wanda mines

First, we took a bus into Wanda. The bus stop wasn't really clear, so we ended up stopping past the entrance to the Wanda mine a bit and had to walk on the side of the highway for quite a bit.Upon arriving, we were met by someone trying to get us to buy a taxi ride into the actual entrance to the mine as it was 4km in. We were told it would help us bypass the begging children, and tired of walking we took her up on it and she connected us with a taxi driver immediately. Of course he said she'd quoted us a one-way price so it was double and he wanted full payment up front, but did give us his phone number on a flyer. It ended up being $150ARS for two persons roundtrip. Cost us more than the bus ride ($70 one way for two persons via Rio Uraquay).Once we got there we did get a very nice tour guide (Gabriel) who wanted to try out his English on us. He did a nice job and though there isn't really much to really tour/ see he answered all our questions. Coincidentally we didn't have to call our taxi driver, he just happened to be there when we were ready to return. We did catch the Theme Park of legendary creatures and it was silly. Kids under about 10 would probably enjoy that and the Dinosaur Museum we did not visit.To catch a bus back to Puerto Iguazu we did get information from a few people. We could go into town (for a few extra pesos with our taxi driver) to go to the bus terminal where they would leave every 20-30 minutes they said or just wait directly across the highway from the mine entrance sign (again, the actual entrance is 4km from that highway roadside sign) in the sun to try to get the right bus. The taxi driver was sitting and hanging out with his crew on the side with the entrance and did make eye contact with us telling us when the busses we saw coming were NOT ours. The bus we took back was $25ARS per person, using a different company - Empreza Argentina.All in all it took a day of our time (basically) which was fine as we realized we had a day to burn. Shouldn't have really stayed two full days and two partial days in Puerto Iguazu.

We picked up a flyer, took a taxi and ended up at Wanda mine. Don't think you're seeing a mine that takes you down to 30 or even 60 metres. We entered one of a few horizontal tunnels of approximately 100m in which a "miner" was hacking away. We had an average English speaking, well-meaning guide, explaining the origins of the mine and gently ushers you from "gemmological" to "commercial", ending up in a rather expensive gift store.

The tour of the amethyst mine was interesting. However the production does clearly not support the infrastructure. Their shop sold every variety of gemstone imaginable, not just amethyst. Some other stones we looked at were priced about 3 times above the already inflated prices of the airports in Buenos Aires, Iguazu and Santiago. During our "shopping", a fierce tropical storm with thunder, lightning & extremely heavy rain hit. Lights failed & staff tried to show & sell gemstones by large portable LED lights. Despite best efforts of staff, the rainwater & runoff from the road came in and flowed several inches deep across the floor. This seems to be a frequent occurrence. On the way back to our hotel, the dark red water was at least a foot deep over the road, & rocks & logs of about 6" diameter were strewn across the road.

Came back very happy with this place, and was surprised to see all the negative reviews about the gift store. My family personally didn't spend a whole lot of time in the store (we mainly stuck to the "sale" $10 peso per bag stones, because that's the kind of tourists we are.) But the mines themselves were extremely exciting as none of us had ever seen anything quite like this before. The visit might be a bit overpriced, but it was worth it as a first time mine-goer!

Leave your wallet in the car!The tour is short and interesting. A working mine of the precious stone amethyst However you end in the gift shop and the jewelry is 3x the expense of a normal stone.The stones are very beautiful however.

The mine tour is a trap. They just want to take people to their store to sell their super over inflated semi-precious stones. When I came back from my trip I took The stones to be appraised by three different jewelers, including a gemologist. The three stones were appraised at 1/3 of the price that they charged me at their factory. I paid Over a US$ 1,000.00 for stones that were worth less than $300. Please do not fall into their trap. Just don't go. You will be robbed for sure. And most of the time when you cross the Brazil border your entry does not allow you to go that far into Argentina. You can become illegal in the country and have further legal problems. Esse turismo desta mina é uma roubalheira. Eles só querem levar os turistas em suas lojas para venderem suas pedras semi preciosas super inflacionadas. Paguei mais de US$ 1000.00 por pedras que foram avaliadas por menos de $300.00. Foram avaliadas por 3 joalheiros distintos. Eles são uns ladrões, vendendo gato por Lebre.

It's a long way out but we negotiated a price en route to airport. The tour was cool and there are lots of geodes and we leaned some interesting things. Of course it ends in a store and crazy pricey.

nice tour. Founded by polish inmigrants , ( Misiones has been colonized by Poles and germans mostly) Wanda stands for Mary in Polish, And it refers to a Princes Wanda who brought inmigrants here in the 30's. Visit lasts 1 hour, it's about a 30' drive from Pto Iguazu (40 kmts) and you get to visit the semi & precious stone mines thru the tunnels.Ifyou wish you may also purchase stones and presents at their well set shop.

It's a cute little place to visit and look at pretty rocks and crystals that have been uncovered and left in place to show off to the tourists. The tour takes about half an hour and then you'll be dropped off at the gift shop. There's not a lot to do but snap some photos and move on.

You can learn how crystals are made under the earth and buy rocks of all colors and shapes and many mystical meanings

My sister in law and I enjoyed shopping for gems here. We both came back to Buenos Aires with some gifts for ourselves. Loved seeing so many natural gems in one place.

We spent an afternoon travelling out to Wanda Mines and felt it was well worthwhile. We had never been in a mine before and it was really interesting. I would recommend it if you have the time. However, I bought a large elephant of agate and granite for a hefty price (they were willing to bargain a bit on the price). They packed it for me in a box and when I opened it to pack it for home, found that one of the tusks had broken off. It was evident that it had been glued on at some point and although I still love the elephant, I am very disappointed at their deception.

I had never seen so many potential gems, not ever been to a mine before... The tour was very informative and beautiful

The Mines were great and we had a super guide, but you have to be good in Spanish or Portuguese to get the good ones.We were there during work hours and right after we left the mine shafts and the escavation área the mining teams started imploding mining áreas with explosives - GREAT :-)No doubt that this is Worth a visit, and if you are 4-6 persons travelling together I would suggest to rente a guide or a car with driver to take you there. The touristic packages include lunch at the facility and that has a very low price performance - even on a good day.The shop is very nice and anything you can get in precious stones in the área you can also get here, and mostly a better prices - remember to chenck your Exchange rates to ARG Pesos. A little advice - if you are fronted by an aggressive sales person tell him/her to get lost and if they get very persistent ask for the owner

You visit the mines where they explain you what they do there, how they extract the rocks and what they can find there. the whole visit is intended to sell you their product...