Iguazu

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We left Rio and headed to Paraty, a small beach resort with nice old cobbled streets and buildings. Unfortunately our hostel wasn´t great (rude British owners who passed the attitude on to their staff) and nor was the weather (rain but still fairly warm) but we managed to entertain ourselves walking down the badly cobbled streets, cobbled so badly that you had to watch your step all the time. It wasn´t beach weather either so we did our usual and headed to a bar. Fortunately we found one of our favourites so far that had a huge beer menu with beers from all over the world. We resisted the urge to drink ales from home (at huge expense of course) and settled for some decent Brazilian beers rather than the usual Brahma rubbish.

Our next plan was to head to Foz do Ihuacu but through which we would have to pass Sao Paolo on the way. Sao Paulo is huge, close to 20 million people in one sprawling city and we´d not met anyone with much good to say for it, including a British guy who had been working there for several months. We therefore decided to give it a miss and head straight into and out of the huge bus station, the biggest in South America. Unfortunately most buses were booked up so we had to wait another 5 hours before we could leave. As usual the bus to Foz took longer than we thought and we arrived the next day exhausted and too late to do anything that day. We found a hostel just from Lonely Planet and headed to it. We arrived at the hostel, called Laura Hostel to be greeted by Laura as a long lost friend. It was clear that we were the only people staying there that night. She was the craziest and most entertaining hostel owner we had met and had a huge heart of gold. She spoke to us continuously in a stream of Portugese, Spanish and English, all mixed up but a really odd mix that was surprisingly easy to understand. Our exhausted faces didn´t really stop her as she launched into a long conversation about her travels round the world and even her friend who oddly lives in Scarborough. Then she picked up on the idea that I (Tom obviously), to her anway, looked just like Enrique Iglesias. I disagreed but she was convinced and as a really wierd coincidence an Enrique video came up on the TV just at that point. There was no stopping her then as she sang and danced round the living room. Eventually we managed to excuse ourselves and get some rest.

The next day we were to go to the Brazilian side of the falls. We got to the entrance and joined a long queue before finally getting on a little shuttle bus that took you the rest of the way. We got off and walked down a path that took you on a walk to the falls. Just around the corner we got out first glimpse. These huge water falls were just across the valley but as we carried on walking they got bigger and bigger until we could see the Devil´s Throat which is just immense. The power of the water falling over is unbelievable and throws up huge clouds of mist so that it obscures the base of the falls. Near the base of the Devil´s Throat there is a walkway that extends out into the water past another huge set of falls. The power of it so close is amazing and we quickly became soaked by the water thrown into the air but it was a beautiful sunny day so we didn´t mind. We stayed as long as we could before heading back to the relatively dry bank. The whole day had been amazing but we were to head to the Argentinian side the following day which was supposed to be even more amazing with a closer view, although the Brazilian side gives you this amazing overall view. For our last night in Brazil we went out for a churrascaria meal, essentially a big all you can eat BBQ. There was a small buffet of salads (which the locals didn´t touch) and also loads of pasta and potatoes. You take what you like and then sit down while they continuously, like every 30 seconds, swords of meat of all descriptions from sirloin steak, sausages, grilled cheese and something that looked rather worryingly like testicles (but may have been little kidneys) to your table and carve some onto your plate. We were rather too polite to begin with and accepted everything they offered us. Needless to say we ate rather too much and waddled back to our hostel to fall into a deep meat induced coma, happy though.


The next morning we braced ourselves for breakfast with Laura. Still stuffed from dinner the night before we didn´t really feel like breakfast but she would have been so offended if he hadn´t eaten anything and so politely ate the mountain of bread, panetone and coffee she offered us. After breakfast we headed to the bus station to catch a bus to Puerto Iguazu in Argentina. We turned up at the bus station just in time and boarded the bus. Ten minutes down the road we had to get off the bus at the border to be stamped out of Brazil. Once stamped out we had a to hang around the border for the next passing bus into Argentina. Another ten minutes on that bus and we had to get off again at the Argentinian border to be stamped in there. Thankfully this time the bus had waited on us and we boarded it again and headed straight for town. When we finally arrived in Puerto Iguazu we were extremely hot and sweaty and so our air conditioned hostel was very welcome. We spent the rest of our day organising our bus out the next day and our trip to the Agrentinian falls.

The next morning we got up early to catch the bus to the National Park. We arrived there before 9am and there was already a queue for the train into the park. Somehow we had again managed to get there just in time for a tour party arriving. Despite the crowds we got on the first train. At the first stop we got off and walked a km along a footpath built above the river leading to the falls the whole time praying that it wouldn´t suddenly be swept away by the force of the water and wondering how on earth they build it there in the first place. 20 mins later we made it to the other end of the footpath which brings you right out above the falls. Here we could see the sheer amount and speed of the water going over the edge. The force of the water was awesome and we were literally standing over it. Needless to say we got completely soaked ( again) which was rather nice in the scorching heat. After taking in the breathtaking sight we walked through the park visiting several other waterfalls along the way. We made our way round the lower track which led down to the bottom of the lower river. From here we boarded a speed boat for a ride into the falls. We were givedn lifejackets and dry bags for our belongings before beginning the 12 min ride. The boat took us round to the falls over the Devil´s Throat taking us fairly close to the falls. The water was so choppy and you could hardly hear due to the rush of the waterfall. Next we turned round and the boat took us back round to where we boarded and to a huge waterfall on that side. At this point the crew were suiting up in full waterproof gear. We sat in our shorts and t-shirts realising that if the crew were getting prepared like this then we were more than likely going to get soaked. Sure enough the boat drove straight into the falls. At one point we were literally underneath them and we couldn´t look up for the water hitting our faces. You really go a sense of the force of the water. The driver drove back out from the falls before completing the whole thing again- soaked to the skin, he didn´t think that we were wet enough! Before heading back to shore he took us back round into the Devil´s Throat only this time we went under the waterfall. At one point I was surprised that the boat hadn´t capsised. Twelve minutes later we were back on dry land although we were nothing like dry. We wrung the water out of our clothes and squelched our way back up to join the upper track. We walked along the upper track which took us past more very impressive waterfalls. This gave our clothes time to dry our before we headed back to the entrance to get the bus back to town.

Once back in the hostel we got oursleves prepared for our bus journey to Buenos Aires. Another 19 hour overnight bus!

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