Macuco Safari — Attraction in Região Geográfica Imediata de Foz do Iguaçu

It was a terrible experience. We entered the park and bought three tickets for the boat ride and one general admission ticket at the entrance. There were four adults and one six-month-old baby (the baby and his mother just wanted to walk through the jungle and weren’t planning to take the boat ride).

We arrived at the Macuco station at 3:30 PM. There was a long line at the entrance. After waiting in line and finally reaching the turnstile, the staff member refused to let us through and instead allowed a group of about 20 people behind us to go ahead (keep in mind we had a baby in our arms). After that group passed, we were eventually allowed in.

But the ordeal didn’t end there. Once we arrived at the next area, we had to wait in another line to descend to the river. After about 30 minutes of waiting, we finally went down to the shore—only to face yet another line at the pier. And once we got to the pier, we had to wait again, this time to board the boat.

While we were waiting on the pier, the elevator continued to bring more people down, and a crowd of about 200 people (no exaggeration) gathered behind us. Just when it was finally our turn to board, the boat captains announced that there would be no more trips that day. That entire crowd had to go back—through the same long lines for the elevator, then into two vehicles inside the jungle, and finally to the shuttle bus back to the park entrance.

In the end, we didn’t manage to leave the park until 8:30 PM. The result: five hours of waiting in lines, and not a single boat ride.

The questions are obvious. Why did the staff keep sending people down to the river when it was already clear that no more boats would depart? They must know the boat capacity. Why didn’t the captains inform us earlier that there would only be one or two more trips? This is their daily routine—they certainly know when it gets dark and when it’s too late to operate. Why wasn’t there at least some kind of plan to help people get out of the park?

And, of course, no one seems interested in offering...

This was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. My family immediately wanted to go again!

I highly recommend the wet option. You get very wet, especially without a poncho. Without one, you’ll be as wet as if you had jumped into a pool fully clothed. With a poncho, which you can buy in the shop, you’ll still get quite wet, but your core may stay dry. There are many opportunities to take videos or pictures. Having a poncho gives you a place to cover your phone. My phone was fine, but make sure to hold on tight and avoid pulling it out when the boat is doing maneuvers.

The adventure is exciting! Some members of my group were scared, but it was so much fun, and by the end, everyone was glad to have done it! This truly is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. People often say that, but here it really applies. Incredible, amazing, exciting, fun, natural beauty!!

One small note on language: much of the staff does not speak English. However, the tour guides and bus audio include English. Those who don’t speak English generally understand Spanish, so having a Spanish speaker in your group is helpful. The language issue did not bother me at all; it was actually nice to be in a place where English wasn’t the dominant language, making it feel more cultural and authentic. If you only speak English, first, it’s great to learn another language 😉. Second, you can get by just fine. Don’t be frustrated. All the staff we encountered were helpful, kind, and respectful. Simply be patient and respectful, and you’ll be able to figure things out. Sometimes they will call over a coworker who speaks...

Very cool experience and we loved it. We highly recommend it.

It would be a 5 star if was not for the following: Many broken lockers. With all the money they collect one would think they can afford to fix them. Lock area downstairs gets crowded very quickly and is disorganized. Use the lockers upstairs. You need to pay for the lockers first inside their gift shop to get a key. They should just charge everyone an extra R$5 and have lockers available to everyone to decrease the chaos. When a person arrives at Macuco and disembarks from the bus, there is not a friendly person there to give directions for first time visitors. The only person I found to ask questions was not friendly and didn’t make an effort to show the next step. Suggestion is to look at the signs and ask other people there instead of employees. It seems like their primary objective is to give the visitor a shower. They do stop once for pictures but that’s is it. The other two stops are under the falls. Because of the water pressure and intensity, you can’t see what’s happening. It would be so much more enjoyable to stay a bit farther from the fall for people to appreciate a close experience of the fall without having to hide their face from the water pressure.

The experience was awesome. I do hope they see this review and improve their welcoming team for new visitors, fix their lockers and expand the space on the locker area, and specially give people more than one opportunity to take pictures while on the boat to enjoy and record the absolute beauty...