A Two-Day Adventure in Iguazu Falls

Day 1- Welcome to Misiones Province, Argentina

Our morning started with a rough ride and landing into Aeropuerto Internacional Iguazu (IGR). We weren't thrilled knowing that we had to fly with the same airline company (Aerolineas Argentinas) in a few days, but alas, it was time to continue enjoying our adventures through South America.

We had booked a two-day tour of Iguazu Falls with Sol Iguazu Turismo. I will admit that communication was difficult. Pablo, the travel agent we were working with, was friendly and courteous even though there were a few bumps in the road.

Thankfully, I stayed in contact with Pablo via Whatsapp during our stay when there were hiccups. It started with our arrival when there was no transfer pickup to our hotel from the airport. We waited for our pickup for over 40 minutes. However, Pablo was very apologetic and offered us a complimentary dinner at a popular restaurant in town and provided the reservations and transfer to and from our hotel.

When our transfer arrived, we were brought to our hotel for a quick luggage drop-off and were taken to Iguazu Falls on Brazil's side. Booking our tour with this particular company was definitely a wild ride as we did not have any actual itinerary, just a tour guide. It was a surprise that we were able to visit another country during our stay, even if it was just on the border.

Crossing between Brazil and Argentina

Our tour guide allowed us to explore at our leisure. After a few photos at the entrance, he led us to Restaurante Porto Canoas, a Brazilian buffet with river views of Iguazu Falls. This was a fantastic way to start our adventure in the beautiful subtropical rainforests of Brazil!

We loaded our plates with traditional Brazilian dishes and sat outside right against the water. If you're booking your next visit to Iguazu Falls, I highly recommend having lunch at Restaurante Porto Canoas! Our tour package included the buffet price but you can expect to pay around R$150 ($28.12USD) per person, not including drinks or dessert. Adult beverages range between $4-12USD with sodas, tea, and coffee ranging between $2-5USD. You do not need a park entrance ticket to enjoy the restaurant and views.

After having our fill of delicious food and caipirinhas, we were taken to the park to enjoy the beautiful scenery. Iguazu Falls is part of the New 7 Wonders of Nature and should be on everyone's bucket list! There are around 275 waterfalls making up Iguazu Falls and it's absolutely stunning.

Do bring comfortable walking shoes, bug spray, sunscreen, and possibly ponchos if you're braving the walkway to a 360-degree view of the falls surrounding you (which is a must-do). We spent around two hours exploring the Brazil side of these magnificent falls.

After spending a considerable amount of time taking in all of the beauty, it was time to go back to our hotel and settle in. Our package included our choice of hotel and we decided to book with Selvaje Lodge, a beautiful 12 room hotel surrounded by the rainforest. You can expect to pay between $180-250USD/night depending on the season (tour package not included in price).

Breakfast is included during your stay where you'll enjoy pastries, an assortment of cheese and meat, fresh fruit, coffee, and juice. The dining room is surrounded by floor to ceiling windows overlooking the luscious rainforest.

Selvaje Lodge has a pool area with loungers. Unfortunately, the pool was uncomfortably cold so we did not utilize this perk during our stay.

We stayed in the Canafistula room (booked as Double Deluxe Room) and it was beautiful! The room has a balcony looking into the rainforest which was relaxing to sit out on when it was raining. You can hear monkeys playing in the trees, too! The room was large and had plenty of space. However, the bed was a bit too hard for our liking.

That evening, our driver took us to the center of town to visit a local popular restaurant, Aqva Restaurante Iguazu. We ordered the Surubi (local river fish) with shrimp and a fettuccini pasta with shrimp and grilled zucchini paired with local beers (not included in our complimentary dinner). The pasta was delicious but the Surubi had a flavor I wasn't fond of, however, I'm glad I tried something native to the region.

We arrived back at the hotel, exhausted from a long and hot day. We were excited to continue our adventures through Iguazu Falls in the morning. The rain poured that night and we quickly drifted off to sleep.

Day 2- Iguazu Falls in Argentina

We woke up to the warm sun shining through our glass patio door, the rainforest bright green in the light. After a hearty breakfast in the beautiful dining room of Selvaje Lodge, we started our 8-hour tour through the Argentinian side of Iguazu Falls.

We hopped on the Rainforest Ecological Train to take us to Devil's Throat, the largest waterfall in Iguazu Falls, spanning 492 feet wide with a 269 feet height. If you're feeling adventurous, you can opt out of the train ride and take the (very) long hike. This train is included in the park entrance and takes visitors to the waterfalls trails and the Devil's Throat walkway. Expect to walk roughly two miles when visiting Devil's Throat with minimal stairs or incline.

A long metal bridge over the falls leads right to Devil's Throat, a massive waterfall that receives about half of the river's water flow.

During your walk to Devil's Throat, be sure to enjoy the scenery around you. If you look closely, you might find many species of butterflies (there are over 2,000 in Iguazu Falls!), lizards, coatis (please do not feed or touch these cute creatures, they have a nasty bite), monkeys, and more!

You can feel the power of Devil's Throat rumbling through your chest as you listen to the falls shake the ground beneath you. The roaring waters plumet an average of 1.5 million liters (or 3,306,930 pounds) per second!

It's recommended you start your day at Devil's Throat first thing in the morning to beat the rush and to get a good view as well as photo opportunities.

After we experienced viewing the enormous Devil's Throat, our tour guide led us to our next activity- a view of Iguazu Falls from a speed boat! This excursion, as of 2026, costs 90.000 ARS (or $64.98 USD per person). Our tour package included two tickets for the Gran Aventura boat ride.

The speed boat tour includes the Jungle Ride, a 4x4 truck that takes you 3.4 miles into the rainforest where you will then change into your swimsuits (if desired), pack your belongings into waterproof backpacks (unfortunately, the one they gave us was broken and our shoes were completely drenched), and make the trek down 300 meters of stairs. We were given life jackets and chose our seats.

The speed boat was SO much fun and it opened my eyes to a new-found love of boating on rivers! If you've ever been white water rafting, this is a faster version of that. Our tour guide whipped around corners, creating splashes of water and pumping adrenaline through our veins. The speed boat ride does drench you, which is why swimsuits are highly recommended. Our Skipper took us very close to a waterfall to get better visuals and surprised us by going underneath it, a few times! This ride was incredible and one of the biggest highlights of our trip to South America.

Of course, what goes down must come up! After enjoying the speed boat tour of the waterfalls, you are reminded of the 300 meters of climbing back up (this is equivalent to 100 flights of stairs). There is no time limit and you can go at your own pace.

After the long hike back up, we dried quickly during a walk around the trails for our final view of Iguazu Falls, enjoying all of the rainbows we found! You can easily tour this beautiful part of the world in two days and we were satisfied with the amount of time that was spent here.

We decided to order room service for our last night in Iguazu to give us time to pack up and unwind from a very busy and active last two days. Our dinner was prepared beautifully, however, I may have come to the conclusion during our trip to Iguazu that my palette does not favor Argentinian cuisine.

Saying Goodbye to South America

Our flight was in the afternoon so we spent most of our morning waiting in the hotel room until our transfer picked us up to take us to the airport. The flight was bumpy as expected and I made a vow to avoid Aerolineas Argentinas if possible. The flight back to Buenos Aires was beautiful as we flew above the river system that creates Iguazu Falls.

We checked back into our hotel at 1828 Smart Hotel and grabbed a quick bite to eat at Sullivan's Irish Pub for lunch (I know, I know...it was more out of curiosity than anything). It was decent but no way near what I would call Irish food.

We had a bit of packing to do from our three-week trip around Antarctica and South America, so we decided to take our half day in Buenos Aires to relax back at the hotel. We went back to our favorite restaurant that night, Xolo Cantina (which is unfortunately is no longer in business), for dinner. I decided to be adventurous one last time and try bone marrow for the first time. Of course, we needed corn ice cream again, it is one of my new favorite desserts!

We wrapped up our evening, full of delicious food and feeling joy from a wonderful adventure.

In the morning, we said goodbye to Buenos Aires and headed for the airport. One of my favorite guilty pleasures while we travel is to try McDonald's in other countries. I was bummed that we didn't try it during our trip, so when we saw one in the airport, I had to get something. They also sold local beer there which made for a nice pre-flight drink.

Our flight took off and we settled in for an 11-hour flight back home, looking back at all of our photos from the adventures we had and appreciating the beauty of the world, the friendly people we met along the way, and the cultures that were shared.

Final Notes

Thank you for going on this journey with us through Antarctica, Chile, Buenos Aires, and Iguazu Falls. We enjoyed every second we had during this adventure of a lifetime and I hope these blogs have inspired you to take a leap of faith and explore what this amazing world has to offer!