The insider secret to beating the crowds at this world wonder

It should be a celebration when you first stumble upon a wonder of the world. It’s supposed to be like Hiram Bingham rediscovering Machu Picchu, or Howard Carter uncovering Tutankhamun’s tomb – big moments in history, marked accordingly.

For Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, however, it didn’t feel that way when he happened upon Iguazu Falls. Back in 1541, the Spanish conquistador was tasked with making his way from what is now southern Brazil to Asuncion in Paraguay, to inform local authorities that he had been appointed their new ruler.

Cabeza de Vaca’s team planned to sail a flotilla of vessels up the Iguazu River to Asuncion, a plan that was going well until they heard the thundering of water in the distance. The team rounded a bend and there was a sight no upriver exploratory party would ever hope to see: some of the largest, highest, most powerful waterfalls on the planet.

The expedition was in tatters. Cabeza de Vaca’s team was forced to abandon their vessels and, with the help of local Guarani people who had long known of the falls’ existence, continue to Asuncion from above the cascades using small, hand-built craft.

Cabeza de Vaca’s account of his experience was the first recorded mention of Iguazu Falls in the western world. The explorer had discovered a wonder, but had instead found only an obstacle.

There may well be a similar feeling of disappointment among many modern-day explorers when they first see Iguazu Falls. Yes, the sight is magnificent. It’s truly awe-inspiring. That is, if you can see it.

The falls are increasingly popular with visitors. In 2000, some 400,000 people visited the two national parks that straddle the falls, in Brazil and Argentina (the countries’ border runs through the middle of the river). By 2020, that number had climbed to 1.5 million. Last year, more than 3 million people visited.

It’s a circus at Iguazu some days, where you spend more time bumping shoulders and viewing the falls through other people’s smartphones than you do just gaping in wonder at the majesty of 275 cascades falling up to 82 metres over basalt cliffs.

There’s only so much room on the concrete pathways and metal boardwalks. The viewing platforms can only manage so many people.

All of which makes it even more incredible that I’m standing today at one of the most famous sites in Iguazu, the thundering Devil’s Throat, a U-shaped section of the falls with a viewing platform right on the edge of a cliff, and I’m the only person here. There is just me and my guide, Carolina. It will be another 15 minutes before anyone else arrives.

How is this possible? How can you see Iguazu without the hustle, getting to the best spots without all the people, then escaping to somewhere completely different to enjoy this area of northern Argentina and southern Brazil in ways that have nothing to do with shoulder-barging tourists carrying DSLRs?

To begin with, you stay at Awasi Iguazu. I was picked up from the Cataratas del Iguazu International Airport yesterday by Carolina, in a 4WD that will be my private vehicle for the duration of my stay. I was then whisked through the jungle to the Awasi resort, set amid dense vegetation just outside the town of Puerto Iguazu.

Awasi is a Latin American-owned collection of three high-end Relais & Chateaux-accredited resorts in Chile and Argentina. At these boutique properties, each room or villa is assigned its own personal guide and vehicle, which makes for a bespoke experience whether you’re in Patagonia, the Atacama, or Iguazu.

So that’s one of my first experiences upon arrival: tailoring my stay and deciding what I want to do.

At Awasi Iguazu, Carolina explains, there are about 10 styles of activities on offer – walking, bike-riding, boating, stand-up paddleboarding and more – which are available throughout numerous destinations within the Misiones province of Argentina, and into Parana, Brazil. Pretty much everyone does a standard viewing of the falls in both countries, but beyond that, Iguazu is your oyster.

So the next morning, I wake well before dawn, bolt down the quick breakfast that was laid out in my villa the previous evening, and wander down a stone pathway by torchlight to where Carolina is waiting with our vehicle.

The next step to beating the crowds at Iguazu: get up early. Really early. The sun is only just beginning to crack the horizon, the birds just starting to make noise, as we arrive in the national park and make our way through a checkpoint to the Gran Melia Iguazu.

This is the only hotel within the national park, and therefore the only way to get to the falls before the park opens to the general public. That happens at 8am, when the first train runs from the main entrance of the park to the boardwalk leading to the Devil’s Throat viewing platform, a journey of about three kilometres.

If you wait for that train, you will be joining the masses. If, however, you have special permission from park authorities because you’re staying at Awasi, you can walk those three kilometres and enter the boardwalk at 8am, a good 20 or 25 minutes before anyone else arrives.

So that’s what Carolina and I do, speed-walking from the Gran Melia before taking a leisurely 15 minutes on the raised boardwalk and arriving at Devil’s Throat before anyone else.

As an introduction to the majesty and the power of Iguazu Falls, this is incredible. You stand on the metal platform here, almost close enough to dip your hand into the huge torrent of water that pours over cliffs and crashes into rocks some 82 metres below. You can feel the droplets on your face, watch as rainbows dance in and out of the spray.

There’s something primal and awe-inspiring about waterfalls, you realise. There’s something truly knee-shaking about the sound of thousands of megalitres of water thundering into rocks, exploding into billions of tiny droplets. It’s mesmerising, like a campfire. You can’t look away.

But then you have to, because the tourists are arriving. It’s like fighting the tide of the river itself, walking back along that boardwalk. Everyone is going in one direction. Everyone except Carolina and me.

I get a dose of the “real” Iguazu as we explore the rest of the Argentinian side that morning among the crowds, jostling for position, standing on tiptoes. It’s a relief to head back to Awasi and tuck into some lunch and appreciate the service you get at a place like this.

Staff that I haven’t even met before seem to know my water preference (sparkling, since you’re asking). The barman has figured out the sort of wine I like and keeps bringing out interesting Argentinian examples to match the three-course meals (there’s a moscato from San Rafael in Mendoza that’s a particular winner). This is living.

We’ll cross into Brazil tomorrow, Carolina and I, to take in the majesty of the falls from the other side. We’ll arrive early again and beat the bulk of the crowds at the border, and at the national park. And then we’ll swing entirely clear of this UNESCO World Heritage Site and escape the crowds with other activities that have nothing to do with the falls.

We’ll take a boat ride to the point where the Iguazu River meets the Parana River, and where three countries – Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay – also touch. We’ll take another boat and cruise the Urugua-i lake, perfectly flat, perfectly empty, before going stand-up paddleboarding through the skeletal remains of a flooded forest. We’ll board yet another boat in the Parana River and view waterfalls that most visitors here probably don’t even realise exist.

And that is a discovery worth celebrating.

The details

Stay
Stays at Awasi Iguazu are all-inclusive, which takes in airport transfers, all meals and snacks, all drinks (alcoholic and other), entrance to national parks and attractions, and the services of a private guide and vehicle for each villa. Prices start from $US2680 ($4120) a person per night. See southamericatravelcentre.com.au

Fly
LATAM flies direct from Melbourne and Sydney to Santiago, with onward connections to Buenos Aires and Iguazu. See latamairlines.com

The writer travelled as a guest of Awasi Iguazu and South America Travel Centre.