Flying to the Falls

We checked out at 1000 after breakfast and taxied to Aeroparque for our flight to Puerto Iguazu.  Arriving at Aeroparque we found the snaking queue for Andes airline to be horrendously long.  Fortunately it was fast-moving and we got to nearly the front in 30 minutes to find the baggage conveyor had jammed. After a 15 minute wait, we finally were able to drop off Kims’ bag.

This airline doesn’t currently accept mobile boarding passes and charges for boarding passes except the home-printed ones.  We could have gone airside if it hadn’t been for the luggage.

Security was a breeze and we were airside quickly.  Aeroparque’s terminal is built in a narrow strip of land between the motorway and the runway.  It is well-designed and functional considering its limitations.  If only they could have had less shops, then we would have more seating areas.  To be fair, the very good food court was located at the far end so that it wouldn’t take up more passenger space.

It wasn’t too long of a wait before we boarded the bus to the aircraft for a departure about 10 minutes behind schedule.  Looking out the window, the airport is certainly busy with planes as well as passengers.  It was a beautiful scene as we climbed out of Buenos Aires.

While the airline had borrowed AirAsia’s tagline “Now everyone can fly” and translated it into Spanish, they hadn’t adopted AirAsia’s spirit.  The snack pack and drinks were free!  Rather unexpected for a low-fare airline.

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We landed in the Argentine airport of Iguazu less than 2h later.  It was sunny, warm and sticky.  A large part of the airport looked under renovation but the arrivals area was unaffected.  I headed out to organise transport while Kim waited for his bag.

A door-to-door bus service was ARS200pp while a taxi ARS500.  We opted for the latter for convenience and a British guy asked if he could join us.  He chipped in ARS100 at the end of the ride so it didn’t cost us any more than the bus.

The Hospedaje Los Vencejos was OK; it was booked quite late when our original choice cancelled us due to overbooking.  In the warm humid weather here, the air-con was very welcome.

I was parched since there were no water fountains at Aeroparque airside.  I wasn’t sure if liquids were allowed airside or not and so conservatively didn’t bring any water along.  We found the supermarket but it was on its siesta break till 1630.

It was another 20 minutes so we chose to have a cold drink in a nearby restaurant but didn’t move from there till an hour later.  We wanted to walk to the riverside but as we made our way there, it didn’t look like there would be much of a waterfront.  So we settled for an early dinner and then made some enquiries for sightseeing.

After getting some groceries for breakfast, we booked the boat ride for the Argentine side of the falls for the day after tomorrow.