Patagonia. Such a nice ring to it. Rhythmic sounding, when pronounced in Spanish. Thanks in part to the namesake company, it’s synonymous with nature. With sustainability. Or is it the other way around? It resonates with the outdoors. The wild, unbridled, unpredictable, undisturbed kind. A wind-swept vastness against the backdrop of the white-capped Andes. It is an amazing place indeed. Yet, it’s not a “place”. Sure, one can visit bits and pieces (we’re getting to that in a minute), but Patagonia is over 400,000 square miles. Think Spain, Portugal and France all together. Bigger than the entire Scandinavian peninsula. Almost twice as big as the Balkans. For US flavor, think California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington put together! Yeah. It’s not small…
In Romania, it was colloquially used to indicate the furthest possible place in the world. “Ma duc in Patagonia” (I’m going as far away as possible on this earth, where no one can ever find me – loose translation). This area always attracted people who either wanted to hide from the world, or search for riches. No other reason to seek out such a hostile environment. Today, it’s a nature-lover’s paradise, and easily one of the most serenely wild, wildly serene places on earth.
To get to Southern Patagonia it would take about 14 hours
from Atlanta (assuming direct flights, which do not exist). With at least one
stopover, just getting there takes a full day. Which is why adding stops along
the way makes sense. After many iterations, considerations and work around limitations,
we settled on an itinerary that took us gradually south, and just as gradually
back up north, with 11 stops along the way (hence the packing and unpacking 22
times). High season travel requires booking way in advance, so if you’re
shooting for December, better start in August. Let’s see how it all went down
(and back up 😉) with plenty of pics, color commentary, and
the occasional advice along the way (links below if you want to skip directly to the respective section):
Foz de Iguaçu/Iguazu Falls
The IGU airport is only 10-15 mins away, so we were in the park by 2 pm. It closes at 6, which leaves enough time, if you hurry. An earlier flight would have been preferable, but not available. The 4 hours would have been more than enough to take the shuttle to main attraction (the walkways at the end of the park) but we also opted for the boat ride under the falls (additional cost, roughly $75) which, coupled with a short trek through the rainforest, takes about 2 hours.
The Argentinian side offers a similar experience, and it’s a bit cheaper (if you have to choose). It’s really worth it. Both for the “been there” factor, but also, provides a nice cooling reprieve from the overwhelming heat (over 90 in Dec) and humidity. Just know that you will be thoroughly soaked, and plan accordingly.
We cut it close, grabbing the last shuttle after the boat ride, even though it was still relatively early (around 5), and a few minutes later we were at the observation point. On the plus side, the crowds were gone. It didn’t leave us much time to fully enjoy it or walk all the way down to the lower walkways, but we were still able to spend a good 15-20 minutes before taking the shuttle back to the entry point.
From there, an hour and 2 border crossing later we checked into our AirBnB. Hotels are also available, but for our group of 6, the home-rental type accommodations made economic sense.
Puerto Iguazú is small. Walkable for the most part. And the center offers plenty of dining options. Agva restaurant (seafood) was the first choice but closed for a private event. La Rueda – second choice – was beyond expectations. Would have liked to try Piranha, but it’s scarcely available in restaurants. Had Pacu (a fish with human-like teeth) for the first time. Lovely! Oh, and the dollar parity to Argentinian pesos, coupled with sky-high inflation made everything so, so affordable… Patanegra was another restaurant recommendation, but frankly, there are quite a few others. I don’t have any suggestions for the Brazil side, as we opted to stay in Argentina (just cheaper, overall).
Next day, same logistics: pick up at AirBnB, transfer to the
park (hold the luggage while we visited) and off to the airport in the
afternoon. The Argentine side of the falls is bigger, with several trails and walkways.
There is even a train, with access to the Devil’s Throat, but that section was
closed off, due to earlier flooding that damaged the walkways. The accessible
part of the park took about 3 hours. We even had time for a cold beer and a
quick snack (beware of the capuchin monkeys that will try to steal food right
out of your hands!). As noted, they offer a boat ride as well (likely cheaper
than on the Brazil side, given the currency benefit mentioned above) as well as
helicopter rides.
For us, two days (or rather two half-days, with an overnight stay) was enough to visit the falls, but that’s my style. If you’d rather dilly-dally, or explore at a more leisurely pace, add an extra day. From here, off to Nuestra Señora Santa María del Buen Aire (aka, Buenos Aires).
Good reference material to help plan: https://iguazufalls.com/national-park/
Next, the Buenos Aires section of the trip: https://disdatdudder.blogspot.com/2024/02/patagonia-beyond-2-of-9-buenos-aires.html
Or quickly jump to any other legs of this trip:
- Three days in Torres del Paine
- Three days in El Calafate/Perito Moreno
- Two days in El Chalten
- Two days in Bariloche
- Two days in Mendoza
- Two days in Santiago, Chile
- A half-day layover in Bogota
And here's my anal-retentive daily cadence (can’t call it a schedule), surprisingly, followed pretty close, given the complexity of it all. Pease don’t judge! (or judge away 😉)
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