Waterfalls, Toucans, Christmas and more..

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You never would have thought - two people check on to a flight together, and one bag comes off first, and the other dead last! That was how we arrived at Puerto Iguazú airport. We missed out on the cheap shuttle transfer to town because while we were waiting for Pete's bag the shuttle filled up and left. So we had to pay 20 Reals (about $15) to get to our hostel, not such a good start to the next leg of our trip.

We arrived at our hostel on Christmas Eve and were instantly impressed - it used to be a casino and resort in a previous life, so there was an enormous pool out the front, and well-equipped rooms with good matresses and clean bathrooms. The air-conditioning was an added bonus with the humidity hovering around 90% most days. Doing any sort of washing in that weather was a struggle, humid and sticky in the morning, and storms each night.

We cleaned ourselves up and headed upstairs just in time for the hostel's buffet and had a fantastic Christmas dinner. There were free capirinhas and meat cooked in the awesome Argentian parrilla style. Everyone ate far too much and had no room for dessert. The hostel also put on a Brazilan show, with gorgeous (and one not-so-gorgeous) dancing girls, mardi-gras style. All the boys in the audience were transfixed, and nearly all the girls as well. After a while they invited audience members up onstage to dance and I was most upset that I was picked on and Pete wasn't. At least he didn't take any pictures of me.

At first we had a quiet few days to get used to the heat, and because most of the town shut down for Christmas day. As soon as the town reopened after Christmas we went to the Brazilian Consulate to get our visa at great expense (mind you we didn't pay even half of what Americans are charged). We had an unexpectedly easy and pleasant experience with the consular official, who was happy to talk about Brazil and Australia.

After the offical business was taken care of, it was time to check out mother nature's exhibit. We caught a local bus out to the falls and walked the 'superior' circuit (as it is called in the Engrish translations). We saw toucans, coati, lizards and loads of tourists. We also went for a walk along the top of the falls and saw amazing views of the valley filled with rainbows.

The next day we were at the falls again early, in time to catch the first jungle tour and speedboat ride underneath the falls! The jungle tour was cheesy as we expected, but the speedboat trip was fantastic. We had so much fun hooning up the rapids, then going underneath the falls, which were like a warm shower! We then walked around the over-rated and stinky San Martín Island, and were disappointed at the views. The 'inferior' circuit that we walked after that was much better.

On our last day at the falls we went across the border and checked out the Brazilian side. To see the falls properly, you really have to see both sides - the Argentinian side is where you can get up close to the falls, but the Brazilian side is where you can take in the entire view at once and see just how big the falls are. We loved Brazil from the moment we crossed the border - it really was a different country with a fantastic vibe. There were loads of tourists on the Brazilian side, and for each photo we had to wait our turn to get to the edge of the walkways and lookouts. But the views were awesome, and none of the photos I took could possibly illustrate the size and majesty of what we saw.

We drank our first Brazilian guaraná while waiting for our bus at the end and were keen after that to get to Rio De Janeiro, our next stop. The only thing standing in our way was the overnight epic bus ride to RDJ, which we embarked on the next day.

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Photos

Iguazú Falls
The third day at the falls, this time looking at the Argentinian side from the Brazilian side.

From the Brazilian Side
None of the photos show just how big the falls are