Iguassu Lung

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Our trip to see the Iguassu falls was too dry and too wet. In that order. We decided to press on to Iguassu from Sao Paulo without stopping to see the city. As it turned out, we would have had a much better visit to the waterfalls if we had arrived a couple of days later after all. The weather was not on our side.

It was still hot and sunny when we arrived in Foz, the town on the Brazilian side of the falls. We made it to a lovely rural hostel eventually. After getting off the bus in completely the wrong place and being picked up by the saddest taxi driver in the world. His car was falling apart - he had to open the boot for us with a coathanger. We were quite relieved to make it in one piece.

We knew the Brazil side of the falls offered the best panoramic view of the whole site, but that it didn't take long for the visit. All the same we were quite excited to be seeing one of the natural wonders of the world. The river looked low from what we could tell, but we couldn't believe it when we rounded the corner of the 'viewing path' and saw the massive horseshoe shaped rock face ahead with only a few trickles wetting the surface. I nearly sat down on the pavement and refused to go any further. Fortunately we walked to the end of the path and realised we hadn't been charged for admission to see a non-wonder of the world. The devil's throat - the main attraction - was still pretty stunning. We walked to the end of the viewing bridge - the place where you usually get soaked - and stayed bone dry. But it was definitely worth the visit. We even waited around until the clouds parted and were rewarded with a beautiful rainbow appearing in the clouds of mist rising from the cascade.

That night - the storms started. It rained all night. We had high hopes for our visit to the Argentinian side of the falls. You get much more up close and personal with the water - and after a night of heavy rain it had to be better! Unfortunately, the rain started again on our way across the border. It continued that way all day. We had the strangely pleasurable experience of being simultaneously soaked by cold rain and - while standing over the waterfalls themselves - being engulfed by the warm vapour rising from the river.

We got so wet we couldn't get any wetter so decided to make the most of the day. We walked along all the paths and catwalks that take you around and over lots of the separate waterfalls within the range. We even got a little boat over to an island for a different view, but didn't spend extra money on the boat that takes you all they way up to the waterfall. We had had enough of a soaking.

I got so cold on the way back to the hostel on our ropey hostel bus (park benches for seats and draughty open windows) I couldn't stop shaking. By the evening I was feeling pretty rough and sure enough had a full blown cold by the next day. I knew it hadn't felt right breathing in all that river watervapour. I named my condition 'Iguassu Lung'. Watch out for it if you ever visit. Fortunately it doesn't seem to be too contagious and Graham has been spared.

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Photos

Waiting for the rainbow
Iguassu Falls

Big water
Almost too wet to get the camera out. Standing over the Devil's throat on the Argentinian side of Iguassu.

Thank you Goretex
Grateful for every pound spent on waterproofing

Views from the Argentinian side
More water