Iguazu Falls

After talking with a few travellers, we've decided to leave out Angel Falls (Venezuela) and do the Iguazu Falls (Argentina) instead as they are supposed to be the best in all of South America.
So, we embarked on a16hr bus ride from BA to Puerto Iguazu. Surprisingly, the ride was very comfortable, well, we did have a 'cama' so the seats reclined into a bed position plus we got fed…

So glad we came here. The Iguazu falls borders Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay so we could have had our passports stamped for a day in Brazil but we decided to remain on the Argentina side. Through our hostel, we went on the Gran Adventura tour which took us on a boat along the river (Rio Iguazu) before heading towards the falls for the plunge!. We were so lucky that we did this on a sunny day because the water level wasn't so high meaning the falls were relatively calm (hummmmm, not too calm). It was absolutely incredible- we were all layered up with life jackets and plunged into the biggest impact point of one of the many falls …. Felt like we were in a film… gasping for breath, people screaming with excitement and probably fear and I must admit, I'm not much of a water baby so I did think "oh sh?t' what am I doing……". To get an idea of what we were in- the water falls at a rate of 1,750 cu m a second, water plunging in 275 falls over a frontier of 2,470m (taken from the lonely planet). It was incredible!!!!

We then took a boat from the main island to Isla San Martin - trails lead you to up close views of the falls.
We spent the whole day at the Igiazu Park because you can do 2 circuits: inferior and superior. Inferior-lower level view of the falls . You're so close that you get absolutely soaked by the spray and evaporating water. Superior-gives you a top down view so you're right on top of the fall. Quite nerve wrecking when you're walking over a steel gridded walkway with barriers only a meter high viewing an enormous waterfall beneath you. Jurgen soon overcame his fear of heights!!!!

The mother of all falls is the Garanta del Diablo (It's obviously called the 'mouth of the devil' for a reason....look at the picture!!!) - a train and a 1km walk along a catwalk across the River Iguazu to get there. Now bear in mind that this is one of the major tourist attractions of SA so this 1km walkway was quite congested with tourists so we did feel a little bounce here and there. Over enthusiastic camera snappers hanging over barriers to get the perfect picture put Jurgen into a state of shock!

Entrance fee to the Park and falls is $40 pesos (around 6GBP-7GBP) and entry for the next 3 days is half price. It's worth it because you can also do a 7km jungle trail (free walking) plus walks around the park. We were slightly put off the jungle trail when the leaflet detailed what to do and what not to do if confronted by a Jaguar: 'Do not turn your back on it / Keep eye contact / Do not run away from it because their natural instinct is to chase you'…..easy decision and opted for the safe option.

We´re not able to upload photos at the moment which is a shame because they give a true picture of how impressive the falls actually are....we´ll try again another time. You´ll see a couple of rainbow shots - we were so lucky that day because we seemed to be in the right place at the right time just as the sunlight hit the water drops/mist . These gorgeous images made me break out in song 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow'EDIT JURGEN: SOON TO BE SEEN IN A THEATRE NEAR YOU....... EDIT YVONNE: yeah right, he loved it really.....

Our hostel (Hostel Park Iguazu) is very well located in the town of Puerto Iguazu (18km northwest of the falls). For anyone who´s planning on visiting the falls, I´d definitely recommend this place - it´s clean, affordable (USD24 per night per person for a private room). Staff are helpfull and friendly giving good tips about the falls/excursions and surrounding areas. We've had our washing done for a small price, been to the local bars and club and still eating copious amounts of food. We've both put on a few pounds so have edited our double chins from the pictures!!! As of next week when we hit the beach, it's salads all the way!!!!

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