Trail to San Martin Island

We got moving early on Friday morning trying to beat some of the tour groups that throng the park. A great benefit of staying at the Sheraton is you don’t have to take the 20 minute ride in from Puerto Iguazu every morning. We went to the Paseo Inferior (lower trail) and to San Martin island in the morning. The lower trail goes down to the river level to see the same portion of the Falls we saw the afternoon before, just with a different perspective. Much of the trail is the same metal catwalk, but getting down to the river involved a lot of stairs. You need a good pair of walking shoes for this part of the trip. We took the trail down to the river then crossed by a water taxi to San Martin Island. We decided they should change the name to the Island of Stairs. It was a steep ascent up through the jungle to the top plateau of the island. It was well worth it because of the spectacular view of the Falls from this side.

We went back the way we came (more stairs), down to the river to catch the taxi then up (even more stairs) the lower trail. We stopped at a small cafe for a sandwich and some air conditioning. There were tables outside the cafe  However, it looked like the people trying to eat out there had a lot of competition with the coatis trying to get their food.