A chic lodge, gourmet food and Argentina’s Iguazu Falls to yourself

The magnificent Iguazu Falls

ALAMY

Erosion has nibbled away at the rocks so much that the falls have slowly receded 25km upriver. There, an enormous national park now straddles the Argentine/Brazilian border, where beautifully planned walkways showcase the 275 falls, a patchy white net curtain draped over a 3km-wide window.

Both countries claim to have the best viewpoints. Which side you choose depends on whether you want a quick bucket-list tick with distant panoramic vistas and the option of a helicopter flight (Brazil), or to enjoy a whole day’s waterfall watching, ambling around a scenic rainforest inhabited by coatis, caimans and even jaguars, and getting much closer to the action (Argentina, home to almost three quarters of the cascades).

Brazil has long held the trump card in the form of the peachy pink Belmond Das Cataratas, a hotel right in the park with superb views from its rooms (the Melia in the park’s Argentine side doesn’t quite cut it in terms of luxury). Now, though, Argentina has a new card to play in the form of 14 luxury lodges in the middle of the Atlantic rainforest.

It’s true, Awasi Iguazu is a 20-minute drive from the national park, so you won’t be looking out of your villa on to a series of stunning cascades. What you will be looking out at, though, is the vibrant green rainforest that surrounds the lodge (beautifully designed to bring the outside in as much as possible), haunted by myriad butterflies that flitter to the soundtrack of humming cicadas and calling birds.

Inside it’s not too shabby either, with plenty of local timber and shades of white and beige in the contemporary interiors of the enormous and welcoming restaurant/living room and in the rustic-chic villas themselves, each with a plunge pool on a tree-surrounded deck.

Add to that exclusive access to the park before it opens to thew public and you’ll see why Awasi is worth the — gulp — £1,000-a-night price tag for a villa.

There are rainforest views all around the resort

Unfortunately for my son and me, the early-access permission hasn’t come through when we visit just after the lodge opens, much to the consternation of Claudia, our guide (each villa comes with a personal guide; the price includes excursions ranging from Iguazu to kayaking and hiking in pristine virgin rainforest, as well as food and drink).

Claudia is worried because the day before our visit the national park had a record number of visitors, topping 10,000. But I’m not going to let that deter me from going to the place I’ve had in my sights since its starring role alongside Jeremy Irons and Robert De Niro in the 1986 film The Mission. And even with the tourists, they turn out to be quite simply the best waterfalls I’ve seen. It’s no wonder that when Eleanor Roosevelt first saw Iguazu she uttered: “Poor Niagara.”

First, the Upper Circuit, a 2km route with a series of glistening ribbons falling over the edge of a Jurassic Park-style landscape, the spray coming off like primordial steam. Black vultures circle overhead and I half-expect a dinosaur to stagger past. This is indeed the land that time forgot, with more than 2,000 plant species, 400 types of bird and myriad insects (Claudia, a walking nature encyclopaedia, points many out as we walk along).

There’s time to take in the 1.4km spray-drenching Lower Circuit for a different perspective before lunch, but we’re hungry. You can eat in the park, but that’s not the Awasi way. Instead, we head back to the lodge’s impressive terrace, built at the same height as the rainforest canopy, which proves to be a fantastic backdrop for the chef Aaron Castillo Telleria’s superb food (it’s so good, the lodge is already a member of the foodie group Relais & Châteaux).

There’s nothing like a dish of delicate empanadas and beautifully presented pumpkin gnocchi with dry tomato and homemade ricotta steak to set you up for the main attraction at Iguazu — the Devil’s Throat, a horseshoe-shaped gorge where water plummets 80m into a steaming abyss.

We start with San Ignacio, where 4,500 Guarani once lived alongside only two Jesuit priests. The architecture — now partially reconstructed — is a reminder of the power of God and the belief that his kingdom is accessible to all: at the end of a 4km main drive, an imposing archway that would once have had a baroque-style bell tower is capped by angels whose faces were modelled on the Guarani. We wander around the ruins of terraced houses, a hospital, workshops, the main square and the church; all the missions followed the same pattern.

We reach it via the jungle train and another scenic walk, then stand, mesmerised, barely able to raise our eyes past the falls to Brazil just over the other side as we take in what must be the world’s most photogenic border. Even my 12-year-old son, who by now is a little waterfall weary, admits that this is seriously impressive. You can’t help thinking that the indigenous Guarani, who gave Iguazu a name that translates as “big waters”, were the masters of understatement.

We learn more about them on an evening visit to Yasy Pora, a tribal village of 49 families. It isn’t the normal touristy look around, but a rare opportunity, negotiated by Awasi, to participate in the tribe’s usually private campfire ritual. And while it means that we have to make an embarrassing joggy visiting dance round the fire, stopping by each villager to place our hands on their heads, it also means we get to hear Lidio, their representative, talk about the Guarani philosophy and the importance of abuelos (grandparents) in their society.

The luxurious interior of one of the villas at Awasi Iguazu

The ancestors of Yasy Pora didn’t turn to the Jesuit missionaries when Spanish and Portuguese colonialists arrived in the 16th century, enslaving the Guarani. Many tribes did, though, and the missionaries flourished (so much so that the Argentine province we are in is called Misiones). While it is more than a three-hour drive from Awasi to the nearest missionaries, they’re worth the journey (and the trip works well if, like us, you use it as a transfer to get to Argentina’s wetlands).

This helps to put Santa Ana, our next stop, into context; it hasn’t been restored, and nature has been allowed to take over, with roots beautifully embedded into crumbled walls, a tree growing through the top of a mausoleum, and the jungle taking back what it once owned. It’s wild and magical — more so as we share it with just two other people.

And so to Corrientes province and the wetlands, whose Guarani name of Ibera means “shiny waters”. You can see why when you reach this huge area of more than three million acres, one of the world’s largest wetlands, and, depending on the season and rainfall, its moving mosaic of marshes, creeks, lakes and grasslands. It’s top twitchers’ country, with more than 350 species, and a much better chance of seeing them and the riot of other wildlife that lives here than in the rainforest.

We’re staying at the little estancia of Puerto Valle, which sits by its own shiny waters on a peaceful lake formed in the Parana River, reached through a tunnel of bamboo. It’s a lovely serene place to spend a couple of nights, with fresh food from its vegetable garden and — a big hit with my son — bikes thoughtfully provided so you can whizz around the estate.

At night we can see the twinkling lights of Paraguay across the water from our comfy suite, one of eight new additions to the five existing rooms in the original 1860s ranch building.

In the morning there’s kayaking over the softly rippled lake surface and up a small creek in the jungle, where we spy a howler monkey watching us silently from its treetop. Later we return on foot in the hope of spotting more, and end up dodging primate poo as a group of black males, brown females and a couple of babies brachiating through the branches ambush us from above.

We spy yet another monkey when we take a scenic horse ride through the eucalyptus plantations on our way to the lakeside, where a giant lizard scuttles off and a tiger heron flies up, startled. The horses here are a joy to ride, happy to plod, or to spring into a fast trot or canter should you so wish. Just when you think you need a break from the saddle, as if by magic you happen upon a lakeside spot where a picnic basket has been left, stocked with the cold drink known as terere, made from the mate leaf they drink as tea here mixed with lemonade and shared as a kind of ritual.

Look out for wildlife, including myriad butterflies and birds, from one of the balconies

As at Awasi, all the excursions here are guided, included in the price, and tailored to your interests: a British birdwatching couple were in their element working through their avian tick list (“We saw 50 species today!”).

For us, though, the highlight is a late-afternoon boat trip through the Esteros del Ibera. It’s particularly special because Puerto Valle has private access to part of this immense wetland, which means we can enjoy it without other camera-clicking tourists.

And there are plenty of opportunities for camera clicks — we spot a marsh deer wallowing in the water near by before we’ve even boarded our small boat. Then, as we punt through the shallow creeks, caimans that had been silently watching, submerged in the water except for two gleaming eyes, suddenly shoot after prey, while above, herons, cormorants and kingfishers take flight.

On we go to a lake where, on the water’s edge, we spy capybaras, the biggest rodents in the world (rather like an enormous guinea pig) noisily munching the grass. We motor to a platform in the lake where an impressive set of canapés and pre-dinner drinks are laid before us (with an accompanying floral arrangement). There are 250km of wetlands before us, yet we are alone, except for the croaking frogs and the caiman that is eyeing us as the slipping sun turns the watery world an orangey red. It seems perfect. But then it gets even better on our return. Once we’re back in the car we find a temporary road block of capybaras. Stars puncture the night sky and there, closer to the ground, is another display, this time of twinkling fireflies.

Tomorrow their bright lights will be replaced by those in Buenos Aires, where we will delight in what tastes like the best hamburger and steak in the world. But tonight we’re out in the wilderness — and we’re loving every bit of it.

Need to know
Jane Knight was a guest of Last Frontiers (01296 653000, lastfrontiers.com) and of Norwegian Airlines, which has flights from Gatwick to Buenos Aires from £623 return, or £1,360 in premium economy. The Marriott Sao Paulo Airport Hotel (marriott.co.uk) has doubles from $195 (£140)

The best package
Last Frontiers has a ten-day trip, including flights with Norwegian Airlines to Buenos Aires, internal flights, three nights at Awasi Iguazu, three nights at Puerto Valle (both full board with alcohol and including guiding and excursions) and one night in the Four Seasons, Buenos Aires, B&B, from £5,425pp