Iguazu

Please note that this is a retired Drexel study abroad program. To learn more about available programs, contact Drexel Global studyabroad@drexel.edu.

The Iguazu Falls are waterfalls that flow along the Iguazu river on the border of Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina. They are the largest waterfall system in the world and are considered a natural wonder. There is a park on both the Argentinian side as well as the Brazilian side which offer totally different views of the falls. Before the land was occupied by European colonizers, the Guaraní people lived in this region. The legend of the falls involves a Serpent god seeing a girl playing by the Iguazu river one day and falling madly in love. She was in love with a mortal and when the Serpent god asked to marry her the mortal lovers fled in a boat down the river. When the Serpent god found out he chased them along the river, when they escaped him he split the river down the middle creating the Devil’s Throat where the lovers began falling to their death, seperating them for eternity. Its said that the god turned the girl into a rock on one side of the river and the boy into a palm tree on the other, when the sun is shining and you see rainbows spreading across the falls, its connecting the lovers again.

The trip was organized by a group called MIS (Montevideo International Students) who usually hosts parties and events for students from different schools in the city to hang out. We all paid about 300$ and they organized the transportation and lodging for everyone as well as the tickets and events inside the parks. This year about 60 people took the nearly 24 hour bus from Montevideo all the way to Puerto Iguazu, the Argentinian town closest to the falls. We only stopped a few times, once when we crossed into Argentina to go through border control, another for dinner and to exchange money and again in the morning for breakfast. The bus was as terrible as you would expect a 24 hour bus ride to be plus 5x worse because most of the people wanted to party all night, and did. At one point the French students, the nationality which made up half of the group on the trip, all sitting together in the back of the bus started to crowd surf…on the bus. At a certain point you have to admire their energy but that point came much later for me. When we finally arrived to our hostel everyone dispersed to rest, eat or start partying. The bus ride took it all out of me so after I ate I slept the rest of the day away, plus we had to be up early to get to the park at 8:30am. 

The first day of the visit to the falls was the Argentinian side! We all took our bus to the falls; the ride was fast and the group got a guide to tell us a bit about the park, mainly safety precautions and details about wildlife. Nearly everyone in the group opted to go on the boat ride in the river where they take you under a few of the falls. You get into a long line to get into a truck that takes you to the steps down to the river where you are handed a huge rubber bag to put your stuff into because once you are in the boat, you are getting absolutely soaked. The boat ride wasn’t super long but its so incredible to get to go right under the falls and see a totally different view of the park and the water.

We went under a small waterfall right on the river and then driver took us under the biggest one twice just to make sure we were soaked to the bone. From there we headed to the pathways on the top of the waterfalls that take you right to the edge of them and you walk over the connecting waterways on top of the river. The final stop for the Argentinian side was the Devil’s Throat which is the largest waterfall in the park. To get there you can walk but its very far from the other falls and they have a small train that goes through the jungle so we took that. 

The next day, Brazil! The drive was a bit longer and we had to go through customs of course which took a bit of time but we got our passports stamped and sent on our way. The Brazilian park seemed much more cared for, the ticket machines were all upgraded touch screens, the cafeteria and gift shops looked brand new, it almost looked like an airport. We all got on double decker buses which goes through the park straight to the falls, it took about 20 minutes. You start out really high up getting a complete view of all the falls and then there are paved paths all along the brink of the falls that lead you down to a platform just below the Devils Throat. The walkways were a bit more crowded on this side but there were little perches at every level to get different clear views of the falls. This whole walk took maybe 2 hours just because you want to stop every 2 minutes to stare at the falls.

Once you get to the lowest part theres a huge walkway that takes you right to the edge of the falls underneath the Devils Throat and you get pretty wet and if its sunny you see the most incredible rainbows everywhere. The water was so mezmerizing I felt like I could have spent hours just staring at it. When you leave the platform there is a big building that basically works as a massive look out along with a couple of gift shops and bathrooms. You can take the stairs or the elevator up to a large outdoor platform to look out over the top of this part of the falls. After everyone got to this building we headed to a part of the park thats all gift shops for about 30 minutes then headed back to the hostel.

The whole time I was there, in either side of the parks, I felt so emotional. It was so moving to see nature like this, seeing the beauty and power of the earth is unbelievable sometimes; I was in complete awe and it almost moved me to tears at a few moments. At the Devil’s Point I began talking to some of the girls from the group, they were all Spanish and I was saying how what we are seeing is so insane and I feel so blessed to be here. They all agreed and two of them began talking about how their parents had always wanted to come here and they grew up hearing them talk about it and even though their parents will probably never get to come they are here! It made me realize how young I am and how lucky I am to be able to travel and see parts of the world that many may not even know exist let alone have the means to visit. I feel an insurmountable amount of gratitude whenever I think of this trip, my heart swells up like a balloon and I get so emotional. There is truly so much beauty and wonder in this world and I hope I never stop recognizing it.