I was half starting to suspect we would land on top of whatever grows around there when I spotted the tiny brown landing strip.

Welcome to IGR, aka Cataratas del Iguazú International Airport, Puerto Iguazú, Argentina. This kind of town wouldn’t have an airport, much less an international airport, if it wasn’t for the fact one of the world’s seven natural wonders of the world wasn’t just a few kilometres away.

I was living a fun city life in Buenos Aires just hours ago, with endless entertainment options, pedestrian streets, and public transportation, and here I was now, wondering how to cross the land border between Argentina and Brazil—don’t count on Uber.

I was just taking a break in Argentina, mostly because I’m not supposed to stay more than 90 days in a row in Brazil unless I want to beg the Polícia Federal for extra Brazil time. I like Argentina but I’m addicted to Brazil. I was happy to come back.

But how?

I left Buenos Aires at 8 a.m. My Airbnb host came to pick up the keys and I reloaded the Uber app until I found a fairly priced ride to Ezeiza, the international airport—39,000 pesos… 42,000 pesos… ah, perfect, 24,000 pesos, dale!

I got a great driver who knew the terminals better than me. It had been a while since my last flight from EZE, I like the Aeroparque Internacional Jorge Newbery best—it’s a downtown airport, it’s cheaper and easier to get to Buenos Aires.

Among many other things, I was worried about the strict 15-kilo baggage allowance with Aerolíneas Argentinas. My backpack can weigh as much as 20 kilos when I’m carrying, ahem, broccoli and other temporary essentials. I finished shampoo, cream, etc. in Buenos Aires and I wasn’t carrying emergency food this time, but still, I was pretty sure it was around 16 or 17 kilos.

But I was the first passenger to check in and the employee just smiled, kindly accepting my 16.25-kilo back.

Phew.

Let’s move on to the second item of my list of worries… how do I cross the border to Brazil?

The flight landed in Puerto Iguazú, Argentinian side. I had to get to Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil side. Not only I wanted to re-enter Brazil but Airbnb options are much better on the Brazilian side—it’s an actual city, not a chaotic town.

The tiny airport was packed with two flights from Buenos Aires. Most tourists if not all had booked a tour or a shuttle to Argentina. I waited for most of them to find their driver and ride, then I asked a taxi how to get to Brazil.

“I can take you to the Argentinian border for 100 reais,” he offered, assuming I was Brazilian.

“And then?”

“You can take… well, I’m sure there’s a bus. Or something.”

Alright, let’s do that.

He dropped me off at immigration. I showed my passport, didn’t get an exit stamp because Argentina just doesn’t stamp you on the way out, then I jumped in the first Rio Uruguay bus with a big Brazil flag.

“Thirty reais,” the driver said in Portuguese with a Spanish accent. “Keep your ticket.”

I was alone in the bus, and it took forever to actually leave. It dropped me off ten minutes later, at the Brazilian border.

And of course, it didn’t wait for me. I watched it drive away, knowing the next bus was in thirty minutes… or more.

I sighed. It was hot, I was thirsty and it was already 2:30 p.m.

It took forever at the Brazilian border because I was stuck between tour groups. Guides were showing up with huge stacks of thirty passports and two officers were busy stamping them—the third one was welcoming a Venezuelan family, then a hippy Argentinian who had residency status in Brazil but had apparently forgotten his CPF (a major sin, in Brazil).

It took thirty seconds to get my own Brazil entry stamp.

I walked across the border and waited for the bus.

The first bus wasn’t the right company, so I would have had to buy another ticket. I’m cheap. I stayed on the side of the road.

The second bus was going to Paraguay. Lovely place, I’m sure, but not where I was planning to stay.

The third one was the wrong company, again.

And finally, another later, I was able to board a Rio Uruguay—why is Uruguay invited to the Brazil-Argentina-Paraguay tri-border party?—all the way to Foz do Iguaçu, a 15-minute drive away.