Access
The falls can be reached from the two main towns on either side of the falls: Puerto Iguazú in Argentina and Foz do Iguaçu in Brazil, as well as from Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, on the other side of the Paraná river from Foz do Iguaçu. The falls are shared by the Iguazú National Park (Argentina) and Iguaçu National Park (Brazil). The two parks were designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1984 and 1987, respectively.
The first proposal for a Brazilian national park aimed at providing a pristine environment to "future generations", just as "it had been created by God" and endowed with "all possible preservation, from the beautiful to the sublime, from the picturesque to the awesome" and "an unmatched flora" located in the "magnificent Iguaçú waterfalls". These were the words used by Andre Rebouças, an engineer, in his book "Provinces of Paraná, Railways to Mato Grosso and Bolivia", which started up the campaign aimed at preserving the Iguaçu Falls in 1876, when Yellowstone National Park, the first national park in the world, was four years old.
On the Brazilian side, there is a walkway along the canyon with an extension to the lower base of the Devil's Throat. Helicopter rides offering aerial views of the falls have been available. However, Argentina has prohibited such helicopter tours because of the environmental impact on the flora and fauna of the falls. From Foz do Iguaçu airport, the park can be reached by taxi or bus to entrance of the park. There is an entrance fee to the park on both sides. Free frequent buses have been provided to various points within the park. The town of Foz do Iguaçu is about 20 kilometres (12 mi) away, and the airport is in between the park and the town.
The Argentine access, across the forest, is by a Rainforest Ecological Train very similar to the one in Disney's Animal Kingdom. The train brings visitors to the entrance of Devil's Throat, as well as the upper and lower trails. The Paseo Garganta del Diablo is a 1-kilometre-long (0.6 mi) trail that brings the visitor directly over the falls of the Devil's Throat, the highest and deepest of the falls. Other walkways allow access to the elongated stretch of falls across the forest on the Argentine side and to the boats that connect to San Martin Island. Also on the Argentinian side, there have been inflatable boat services that take visitors right under the falls.
The Brazilian transportation system aims at allowing the increase in the number of visitors, while reducing the environmental impact, through the increase in the average number of passengers per vehicle inside the park. The new transportation system has 72-passenger, panoramic-view, double-deck buses. The upper deck is open, which enables visitors a broad view of the flora and fauna during the trip to the Falls. The buses' combustion systems are in compliance with the CONAMA (phase IV) and EURO (phase II) emissions and noise requirements. The reduction in the number of vehicles, of noise levels and speed, is enabling tourists to observe increasing numbers of wild animals along the route. Each bus has had an exclusive paint scheme, representing some of the most common wild animals found in the Iguaçú National Park, including the spotted jaguars, butterflies, raccoons, prego monkeys, coral snakes, toucans, parrots and yellow breasted caimans.
On the Brazilian side foreigners pay double entrance fee. Discussion is going on in Brazil if this is unconstitutional discrimination according to Brazilian law and hence illegal. On the Argentinian side foreigners pay up to three times the price that Argentinian residents pay.
Read more about this topic: Iguazu Falls
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