That's a lot of water!

The seventeen hour trip to Puerto Iguazu went by without a hitch. However it did start to pour with rain a little while into it and didn't show any signs of slowly up as we entered the town. We therefore had to make a bit of a mad dash to the hostel and I almost slipped over numerous times on the slick tiled pavement. We had found a real gem though, it was one of the cheapest places we stayed at in Argentina and the room or rather rooms were by far the biggest. We were shown into a little apartment with two bedrooms, a bathroom, a sitting/dining area and a kitchen. It was quite rustic but it was great and it had air con which was definitely needed because we were now on the outskirts of the jungle and it was humid. There was a supermarket over the road so after bolting there and back to avoid the rain we had enough supplies to make a couple of nice meals. We spent the rest of the day nicely settled in our spacious new abode and waited for the rain to stop. It did in the early evening and the sky burnt bright orange as the sun, which had been hidden all day sunk down over the horizon.

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The following morning we woke up to clear skies and we were planning to visit the falls, although maybe not at the crack of dawn. However in the end two things scuppered our plans. The first can be attributed to my good self. Adam happened to comment on the fact that my feet were a little on the grubby side so I decided to go and sort this out. I walked into the bathroom which was already quite slippery due to shower over flow but I ignored this fact and raised one foot into the sink. So far so good as I lathered it up and washed it clean. I then placed it back on the tiles and this is where things began to go wrong. As I brought the other foot up and set about washing it my other, freshly washed foot began to slide and I lost my balance. I yelped as I flung my arms about while tettering on one unstable leg, desperately trying to find something solid to hold on to but there was nothing, well nothing apart from the sink. I grabbed on to it as my leg completely went out from under me and gravity took over. I landed heavily, my side slamming into the raised shower surround and pulled the sink down with me. I had now made enough noise to alert Adam who came running and found me in a heap, screaming and hugging the sink. His first thought was my knees which were thankfully unscathed, it was my side that had taken the brunt of the impact and was now seriously throbbing. Still all things considered I got away pretty lightly, no broken bones just a sore side and a bruise which in the end looked disappointingly unimpressive.

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After the incident we were left with a slightly shaken me, a broken sink which Adam went into damage control mode to fix and finally the second factor which prevented us from visiting the falls, the heavens opened. Our second day in Iguazu was therefore a bit of a right off and we spent it inside again. Thankfully it looked as though we could repair the sink with super glue, and we haven't received an angry emails so it looks like it worked!

Finally on our second full day in Iguazu we were up nice and early and on our way to the falls. There are regular buses which take you from the local bus terminal so it couldn't really be easier. There is an entrance fee of about £10 each, which considering what you see I would say is worth it. Once in the park we followed a big crowd of people and climbed aboard a little train which is free and takes you to the first area. When we disembarked there was a little anteater wandering around an outside eating area. He was quite cute and I went for a closer inspection as did a few other people including a women who clearly wanted to touch it. She was about to give it some food when somebody stopped her, silly lady.

We then walked along the two well laid out trails, the Circuit Superior and Circuit Inferior both of which give you views of the falls from a distance as well as lots of smaller falls. The thing which is so overwhelming about Iguazu is the sheer amount of water, I just couldn't really get my head around where it was all coming from or going to. It is tumbling down all around you at such a rate it is mind boggling.

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There are also dozens of butterflies fluttering around you the whole time and one decided to take a rest on my hand for quite a while.

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When we actually saw the Iguazu Falls themselves it was really breathtaking and the noise, even from a distance is tremendous.

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Adam said that Niagra is more like one big waterfall whereas Iguazu is lots of separate ones all in a row. Although the water of the river is a muddy brown, as it tumbles down it transforms into a white cascade.

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You can go on a boat which will give you a soaking under the falls but it was a little out of our price range. After the Circuit Superior we walked along the Inferior which takes you down to the water's edge via a series of steep stairs and closer to the main falls.

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We wanted to take a free ferry over to the small, hilly island of San Martin but because of all the rain over the past couple of days the river level was too high and it wasn't running.

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After the two circuits we caught the train up to the centrepiece of the park, the Garanta del Diablo. Here there are some long bridges which cross the Rio Iguazu, the mighty river that feeds the falls and takes you out to a platform built above one end of the main falls.

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From here you look down and it is like the end of the world.

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You can't see the bottom, just white mist created by the water reaching its destination below. By now the weather had begun to turn again and the sky was also white, the whole scene was fairly devoid of colour.

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We got pretty soaked as the wind picked up and we got splashed. So we're both looking a little drenched in the photos. It was really a place which showed the power of nature, the unstoppable force was amazing.

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We walked back to the little train station but we just missed one so decided to walk back and we got fairly wet in the process but it was good exercise. When we finally reached the park entrance we didn't have long to wait for a bus back to town and soon enough we were in our little apartment once more.

The following morning we planned to catch the bus to Cuidad del Este which is a town just over the border in Paraguay. We packed up, checked out of the hostel and walked up to the bus station. As we were sat waiting for a bus we happened to be opposite a map which got us thinking. It really wasn't that far to Rio de Janeiro, no where near as far as we'd thought. We contemplated this for a while, considering how silly it would be just to pop there and back. We wouldn't be able to go anywhere else, we hadn't the time or the money. We decided to enquire and although it wasn't cheap, it wasn't outrageously expensive either. After a bit of a chat we decided to go for it, we were so close and who knew if we would get another chance, and after all it was Rio. Unfortunately though there were no seats available for that day so having made the decision and we were now quite excited by it we decided to book for the next day.

Having booked our new little detour, only 23 hours each way, we headed back to our hostel and got a different room which had the added benefit of WiFi and had another lazy day before the excitement of Rio!

More Soon,

Laura & Adam