Puerto Iguazu

The path drops beneath the falls, putting the water overhead. Spray never lets up, and anything electronic gets wet without a dry bag.

Walkways follow the top edge of the falls, showing the water in the instant before it goes. The river tips over just under the rail and the noise comes from underfoot.

Water pours in from every side of a horseshoe cliff and mist hides the bottom of it. Reaching the platform means walking 1100 metres out over the river.

An inflatable runs right in under the falling water. Everyone comes out soaked, so a change of clothes is packed beforehand.

A narrow gauge train links the sections of the park at a slow pace. It has a roof and open sides, so the smell of the forest comes straight in.

An animal resembling a raccoon works the walkways looking for food. Feeding leads to bites, so notices everywhere say to keep bags closed.

Where two rivers meet, three countries touch and each has raised a marker. Every marker is painted in the colours of its own flag.

Injured birds and birds taken by poachers are treated and returned to the forest. Toucans and raptors are seen up close with an account of how each arrived.

The walk to the falls opens only across the five nights that bracket a full moon. Moonlight caught in the spray raises a rainbow without colour.

A settlement the Jesuits built with indigenous people in the seventeenth century survives as red stone columns. The forest that had covered it was cleared, exposing the square and the church floor.

Amethyst, agate and quartz mines off the highway south of Puerto Iguazu. Follow a guide into tunnels of red earth and chunks of amethyst show in the walls. A shop at the exit sells stones, and the San Ignacio ruins make an easy pairing on the same day.

A dirt path that leaves the falls walkways and heads into the park's forest. With fewer people around, the odds of seeing monkeys and toucans go up. At the end, Arrechea Falls drops through the trees, and you can climb down to the pool below.

A huge structure stacked from big logs of rainforest trees felled for development. It scales up the shape of a bird trap the Guarani used. Inside, guides talk through the local tree species and how the forest has shrunk.

A roofed marketplace downtown laying out Argentine cheeses, olives, wine and mate. Brazilians cross the border just to shop here. In the evening, people sit at tables between the stalls over a board of cheese and wine.

A visit led by a Guarani community whose homes stand among trees on the outskirts. They show how traps, houses and medicinal plants work, and the children sing. Buying wood carvings and baskets supports the community directly.

A family garden in a residential street where feeders draw hummingbirds by the dozen. You stand close enough to hear the wings buzz a few steps away. Photos need a fast shutter.

A house whose walls, roof and even furniture are built from discarded plastic bottles and milk cartons. The owning family explains in person how they turned rubbish into building material. Visits with children tend to run long.