Agrentina June 2007 pt 3 Iguazu
Jul 15th, 2007, 11:34 PM
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Agrentina June 2007 pt 3 Iguazu
We arrived at AEP, the domestic airport for Buenos Aires at around 1100. We entered the terminal to find that our 1450 flight to Iguazu had been delayed to 1550. As we did not want to stay in the terminal for 4+ hours, I took out my cell phone to call Isabel. I had rented a cell phone while at the Hilton before we left BA on the 11th. Cost for the phone was per call. Phonerental charges were 1.5 pesos per minute local and 5 pesos per minute within Argentina. I have not received the bill so hopefully this did not cost me much for very limited use. Isabel, our BA travel agent was of course always available for advice and she told me about a few restaurants near AEP to the left as you exit the airport. She suggested hiring a Remis. We found out at Manuel Tienda Leon that it costs 57 pesos to hire a car for 2 hours. We hire the Remis, store our carry on baggage in the trunk of the car and head out to find lunch. Restaurant Rodizio is about a kilometer from AEP and it looked nice so we had the driver drop us off. Lunch was buffet and the place was busy. Cost was 65 pesos per person plus drinks. The buffet was quite nice and would not have been out of place in a five star hotel such as the Four Seasons. I remember eating mostly spiny crab salad and shrimp cocktails. This restaurant was also apparently a parrila so cuts of various portions of beef than appear. We are later picked up by our car for a return to AEP to catch our 1550 flight on Aerolineas to Iguazu. The flight turned out to be on time and less than 2 hours long. The plane circled the waterfalls on a left hand bank before we landed so those on the left side of the plane got a really nice view of the falls.
We stayed at the Sheraton Iguazu. Isabel had felt that the Sheraton was the best hotel for us as we had limited time in Iguazu. The rooms were rather expensive so Isabel suggested we use points if we had them. Cost for two rooms without points would have been about $600/night with VAT. The hotel arranged for 2 taxis to pick us up at the airport. Cost was $14 US per taxi for the ride to the Sheraton. You could pay with pesos or dollars. Took 15 minutes. Park admission was 30 pesos each. The Hotel is perfectly located in the Iguazu National Park. Looks like it was built in the 70’s. Public areas were pleasant and clean. We found the rooms to be somewhat small and dated. Call the rooms 3 star-. I would grade the rooms and service as adequate. They are refurbishing the third floor of the hotel so the rooms may be nicer in the future. Nobody was hungry so we called it a night.
The next morning found us up early for the buffet breakfast downstairs. We hit the Park at 0800 and head to the lower falls. This does not take long as the trails are right outside the hotel. There was nobody else on the lower trails and the lower circuit took us about an hour. We started to see other tourists as we hit the upper trail at about 0915. These trails took us less than an hour for a different view of the falls. We were entertained by a pack of Coatis on the way to the upper falls. Beware of the Coati, a medium size animal that looks a bit like something from the raccoon family, we saw a pack tear apart a plastic bag being carried by a man. He told us later that it contained an open bag of chips. After we finished the upper trail we rested at the hotel before continuing. Our next destination was the Devil’s Throat. This required a short walk to the trains. There was a train system that took people from the entrance of the park to the Devil’s falls. We caught the train at the middle station. There were quite a few tourists and we had to wait for the second train to get to the Garganta del Diablo. There was a train about every 20 minutes. A level bridge one kilometer long takes you from the train to the top of the waterfalls. The view was magnificent.
Weather was about 80 degrees and mildly humid with clear skies. We returned to the Sheraton for lunch in the lobby. We had some pretty decent sandwiches that were priced at US levels. Later that afternoon we took a boat ride under the falls. These boats leave from the lower falls trails. Great fun! Everyone was totally soaked. Rain gear was not protective there. We retired back to the hotel. My wife decides to investigate the shops in front of the hotel and we ended up buying several purses made of Capybara leather.
Dinner was outside the hotel in Puerto Iguazu at the La Rueda. I had found this restaurant listed in our Footprints guidebook. Fodors, Frommers, Lonely Planet and Time Out were also used as travel books for this trip and Footprints was the best for information outside of BA. Taxi ride was 20 minutes and cost 40 pesos each way. Driver waited for us. Dinner was pleasant but unremarkable and cost 200 pesos with tip.
The next morning we took the taxis back to the airport for our 1015 Aerolineas flight to Buenos Aires.
We stayed at the Sheraton Iguazu. Isabel had felt that the Sheraton was the best hotel for us as we had limited time in Iguazu. The rooms were rather expensive so Isabel suggested we use points if we had them. Cost for two rooms without points would have been about $600/night with VAT. The hotel arranged for 2 taxis to pick us up at the airport. Cost was $14 US per taxi for the ride to the Sheraton. You could pay with pesos or dollars. Took 15 minutes. Park admission was 30 pesos each. The Hotel is perfectly located in the Iguazu National Park. Looks like it was built in the 70’s. Public areas were pleasant and clean. We found the rooms to be somewhat small and dated. Call the rooms 3 star-. I would grade the rooms and service as adequate. They are refurbishing the third floor of the hotel so the rooms may be nicer in the future. Nobody was hungry so we called it a night.
The next morning found us up early for the buffet breakfast downstairs. We hit the Park at 0800 and head to the lower falls. This does not take long as the trails are right outside the hotel. There was nobody else on the lower trails and the lower circuit took us about an hour. We started to see other tourists as we hit the upper trail at about 0915. These trails took us less than an hour for a different view of the falls. We were entertained by a pack of Coatis on the way to the upper falls. Beware of the Coati, a medium size animal that looks a bit like something from the raccoon family, we saw a pack tear apart a plastic bag being carried by a man. He told us later that it contained an open bag of chips. After we finished the upper trail we rested at the hotel before continuing. Our next destination was the Devil’s Throat. This required a short walk to the trains. There was a train system that took people from the entrance of the park to the Devil’s falls. We caught the train at the middle station. There were quite a few tourists and we had to wait for the second train to get to the Garganta del Diablo. There was a train about every 20 minutes. A level bridge one kilometer long takes you from the train to the top of the waterfalls. The view was magnificent.
Weather was about 80 degrees and mildly humid with clear skies. We returned to the Sheraton for lunch in the lobby. We had some pretty decent sandwiches that were priced at US levels. Later that afternoon we took a boat ride under the falls. These boats leave from the lower falls trails. Great fun! Everyone was totally soaked. Rain gear was not protective there. We retired back to the hotel. My wife decides to investigate the shops in front of the hotel and we ended up buying several purses made of Capybara leather.
Dinner was outside the hotel in Puerto Iguazu at the La Rueda. I had found this restaurant listed in our Footprints guidebook. Fodors, Frommers, Lonely Planet and Time Out were also used as travel books for this trip and Footprints was the best for information outside of BA. Taxi ride was 20 minutes and cost 40 pesos each way. Driver waited for us. Dinner was pleasant but unremarkable and cost 200 pesos with tip.
The next morning we took the taxis back to the airport for our 1015 Aerolineas flight to Buenos Aires.
Jul 16th, 2007, 09:37 AM
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First you were asked to separate paragraphs, now you are asked to post all your reports together in a single thread!!
Serves you right for writing such good reports, Doc! LOL!!!!
Just kidding, but be sure to do all that when you post'em on Trip Advisor, Doc!
Serves you right for writing such good reports, Doc! LOL!!!!
Just kidding, but be sure to do all that when you post'em on Trip Advisor, Doc!
Jul 18th, 2007, 06:39 AM
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Oh what a pity, eurotraveller, we won't be available in BA until Nov. 18th. It would have been so much fun. We start our trip in Chile.
Actually, we were toying with the idea of attending a soccer game on that Sunday (11/18), but I'm not so sure now after the recent brawls. The markets at the Recoleta cemetery and San Telmo are tempting, too....So much to do and so little time... ;-)
Actually, we were toying with the idea of attending a soccer game on that Sunday (11/18), but I'm not so sure now after the recent brawls. The markets at the Recoleta cemetery and San Telmo are tempting, too....So much to do and so little time... ;-)
