Summer has come to Peru. The town of Paracas where I live is hot during the Christmas and New Year holidays. It never snows of course, yet people set up Christmas trees everywhere that look like they’re covered with it. In any case, this is the story of how I headed off to the World Heritage Site of Iguazú National Park to see the famous Iguazú Falls. Visitors tend to wring their hands over whether they should see it from the Argentinian side, the Brazilian side, or both, but I decided on the Argentinian side based on rumors that it was more powerful there. I started by flying from Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, to Cataratas del Iguazú International Airport.


The airport is located right at the edge of the Brazilian border. The first thing that impressed me when I got there was how clean it was. It really is a beautiful airport.


There was also a wonderful ice cream shop there, and it was even reasonably priced despite being in an airport. These are the little delights that make travel so wonderful. I thought this in Buenos Aires too, but Argentina really has some high-quality ice cream that you can get for relatively cheap. It’s truly delicious—really well made. Probably due to the Italian heritage of so many people here.


As I made my way from Iguazú International Airport to my hotel, a Korean woman and her daughter asked me if I’d like to share a taxi into town. I didn’t hesitate to agree in order to save some money. The two were on a monthlong trip through Latin America, and said that they were worn out from how hard it had been, both physically and mentally. Traveling nonstop for a month would certainly take its toll. I really meant it when I told them to take good care of themselves.


I arrived at my hotel without incident and got ready for the next day. At around nine in the morning, I headed to the terminal where I would catch a bus to take me to the Iguazú National Park World Heritage Site. The bus arrived at the park entrance around 15 minutes after it left the terminal. I paid the somewhat pricey entrance fee and—poof! I was in! I then boarded a train that would take me close to the falls.




Once I was on the train, I felt a delightfully humid breeze thrum against my entire face. Tiny yellow butterflies that looked like cabbage whites danced everywhere, and I could see lots of bamboo forests.




Once I got off the train, it took everything I had to get myself across an unstable, wobbly bridge that looked as if falling off it would kill you.



Below the bridge was a massive amount of water. There were iguanas, turtles, and catfish-looking creatures, along with vibrantly-colored birds. I carefully made my way across while admiring the wildlife.


When I finally arrived at my destination, I was amazed to see a rainbow shooting straight out of the falls. The sunlight reflecting off the water was so dazzlingly bright that I had to squint to look at it. It was like nothing I’d ever seen before. The endlessly flowing water was beautiful, and made a deep, rushing sound. It looks yellowish in the photos as it sloshes over the reddish-brown rocks with incredible speed, but it must just be the turbulence. The water would occasionally splash high up towards me, bracingly cold and refreshing.



Argentina is the land of yerba-maté, which is probably why people were admiring the waterfall with their tea in hand. I feel like everyone should try to get to Iguazú Falls at least once to see the unbelievable amount of water there.
This has been Shoko Yamamoto living in Paracas, Ica Province, Peru. Well, here’s where I say “Adios!”