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Published: December 10th 2012
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Day 78 The 24 hour journey went smoothly and was fairly comfortable. We arrived at the hostel Mango Tree around 5pm and checked into our (14 bed shared dorm!) room. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing by the pool with a beer before having a huge and delicious steak for dinner at the hostel. We had a few (very strong) Caipirinhas (the national cocktail) with a mix of quite odd, but fun people at the hostel, before climbing into out bunks.
Day 79 Today was our much anticipated trip to the Iguassu Falls. We took a 20 minute bus ride to the national park on the Argentinian side, and spent the morning doing three walking trails, which were through the forest and offered some impressive views of the many waterfalls at the site, from various angles, all of which were stunning. After a bite to eat in the afternoon, during which we had to fend off a number of coatis (racoon-like animals), we took a quick speedboat ride. This was great fun, and after taking us close to the falls for some great pictures, we were warned to bag up our cameras and we headed straight
into the falls, getting absolutely soaked, and feeling the force of the falls, as it pushed the boat back out again.
After this, we headed to San Martin Island, where we took another nice, but exhasting trek up the hill to the most impressive yet view of the falls. All we could hear around us was the sound of the water crashing--even the dozens of noisy birds flying overhead were silenced by the water, it was really amazing.
After boarding a small train for the second time (the first we got on in the wrong direction and ended up almost leaving the park by accident) we were at the top of the national park and heading for the main falls--Gargantua del Diablo (the devils throat). There was a 15 minute walk along raised platforms above the river, which eventually took us right above the devils throat. This is a small, U-shaped section of the falls down which most of the water falls and the sheer scale and power of the falls here were breathtaking. We spent a good while taking photographs and taking in the view, which was definitely the best sight of the day--neither of us had
ever seen anything like it and we were glad we had saved it until last.
After a fantastic day, we headed back to the hostel for another steak and a few drinks. The group was quite lively tonight after everyone was on a high from the falls so after a quick game of beer-pong, we headed into the small town for a couple of cocktails and a dance. Exhausted from the day and conscious of our early start tomorrow to see the falls from the brazilian side, we crawled into our bunks to get a good sleep around 3am.
Day 80 Today we intended to get an early start and leave Argentine to head over the border to Brazil to see Foz do Iguacu (the falls from the Brazilian side) before heading by bus to Campo Grande but things didn't exactly work out to plan. We had a lot of hassle trying to arrange transport to the falls and to Campo Grande so we didn't actually make it anywhere until lunchtime. Luckily, there isn´t so much to do on the Brazilian side, so we didn't need too much time and although we had to move rather swiftly,
managed to get there and enjoy the different view of the falls, despite the heavy tropical downpour which also tried to scupper our plans.
The falls were impressive from the Brazil side, and were really beautiful, but because they were in the distance, you did not get the power and sense of magnitude that we had experienced yesterday. Although glad we had seen the waterfalls from both sides, we agreed that nothing compared to 'the devil's throat' at the Argentinia side.
After dragging ourselves away from the amazing scenery, we braved a public bus to the main bus terminal were we caught our next overnight bus (14 hours) to Campo Grande. Equipped with crackers, cheese and a bottle of home made wine we had picked up from Cafayate, we made ourselves comfortable and were soon fast asleep. It had been an incredible couple of days and we both agreed that Iguassu Falls was definitely one of the highlights of our trip so far.
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