Iguazu Falls and half a day in Brazil

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We spent two days 'oop north' (as they say in Argentina) on the borders with Brazil and Paraguay, at the Iguazu Falls. We were going to bore you with statistics about how much water falls over the edge(s), how high they are, etc etc but we thought we'd just stick the pictures up instead.

Suffice to say that viewing the waterfalls from afar (in Brazil) and anear (in Argentina) were fantastic sights. Apparently there are 275 waterfalls in total (doh! No more stats, honest), although how they counted them all, and how you determine what exactly constitutes one waterfall we haven't got a clue.

The plane to Iguazu was delayed, so we were too late to go to the National Park on our first day as it closed at 4pm, so we walked through the blazing sun and sweltering humidity of Puerto Iguazu (just as bad, if not worse, than when we went to the jungle in Peru - good job you missed this bit Stu!) to a viewpoint where two rivers and three countries meet: Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. It was nice enough but we were dreaming of the pool and jacuzzi back at the hotel so only stopped long enough to take some pics and down a cold tinnie (Sprite!)

Day 2: a quick breakfast before catching the bus to the Brazilian side of the waterfalls, which gives you views of the waterfalls that put the size into perspective - they're massive. Just one of the waterfalls would make it onto any self-respecting tourist trail, and that would be only, say, 5% of the total size of Iguazu. We stood at the foot of one of the largest sections on the Brazilian side, where you can see the water spray rise back up higher than the top of the falls and disappear into the clouds, and the swallows darting in and out of the falls to reach their nests, which are hidden behind the tumbling water.

After getting the bus back into Argentina (no passport stamp required for Brazil as we were only in the country for a few hours, which disappointed Bridget 'Phileas Fogg') we walked across the walkways above the falls, which gives you a totally different view of them, getting a bit damp in the process from the mist of water that is blown up from the base of the falls. At one section (called the Devil's Throat, if we remember correctly) the base of the falls is just a swirling mass of falling water and rising mist because the water is falling from three sides.

Day 3: more walking, more water, more sun, more humidity, and more Sprite.


There was some lovely wildlife to be seen as we were walking around, mainly birds and butterflies but also large and small lizards and a small thing that was half rat and half guinea pig to our untrained eyes. Puma, racoon(s?), and toucans are supposed to populate the area but it must have been their day off.

Despite the oppressive heat and humidity it was a great couple of days, and well worth the detour in our route to see the waterfalls.


Bye for now,
Bridge and Jez
xxxxxxxxxxxxx

(Happy Birthday Lisa by the way, hope you got the card and pressie! If not, see Stu.)

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Photos

View from Brazil (1)
Spray and mist rising higher than the falls, up into the clouds.

View from Brazil (2)
A waterfall. Plus Jez. Equals wet Jez.

A Lizard
In the process of shedding his skin, only the tail left to do now.

View from Argentina (2)
This rainbow looked like we could reach out and touch it. After hours of searching, no pots of gold could be found. Harumph.