After we had booked our flight to Argentina, I was researching things to do and found out about this Full Moon Walk that is offered 5 nights a month (two days before, day of, and two days after the full moon). I was nervous to check the timing for October, but was pleasantly surprised to find that our trip fell within the window for the night visit! I used this site to get information on the dates, cost, and times for the tour.
The moonlit road to Garganta del Diablo
I sent an email to make a reservation and was sent three attachments – two info sheets (one in Spanish and one in English) and a booking form, which was only in Spanish. Here’s the general info for the walk – it’s $500 pesos for the walk, plus $200 if you want to add dinner at La Selva, the restaurant in the park. Transportation is not included in that cost. There are three walks per night – one at 7:45pm, one at 8:30pm, and one at 9:15pm. If you decide to add the dinner and you choose the earliest time, dinner has to be after the walk. If you choose the middle time, you can eat either before or after, and if you choose the latest time, you have to eat dinner before the walk.
We chose to go with the middle time, and to eat dinner (after the walk – although we didn’t have to specify on the form). Once I sent off the completed form, they charged my credit card, and I didn’t deal with the company at all until the day of the walk. For transportation, I contacted our hotel, since we were staying in the park. I didn’t know at the time, but the Sheraton isn’t actually at the main entrance. In fact, we never went to the main entrance during our park visits. So we arranged to have a taxi bring us to the front (it took just a few minutes) and also pick us up after the walk + dinner. It seemed that most people, even those staying in Puerto Iguazú, arranged for a taxi ride with the taxi point services.
We got to the main entrance a bit before 8:30pm (the tour start time). We didn’t have a voucher (I think if you book the trip while you’re there, in the park, you can pick up an actual voucher). But our names were on the list, and we were brought in front of a shop to get our vouchers for the tour and for dinner. There were a few stores still open, so we browsed while we waited for the tour to start. Nothing happened until 9pm, when they gathered everyone around and explained a bit about the park (there was a Spanish and English group). The group was about 100 people large, and we finally piled into the train around 9:20pm. The walk to the falls was very peaceful. We had just done the walk that afternoon, but for some people on the tour it would be their first time seeing the falls.
The Garganta de Diablo was magical at night. The pictures don’t do it justice. The waterfalls were flowing at a tremendous rate, so sometimes the mist would almost completely cover the falling water. We were so lucky that we had such a clear night. In fact, they will cancel the walk if it’s too cloudy, since there are no lights to guide you other than the moon. We had about 25-30 minutes at the actual platform (it takes maybe 15 minutes to walk out there), and there were no issues getting great views from all angles, even with 100 people.
I’m so glad I found out about that walk, and that it worked with the timing of our trip. I chose the first available night (the second night of our trip) in case bad weather caused the walk to be canceled. That way we could potentially rebook for the following night. As I already mentioned, we were ver lucky and had a clear night for our visit.
Dinner at La Selva was pretty good. Nothing great, but it was a buffet and had a meat station (I didn’t try anything, but Ryan did and enjoyed it). Since we were staying at the Sheraton, I’m glad we ate at La Selva instead of driving into town, but if you’re staying in Puerto Iguazu, I’d opt to do the walk at 7:45 or 8:30 and then head back to town for dinner afterwards, since there are many dining options that are superior to La Selva.
I’m so glad this all worked out – I was a bit skeptical since booking the visit seemed a bit too easy, and didn’t require any follow-up. It was a fun way to spend our second night in the park, and a great way to appreciate the falls without as much of a crowd. While I wouldn’t go out of my way to rearrange my trip to plan around the full moon walk, it’s a bonus if you happen to be visiting at the right time!
