I Visited Iguazú Falls at Night. It Was Better Than I Imagined.

I’m originally from Argentina and grew up in Brazil, so I’ve been to the Iguazú Falls — which sit between the two countries — plenty of times.

This year, I decided to take my husband and kids to see the world’s largest waterfall system, since they had never been before. And while their minds were blown during our daytime visit, it was the night walk I took with my husband through the falls that, honestly, took my breath away.

The full moon tour is small and private

The night tour is only available during a full moon, and you can choose different time slots. We were there with friends for a wedding and chose the 9:25 p.m. slot to guarantee it’d be really dark out. While kids are allowed on the full-moon tour, we decided to leave ours at the hotel with my mom so we could fully enjoy the experience.

Our tour had 120 people, which is relatively small compared to the thousands you can encounter walking along the metal walkway leading to the falls during the day. The experience felt intimate because we were such a small group, which gave us space and time at every stop.

The walk starts right before the falls, with a small performance by the Guaraní, the indigenous people of that part of Argentina. There, our guide also explained what certain words meant, for example, Iguazú means “big water” in Guaraní.

The moon guided our way

After the performance, we started walking through a thick forest in the dark. The guides told us to use all our senses to experience the national park in a way very few ever do, and they were right. We started noticing different chirps and squawks from insects, birds, and monkeys. There were also different smells coming from the forest.

But one sound was undeniable. Even before we reached the falls, the sound they made was so loud that it was hard to ignore, and it grew even louder as we approached.

Throughout the tour, we weren’t allowed to use flashlights or flash photography. The whole point was to let your eyes adjust to walking in the dark and to let the moon guide you. It was pretty mind-blowing to see how your vision changed the further we went into the park; it didn’t feel like nighttime.

The waterfalls are breathtaking

As soon as we approached the first fall, you could hear everyone gasp and stop to take photos. The enormity of the falls is pretty breathtaking, but also feeling their power at night is indescribable. Even as a writer, I lack the words to explain how powerful it felt.

There are two circuits to the falls: top and bottom. Because the water levels are currently so high because of El Niño (so much so that Argentina had to close some parts of the park), we were only able to experience the top circuit during our visit. We missed out on the Devil’s Throat, which gets you incredibly close to the falls. Our route let us see the waterfalls from above and the high jumps the water makes before it reaches the ground again.

At times, I just stood there, mesmerized by the sounds of the water splashing with all its intensity, surrounded by mist, under a sky covered in stars.

My husband, who was experiencing it all for the first time, kept saying “wow” over and over. At one point, it was just him and me on a long metal structure overlooking the river right before the falls. It felt like we had the whole park to ourselves, and it was the most romantic thing we’ve done after many years of parenting little kids. We made it back to the entrance of the park around midnight.

We brought our kids during the day

The next day, we took a trip to the Brazilian side of the falls, which offers a panoramic view of this natural beauty. We rode a boat with our kids and friends close to the falls, where we got soaked and saw plenty of rainbows. On the way back to our car, we saw coatís and monkeys.

After that, we took our kids to experience the same walk we had taken under the bright full moon, but during the day. Seeing the difference between what a daytime and a nighttime tour offers, I was left wishing we had taken the kids on the full-moon trip.

Before we even left Iguazú, my oldest was already asking us when we were coming back.