Straddled between Argentina and Brazil, Iguazu Falls is a must-see when you’re in South America. It is not optional. It is amazing and you must see it. No excuses.

Also known as Iguassu Falls and Iguacu Falls, no matter what you decide to call it, there is no denying that this is one of the world’s most spectacular waterfalls. To put it into some kind of perspective, Iguazú Falls is four times as wide as Canada’s Niagara Falls. Making it so special is the fact that it is not just one waterfall but a collection of 275 individual cascades that line a 1.7 mile (2.7 kilometer) wide horseshoe-shaped gorge.

Iguazú Falls is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and in 2011 it became part of the New Seven Wonders of Nature. Experiencing the noise of the rushing water and admiring the sheer drops of up to 80 meters (262 feet) high are obvious highlights. But the falls and park are also home to over 2,000 plant species, around 450 bird species and abundant mammals. In fact, the region provides a natural habitat for half of Argentina’s birds, including parrots and toucans. Some say that it is possible to see jaguars and pumas but you’d need to be extremely lucky.

There was an important decision to be made when we decided to visit the notorious Iguazu Falls. Would we see both the Brazil side and Argentina Side?  Or would we just go to the Argentina side of the falls?  Most people only travel to the Argentina side due to the Brazilian visa situation and the fact that it’s easier to get around from the Puerto Iguazu.  But we wanted to see it all. If that meant applying for a ridiculously expensive visa that took a ridiculously long time to process and deciding to stay at a ridiculously nice hotel than so be it… We also used it as an excuse to add a few more weeks exploring Brazil to our trip…

We arrived into the airport on the Argentinian side from Buenos Aires and immediately found a taxi to take us to the Brazilian side – crossing the border was easy as pie and we arrived at the Brazilian Iguazu Falls National Park were we were taken by minibus to our hotel in the national park.

After checking into our ridiculously nice hotel we started to work out our plan for our three days at the falls. First up was the boat trip. We wanted to feel that falls… We didn’t realise that we would be feeling every single drip…

The boat ride was more of a shower than  scenic activity. We were drenched. It was a lot of fun but I was glad we had a nice cozy 5-star hotel with included laundry service to quickly be chauffeured back to…

The rest of the day was relaxing, we went for a stroll by the magnificent walk along the Brazilian side of the falls. We admired the gorgeous views, as well as spotted plenty of gorgeous butterflies and birds… We were yet to find any of the notorious Iguazu Falls racoons that I had been warned were often rabies infected…

We had an incredible buffet dinner and rolled into bed – planning a bit of Argentinian exploration for the following day…

Iguazú National Park in Argentina is much bigger than its Brazilian counterpart, with more trails to walk along and some that lead you right into the open water. Now it takes hours to see all the falls on the Argentine side—and that’s if you are rushing. These falls are a massive tourist attraction in case you forgot. It gets chaotic.

Just before we resigned to having to pay a ridiculous amount for a taxi we found a wonderful couple who were planning a day in Argentina as well. We managed to pair up as falls exploring buddies for the day and enjoyed every second of their company.

We jumped on the Jungle Train to the Falls Station, which marks the beginning of two walking trails: Lower Circuit and Upper Circuit. We started with the upper – also known as the ‘Conga Line’ to the throat of the falls. The circuit is half a mile long and takes just over an hour to walk. As we walked we noticed more and more people walking back in the opposite direction – completely soaked. The circuit crossed the top of the canyon and allowed you to look down over the edge of the falls, some of which are 60 meters (197 feet) tall.

Soon we were walking in the opposite direction… Completely drenched.

Next we hit the lower circuit where we could admire the best views of the waterfalls (on the Argentinian side) via eight designated lookouts.

We left Argentina completely exhausted and spend the afternoon back in Brazil with a private stroll along the Brazilian side (due to our wonderful hotel choice), and finished off the day with Bloody Mary’s and a swim in our hotel’s glorious pool.

The next day we got up early for one final private stroll along the falls. Whereas the Argentine side is all about getting up close and personal with the falls, on the Brazilian side you can benefit from full frontal and panoramic views of the cascades. This was our favourite.

We finished off our time in Iguazu Falls with a champagne breakfast and cheers-ed to a wonderful three days in one of the most spectacular sights on the planet.