The White Lotus and God in Iguazu

I am not sure how to even write about our day at Iguazu Falls. The amount of “oh my god’s” that came out my mouth yesterday had to have hit the thousands, and that was just a small fraction of what was going through my head. Okay, I’m going to try to start to explain.

The morning was a boring travel morning. We woke up early and got way too little sleep after our night out with Mischa and Lisa, but everything was on time and was smooth. No need to write about that. 

Once we landed in Iguazu we headed off the plane, right through the airport and directly into the loving arms of our driver. Jk, we had to wait for a bit for the car to arrive but then we were zipped away to our hotel. Erik had been able to get tickets earlier that morning so we didn’t need to stop on our way to the hotel, again, everything was so smooth. Erik made conversation with the driver while I was watching out the window. We passed puma warning signs and all sorts of other crazy stuff that Erik just didn’t get the pleasure of seeing. So, he remained nice and calm and relaxed lol. BUT he did learn that there were MONKEYS! All over! That try to get in your room and have babies right now (omgomg). 

We arrived at the hotel and immediately we were overwhelmed with White Lotus vibes. The back of the entire hotel was floor to ceiling windows (in some cases two story windows) overlooking the largest outdoor pool we’ve ever seen and, in the distance, the incredible falls. As soon as you walk in to the beige and white everything hotel, you are immediately drawn to the sliding doors out back that overlook the amazing views. We had written it was our honeymoon in the notes, yay travel hacks, so we got upgraded to a room with a view of the falls as well as some chocolates and champagne in our room – what a delight! But decided to b-line it to the park, we'll see the room later. 

We paid premium for the hotel because it was actually located within the park. With just about 24 hours in Iguazu, we didn’t want to miss any opportunities! We walked through bamboo archways as we made our way to the back door entrance to the park directly from the hotel. Once we got into the park there was a map in front of us, which was great! Or so we thought, they were not great. The maps didn't the feature the, very important, “you are here” indicator. Lol. So we just assumed we knew where we were (we were almost always wrong) and went about our day. We started on a short lower loop though, and it was exactly what we needed. We were immediately greeted with a beautiful hummingbird and all sorts of butterflies that followed us along. 

We walked down a gravel road and eventually could see some buildings. Scattered around the buildings though were these silly stripe tailed, chubby, long nosed, cat sized critters. The South American Coati. They were digging in the mud and sticking there long noses in for treats. They were EVERYWHERE! So after we got some pictures and squealed with delight we headed down the trail. The gravel turned into metal grates that were lifted above the ground, which is the type of path we’d be walking on (most of) the rest of the day. We walked and walked and in no time, THERE IT WAS! The first glimpse of the falls. They seemed to go on and on and were so very grand. The boats cruising around in the river looked like the tiniest little vessels compared to the huge falls. We were both surprised with how brown the water was. Turns out it’s from logging happening up river and less than 4 decades ago the water used to run clear. I can’t imagine it’s beauty!! 

There was a beautiful rainbow down by the spray and we just stood and watched as it got more intense and then dimmed out. We looked at all the neat grasses that grew alongside the waterfalls. We looked at all the tiny waterfalls between the larger waterfalls. It was absolutely breathtaking. After a bit we decided it was time to keep walking, and guess what – it just kept getting better and better! We were walking towards the falls so they were growing bigger in our vision and the sound was getting louder. It all just felt so overwhelming to be at the park. I, personally, had no idea what I was going to see but I did not expect this. Erik's expectations were blown out of the water. 

There were a few other stops on the lower loop, some individual waterfalls you could walk up to along with some sitting areas that had lots of birds. We enjoyed every sight we could, just smiling ear to ear. 

After that loop we knew we needed to do the loops that was at the top of the falls, the Superior trail. We were able to find it only after asking some of the employees for help. We got back on a second metal grate trail and started our way up. 

This was a completely different sensation than looking up at the incredible falls. This time we were on elevated grates that went over the river. Looking to our right was brown water, rocks and trees as far as you can see. Looking to our left it was similar, until the water just stopped. Depending on the size of the fall, there were rapids leading up to the edge and they were either small waves or huge, enveloping waves. I’m not sure we were talking that much or just simply soaking in the views. The beautiful blue sky, the big puffy white clouds, the thundering waterfalls, the smell of fresh air – it was a full body experience that neither of us were prepared for. 

After the upper trail we decided to go find the Devil’s Throat. So we hopped on the train and we went to… the entrance? That was unexpected and honestly, we had no idea where we are or where we’re going. Since we ended up on that side of the park though we decided to do a 7k hike through the jungle. We were promised a waterfall at the end so we thought, what the heck – why not! Along the way we saw some super huge ants, lots of butterflies and birds. What we didn’t see, and I’m very happy about it, is any of the 14 different type of poisonous snakes, spiders, pumas or cougars. Yay! It was a bit of a stressful walk though, that took almost two hours and was insanely hot and long and the waterfall was not that exciting in comparison to what we had just seen. The water was, however, crystal clear and must have had a different source. It was a strange interlude in the middle of such an incredible experience. I would say the best part was that we saw our first monkeys! And, they sort of charged at us and showed their teeth – so it was not that great of an experience. You win some, you lose some. 

So, we went back to the park and the train and this time we asked how to get to the Devil’s Throat. We had to wait a bit, which was fine, our feet hurt after that long walk in sandals. When the train came we snagged a front spot and were able to watch all the butterflies jump out of the way of the train as it came by. It was delightful and charming. 

We arrived at the station and luckily were towards the front of the train so we were one of the first groups to get on the trail. It was another overwater grate type walk but with very little sun cover. We had put on sunscreen a couple of times on during the day but at this point our skin felt raw and our feet felt blistered. But we continued on! As we approached the ending point we could see huge waterfalls just gushing into what looked like a bowl, a humongus, wild and beautiful waterfall bowl?? Something like that. it was unlike anything we’d ever seen. Erik stopped for some pictures, meanwhile I was being drawn to the side to stare at the water. The speed, and volume of water the falls were moving was too much for my puny human brain to understand. Erik eventually found me, and he fell under the same spell. I really have no idea how long we stood there for, but I was having an moment and at one point actually started manically laughing because I just could NOT BELIEVE what my eyes were seeing. I felt physically full, and my brain was a little floaty and I was just laughing. Laughing at how fucking beautiful this world is, at how we get to live on it and explore her mind-blowing sights. How I get to be a tiny little human, at this moment in time, that I can afford to come here and take the time to do so and stand there! How?! Why?! Whatttt!! It was not the first time I have had that feeling, and I count my lucky stars for the travels we have been able to experience. But, this felt, next level and if you know the word of what that feeling is called, please let me know. Because I have a feeling I’ll be searching for that the rest of my life. 

Whew. The day was coming to a close and the park was going to be closing soon so we eventually had to start our walk back. We were giddy as we walked back down the path in the baking sun, walking over a humungous river filled with catfish and adorable turtles and magic. We skipped and held hands, and kissed and I just kept saying ‘omgomgomgomg’. I think I had seen my god, maybe? Whatever it was, we were high off of it. 

Back on solid land, we found what I’m calling a ‘butterfly pool’ and couldn’t help but go stand in it and have the sweet little yellow buggers flying around me like a tornado. We hopped on the train and as soon as we turned the corner, a little cute Red Brocket deer creature hopped back into the woods. It was just magical event after event. Our cheeks hurt from smiling at this point. 

Making our way back to the hotel we recounted all the animals we had seen and all the animals we were hoping to still see. Included on that list was a Toucan and non-angry monkeys. Getting back to the hotel, I had completely forgotten we hadn’t even checked in! So, we headed to the desk, got our room card and, because the hotel was very boujie, they took our room number and brought our bags up for us. When we got to the room we were delighted by the sight of a chilled champagne bottle, but we had things to see and do! 

After showering we got all dolled up and headed to the secret door, upstairs sunset bar. I got some wine and Erik got a negroni and we settled in for Monkey Time! We had about a half hour of calm before they started coming out. And they wreaked havoc when they did!! The room right below us (they were terraced so each balcony stuck out enough to see from above) at the bar had not locked their sliding door – and guess what! These little creatures know how to open the sliding doors and they raided the mini bar. The first monkey in got his hands on some Ferrero Rocher! A fancy monkey. He sat on the railing and gobbled away. It seemed like some monkey friends had caught wind that a room had been broken into because then they just came in mobs. One monkey ran in and grabbed a bag of chips that was nearly half his size and when he got back out on the patio there were now people watching and so he ran away. Mid-run, he dropped the bag and went back for it. As he walked along the skinny glass barriers he held his hand out holding the bag of chips for counterbalance. Once in safety, he ripped it open and gobbled them down. It was all very entertaining! Erik went back to our room to double check we had locked the door. We did.

For a while, we sat and sipped our drinks and chatted about the day. The sun was starting to set over the park and you could really see the falls without the glare of the water. As the sun continued to set though, this was when the mama monkeys came out with their little babies riding on their backs. Oh my gosh, it was all just so so cute!!! 

We closed out our bill and it was now close to 9. We ran downstairs to get some dinner (which was mediocre) and hopped back up to the room to pop our bottle of bubbles. We watched the stars and couldn’t stop saying how unbelievable the day was. I hope everyone gets the experience I had today at some point in their life – to see something so grand and beautiful they have a physical reaction of being so full of love and life and the beauty of this world that you could almost burst!