Exciting jeep-like tour of Iguazu?

[corpkid]

I'm looking to go on an all day, higher "activity" level jeep tour of the Iguazu jungle while in Rio this December for 4 days before boarding our cruise to Buenos Aires. The two of us enjoy things that are a bit more "offbeat and risky."

 

Can anyone recommend a tour operator who offers something like this? We already have hang gliding and a favela tour set up. This would be the icing on the cake.

 

Obrigado!

Dominic

[Floridiana]

I don't quite understand your request. Would a boat tour into the falls be the ticket?

[kuldalai]

What is available on the Brazilian side of the falls is a trip which first takes one by electric trolley through the jungle to a transfer point . Here tourists transfer to jeep like stretched vehicles as the gradients get decidedly steeper down to the waterside . Here one gets into the waterproof gear and into rubber duck boats with high hp outboard engines . You are taken upstream under several falls and get absolutely drenched in mist . Then right up to the mouth of the Devils Throat at water level before returning to base . Takes around 2 hours overall.

 

Also from Brazilian side one can do helicopter flight over the falls, very spectacular . 10 minutes for US $ 120 .

 

Opposite Helicopter base on the Brazilian side do NOT miss a private Bird Zoo, one of the best in the World. Walk in aviaries with all local species including spectacular toucans and parrots .

 

On the Argentinian side you go down by a small train to the lower station . From there it is approx 1.5m walk over elevated walkways over water out to the top of the Devils Throat where a staggering volume of water goes over .

[Menininha82]

The first option described above is the Macuco Safari. The boat ride is pretty exciting. The jeep ride was boring (IMO), merely transport to the dock.

 

On the Argentine side, there is:

http://www.packtours.com.br/dest/parana/igu/tour/iguazuforest/index.htm

which might let you see more of that expanse by jeep, as well as do some rope courses.

 

As far as a favela tour in Rio, I would urge you to rethink your stated expectations of "a bit more offbeat and risky." These are communities like any others. They often happen to be on a hillside with beautiful views, like maybe in the Berkeley Hills in CA. nbd. They happen to be working poor neighborhoods, like so many others in cities around the world. nbd. They have had shops and restaurants and daycare centers, and now they do have even more access to public services than ever before. Most in the Zona Sul of Rio now have 24 hour UPPs (police posts), the drug traffickers have gone elsewhere, and the shootouts between them, and the resultant danger and "risk", are long over. So it (usually Rocinha is where tourists are taken) is just another neighborhood of hard-working poor folks in a large city. nbd. In fact, you even can go by yourself into some Zona Sul favelas now, like Cantagalo with the "mirante da paz" (view of peace) set up to greet you. http://riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/rio-real-estate/cantagalo-elevator-to-open-in-june/ Should you have booked for Rocinha, though, I would hope it is with someone who actually lives in the community, so the money you pay goes toward the shopkeepers there where he spends his own salary (not just a few cents for trinkets or soda or a tiny donation to some creche), and most importantly, you are treated as friends of a resident/friend. I understand the lure of the twinkling lights on the hillside, but really, again, it's just another neighborhood, neither particularly offbeat or, these days, risky.