After 9 months of the Diablo’s Throat circuit being disabled, due to the restoration works that were carried out after the damage caused by the torrential rains in October of last year, it will finally be open to the public again.
On Thursday, July 11, the official reopening of the 1,100-meter circuit that reaches Garganta will be held, one of the most sublime points for those who visit Iguazú Falls, given by the unparalleled landscape of the strength of water in that sector fused with an eternal rainbow and the jungle environment that is sometimes lost in the thick mist.
While the enablement of the circuit for tourists, it will be from Saturday, July 13. Recently, the National Institute of Industrial Technology (INTI) verified the works and were able to verify the safety and quality of the reconstruction.
Thus, from Saturday, July 13, missionaries, Argentines and international tourists will once again enjoy one hundred percent of the Iguazu Falls, one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature.
It should be remembered that the main circuit of the Falls area remained disabled since October 2023, after the largest flood in history, in which the Iguazú River reached extraordinary levels and destroyed 90% of the walkways and the Devil’s Throat Balcony.
According to the report of National Parks, the natural phenomenon also devastated the gastronomic area, the toilets of the Garganta Station and a section of the railway tracks where the Ecological Train of the Jungle circulates.
More details
From Iguazú Argentina they said that on Thursday, July 11, the official reopening would be attended by the Secretary of Tourism of the Nation Daniel Scioli, the Governor of Misiones Hugo Passalacqua and the president of the National Parks Administration Cristian Larsen, among other national and provincial officials.
With regard to the reopening of this circuit, Carol da Rosa – manager of Iguazú Argentina SA, concessionaire of the services of the Falls area within the Iguazú National Park – said that “we know that it is a very beloved circuit by visitors so we are very happy.
They are special walkways, which can be refuted at the time of an extraordinary flood, the walkways are designed to recover quickly from a growth, keeping the concrete structure intact. The last flood we had was in October 2023, last year, and we had 24,000 cubic meters per second when the normal flow is 1800 cubic meters per second. With which you can imagine the impact it had, the growth affected not only the walkways, but also the toilets, more than 400 meters from the train tracks and commercial premises.”
He also added “the effect it had was important and that’s why it required an exhaustive work plan, we had several work teams, a great logistics with engineers, workers, company staff, many people dedicated to this task. That is why we are very happy to have achieved that everything that was affected is better than before in such a few months. In this last growth, more than 900 meters of the 1,100 that the circuit has were affected, so almost entirely it had to be replaced, and each section weighs about 4500 kilos, so special equipment is required with all the security that that implies. We had a security team, nurses, doctors, a whole large group of people, as I said, dedicated to this task.”
Almost 600,000 visits in the first half of the year
On the other hand, Carol da Rosa commented that there is a great expectation for this reopening and highlighted the number of tourists they have received so far, in the first half of 2024, “we had 595,000 visitors from January 1 to June 30, which for us is a very good number.
We know that Cataratas offers a unique natural universe in the region with more than 275 jumps and a totally natural environment that provides the visitor with a fascinating experience with direct contact with nature. That’s why our goal is to continue promoting and reach the numbers we had in 2019, because the entire sector was affected by everything that happened with the pandemic and so on.”
And he added “we are in a recovery plan and the balance is positive, last year we had more than 1,500,000 visitors, and this year I hope we can arrive with an equal or better number, for now we are 20% lower, but it is one of the most chosen destinations in the country, and the July holidays are already coming, so we will see. We are privileged the missionaries to have one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature and many natural tourist spots that are so in demand nationally and internationally.”
The manager of Iguazú Argentina SA also referred to what it means for them to be the concessionaire of the services of a Natural Wonder of the World, “it is an honor and a huge responsibility to provide services in an excellent way, it is a constant work and with planning, with a destination that is open 365 days a year. A whole trained team is required, because today 40% of our visitors are foreigners. Touring Falls requires one or two days if you want to travel well and enjoy, where the tourist finds various offers, circuits and services within the area. And being the providers of those services, the hosts, requires a lot of responsibility, work, taking action plans and improvements with the consectionary team in conjunction with National Parks. Because we are a concessionaire within a National Park and our framework of action is governed by the Administration of National Parks, supervised, accompanied, and this speaks of that public-private fusion that can be given and is very positive, that in conjunction with private investment and state accompaniment it can be achieved that a destination such as Cataratas grows and develops, prepares to receive visitors, has the necessary infrastructure for the visitor to come and spend a wonderful day with all the services available, from the visitor’s reception, to the toilets and circuits Accessible, with an ecological train that takes them through the Paraná jungle that is wonderful, the maintenance of the walkways, having walkways that are safe and high quality standards.”
In that sense he added “our services are certified by ISO Standards, we certify the 9001 quality standard and the 14,001 which is the environmental standard, that fits us into a service scheme that is up to providing memorable experiences of safety and quality obviously, without neglecting the care of the environment.”
Finally, Carol da Rosa, thanked “the media for the dissemination they are making of the reopening of the circuit to Garganta, to the visitors for the patience of the wait, to our workers who put all this reconstruction work on their shoulders because without them we could not make this reopening these days, to the management of the company that accompanies us and to National Parks. And I take this opportunity to make this invitation so that everyone can come and visit the Falls on this July vacation, we invite the people from the province who look at us to take a getaway and be encouraged to come to Iguazú because this is an attraction that is ours and we have to take care of it and value it together. And we invite everyone else to come and enjoy this nature destination, come and visit the other nature destinations that the province has, because Misiones has many attractions to offer, I am sure that all those who come will leave with an unforgettable experience, full of nature and the warmth of its people. We suggest that those who want to come buy their tickets on the website to avoid the lines here at the entrance, and well, we are always waiting for you in this Natural Wonder of the World.”