Parque Nacional Iguazú

Introducing Parque Nacional Iguazú

The Argentine park (491469; www.iguazuargentina.com; admission adult/child 6-12 yr AR$40/20, Mercosur AR$23, Argentines AR$14; 8am-6pm Apr-Sep, 7:30am-6:30pm Oct-Mar) has plenty to offer, and involves a fair amount of walking. The spread-out complex at the entrance has various amenities, including lockers, an ATM and a restaurant. There’s also an exhibition, Ybyrá-retá, with a display on the park and Guaraní life essentially aimed at school groups. The complex ends at a station, where a train runs every half hour to the Cataratas station, where the waterfall walks begin, and to the Garganta del Diablo. You may prefer to walk: it’s only 650m along the ‘Sendero Verde’ path to the Cataratas station, and a further 2.3km to the Garganta.

The train was a controversial project (despite announcements claiming that its construction caused minimal environmental impact) but, though birds and beasts flee from its noisy journey through the jungle, the vehicle traffic it has replaced was responsible for pollution and hundreds of road kill incidents every year. The decision to award the private company that built it rights to operate the visitor center and most of the amenities raised a few eyebrows.

There’s more than enough here to detain you for a couple of days, and admission is reduced by 50% if you visit the park again the following day. You need to get your ticket stamped when leaving on the first day to get the discount.

Last updated: Oct 3, 2008