Click here for a video of our day at the Falls. 

I had wanted to visit Iguazú Falls for over a decade, so it was a dream realized when we made the two-hour flight from Buenos Aires to Iguazú and spent a full day at Iguazú National Park.

The pilot looped around the waterfalls twice so passengers on both sides of the plane could enjoy an aerial view of the cascades.

Literally the first two in the park, we enjoyed the first train that departs from the entrance to the bridge that leads to the impressive Garganta del Diablo, Devil’s Throat.

A ten-minute walk over calm waters would lead us to a lookout over the turbulent Devil’s Throat.

Mist rising over the 82 m (270 ft) drop

Nearly half of the Iguazú River drops at this horseshoe-shaped part of the falls, Devil’s Throat.

Playful flocks

This butterfly is called an “88” for the design on its wing

Old bridge

Looking back at the Garganta del Diablo, it was impressive to see the mist rising above the falls.

Iguazú National Park has three trails, one to see Devil’s Throat, an upper trail that allows you to see falls from above, and a lower trail that allows you to get up close and wet with falls falling about you. Here we are on the upper trail, an hour and a half of peering down 150-or-so waterfalls. The mist cloud to the left of the photo in the background is the Garganta del Diablo drop.

A friend catching a ride on Julien’s shoulder

We have never seen so many butterflies in our lives, and with such fun designs!

Julien looking up at me…

…and me looking down at Julien over the Salto Alvar Nuñez

From the lower trail we were able to not only hear the thunderous falls, but feel the mist in the company of many rainbows.

The park experience was so magical, we even saw elephants in the sky.

We headed back to Garganta del Diablo later in the day to see the falls in a different light. We are so glad we did, as being between the cataracts and the falling sun, we were able to see many-a-rainbow, including this one that greeted us, diving into Devil’s Throat.

Circle rainbow

At first we thought this man was waving to loved ones on the Brazil side of the cascades, but 45 minutes of waving later, we realized he was waving to the waterfalls themselves, the rainbows, the river…really to nature in general. We had the opportunity to sit behind him on the train ride back, and he waved to all the butterflies fluttering beside the train.

Looking back at the falls and our silhouettes

Our waving friend waving away

Train-stop company

Evening light and butterflies. Iguazú Falls is definitely on our to-return-to list!