attracted them. We raised three daughters and have two grandkids. If I had told any of them these Falls were the Throat of the Devil, they would have fallen over themselves to get a closer look. No, if I had wanted to ensure they stayed away from the danger, I would have named this the Place of Chores. The roar of the Falls was like standing on a busy runway. The kind with airplanes, not the ones with underfed freaky-dressed models. The power of the Falls created a circular wind that constantly blew the mist off the Falls and quickly drenched me. Photos here were often blurred because I had to keep wiping the water off the iPhone lens.

If I had jumped into the Iguazu River, I couldn’t have been more soaked than I was at this point. The walk back to the main park plaza was directly over most of the 275 cascades, but none of those were throwing mist and as the sun warmed up, I eventually dried out after a couple of hours. Many of the larger cascades were named after key individuals responsible for developing the Falls into a publicly assessable park. The walkways were all metal grating and extremely sturdy with viewing platforms at key locations. But it could get a little unnerving to walk directly over some of the deep Falls and see the bottom through the grating you were occupying. It seemed every turn had a different panoramic view.

Eduardo was a very personable young man and a knowledgeable guide. I asked him how long he had lived by the Falls and he replied, “Since 2007.” I asked where he lived before that and he laughed and said before that, he wasn’t born. His Dad runs CaFalls Private Day Tours and Eduardo had been going out on the tours of the Falls for years before he started taking individuals and groups on his own. While waiting for the train earlier, he had donned a TaylorMade cap. I asked if he golfed and he laughed and said he found that hat while cleaning his Dad’s car after a tour. He had no idea what TaylorMade was, but he liked the cap and usually wore it regularly. He told me that on a later  tour, a man saw the hat and asked if he golfed. When Eduardo said he didn’t, the man said that Eduardo should say he loves watching the PGA and his favorite golfer is Joe DiMaggio. So, a few weeks later when asked about golf, he repeated his favorite golfer was Joe DiMaggio. Everyone hearing this busted out laughing and only then did Eduardo learn he had just named an ancient and very dead baseball player as his favorite golfer.

We stopped for a mid-morning break and I got an empanada for Eduardo and a coffee for me. Eduardo had been warning me about the brazen raccoons, monkeys, and birds that would steal food. He had opened the paper wrap around the empanada and was about to take his first bite when there was an explosion of wind and feathers and the empanada literally disappeared. A plush crested jay had darted so fast as to seem invisible from behind Eduardo, snatched the empanada, then sat tauntingly on a branch way above our heads and began to eat. Eduardo was left with the empty paper and a small scratch on his hand. I was just elated the birds weren’t caffeine addicts!

After we left the Argentina side, we stopped at a fantastic Brazilian restaurant at Eduardo’s suggestion. The buffet was huge and the grill had about every type of meat you could imagine. The main difference between other Brazilian restaurants I had dined at and this one was that you had to go to the grill to get fresh cuts of the meat instead of having the red/green disk and the meat brought to the table. I was concerned the walkways around the Falls might not support me in the afternoon.

There were various animal warning signs for the motorists driving the two-lane roads through the parks on both side of the Falls. First raccoons, then deer, then tapir (south American pig with elephant type nose), then finally jaguar. Jaguar!? There have been 90 jaguars identified in the parks surrounding the Falls. The spots on the jaguars are as identifiable as fingerprints are to humans. Trail cameras take photos and resident biologists identify and track each one. Considering the protected area of both countries around the Falls encompass 625,135 acres (977 square miles), they are pretty spread out.

I asked Eduardo earlier in the day which side of the Falls was the best and he just smiled and commented that he was Brazilian, so of course the Brazil side was the best! But as an unbiased observer, I have to agree. The actual Falls are on the Argentina side, so the views tend to be of only a few cascades at a time. But on the Brazil side, you can see several dozen cascades from most view points on the walkway. In front of Garganta do Diablo, there is a walkway out over the midpoint break at one part of the Falls where you can look directly up into Diablo. This time it was warmer and I was prepared. I had my windbreaker that is a great rain jacket with a hidden hood and string pulls at the bottom to hold it firm to the thighs. Plus my traveling bush hat has a cord to keep it atop during the hardest winds and a neck rain shield that folds out from the brim in the back. I looked like I was taking photos on the Deadliest Catch TV show. I got some awesome panoramic videos that capture a little of the power and beauty of the Falls.

I can’t compliment Eduardo and his Father’s tour company enough for the service they provided. He really knew how to avoid the crowds throughout the days and provided a lot of background and information on the Falls. Plus, he was very easy to talk to and thought I was funny. (Big plus.) So do I recommend visiting Iguazi Falls? YES! It is out of the way, but well worth the trip. Holler at me before you schedule and I’ll give you Eduardo’s contact. Bring a golf hat.

Obrigado, (about the limit of my Brazilian Portuguese)

Keith, the Falls Guy