THE CITY

Puerto Iguazu is the ideal place to start knowing the Falls. It is a small town that shelters 30,000 inhabitants, whose special mission is to offer visitors a wide network of tourist services at international level. From here you can make various excursions and visits to the falls and to Iguazu National Park.

It is the perfect resting place for the traveller who wants to breathe the pure and authentic aroma wafting in from the green foliage of the Misiones rainforest - a delicate, clean yet intense aroma, reminding one of the surrounding great rivers, humid tropical weather, red earth, and virgin forest, packed with gigantic trees.

Puerto Iguazu is a scenario of cheerful beauty that extends all the way from Iguazu National Park, Mocona Falls, Rio Pilcomayo National Park, El Palmar National Park to the Ibera marshes and the Chaco plains.

WHAT TO VISIT

The "3 Frontiers" Landmark
The Argentine Landmark, covered with jungle vegetation, is at the end of Avenida 3 Fronteras and at a very high point on the basalt gorge. From there, one may witness the majestic confluence of the transparent Iguazu with the red, turbulent Parana River. There is a lookout point here for visitors to gaze over the surprising panorama of the meeting of the rivers and to see the landmarks that show the frontiers of Paraguay and Brazil. It also has some shops where you can buy regional crafts.

Iguazu National Park Museum
In the museum, is situated in the port, visitors are attended by specialist guides who shows them a collection of fauna and flora of the region.

Eco-museum
This was created to preserve the memory of the community who use to live in the countryside prior to the construction of the Itaipu Dam in 1987. It has some 3,000 years old clay vases, found during the engineering work in the area of the lake. It is also a center for research and interpretation of nature, working to preserve the local culture and the native species. It is located in lAvenida 3 Fronteras, close to the power-station.

Mborore Museum or Mborore Trench
This is owned by the descendants of Dr Luis Honorio Rolon, its founder, who was an ardent defender of the rights of the indigenous peoples and of the ecology of the region. It is located in Avenida Misiones.

Forest Images Museum
This museum shows wood carvings of anthropomorphic figures and of animals native to Iguazu National Park. It is privately run by its owner Rodolfo Allou, and functions in the Residence of the Bishop of Iguazu, in Guatambu Street.

Mines of Precious Stones
In Wanda and Libertad, 45 and 50 kms from Puerto Iguazu, there are open-cast mines of precious stones that the tourist can visit, attended by a bilingual guide. Jewellery, decorative objects, sculptures, and a huge number of hand-crafted objects can be seen there. This is a colourful show, visited by tourists from every place in the world. There is an exhibition of precious stones as well as a sales stand.

Aripuca Tourist Complex
This gigantic replica of an "Aripuca" was made with rescued tree trunks and is situated in the city of Iguazu, only 15 kms from the seventh wonder of the world: the Iguazu Falls. Aripuca (arapuca, in the Guarani language) is a local word for a small aboriginal Guarani trap used for catching birds.

To explore what Aripuca offers tourists, it is worth starting with a visit to the 2 ha site; huge examples of rescued trees can be seen, many of which were destined to end up as firewood, in the sawmill or be left to unproductive decay.

Tourists can discover the description of the trees, their approximate growth, their geographical distribution and the real and potential use they have. There are also handcrafts of the Guarani community on sale (this is almost the only resource they have to support themselves).

Another aim of the Aripuca is to give information about the Agro-Eco tourism excursions in the nearby town of Andresito, which usually take at least a whole day. They include transport, guide, lunch, visits to farms or tourist attractions, and lodging and dinner: everything that is needed.

The farms that are willing to receive visitors are:

1. Chacra El Caņafistula: family farming and home cooking.
2. Chacra Las Viņas: natural medicine, wine production, self-supporting in its production, also offering home cooking and tree-adopting.
3. Chacra Tio Zalindo: caņa production (a regional liquor).
4. Chacra Los Cedritos paths of palo rosa and palmito trees, tree-adopting.
5. Chacra Amanecer Con Los Pajaros [Wake Up with the Birds]: bird watching and lodging (eight beds), organic honey production.
6. Chacra Sombra de Toro: see a tree four meters in diameter.
7. Chacra San Sebastian de la Selva: horseback riding, fishing in specially prepared places, rural lodging (30 beds), home cooking, camping, walks in the forest and trails for 4WD trips.
8. Potrero Santa Rita: rural lodging (five beds), home cooking, horseback riding.
9. Chacra Ati: production of a variety of fruits.
10. Native fruits nursery and packaging plant.
11. Caagui Pora: Indigenous Community.
12. Andresito Yerba Mate Cooperative: explanation of the process of making yerba mate.
13. Los Robles Lodging house (30 beds, cabins).

In Aripuca, it is possible to adopt a tree of native specie, either natural or planted, that is more than ten years old and is located in one of the sites properly registered for this purpose. The purpose of this program is to improve the quality of life of all the members of this "tree-parenting" group.