Iguazu Falls

In contrast to the Jesuit Ruins, the Iguazu Falls are very much on the tourist trail, and for good reason. After taking the tiny train to the start of the trails, we began with the upper trail. The sound of falling water was incredible and the first full sight of the waterfalls left me feeling quite overwhelmed, and a little emotional. No photos or words can really convey the sheer beauty and power of the falls, I can only advise that you visit for yourselves. You will not be disappointed.

At one of the viewing platforms we bumped in to Jen (who we'd been volunteering with in Paraguay) so continued the trail with her and her friends for a while. From the upper trail we'd seen some people doing a boat trip to the spray from the falls so, after having our picnic lunch with a fabulous view across the falls, Cicily and I bought our tickets and got in the queue. Life jackets and waterproofs on, we headed towards the boats - thankfully deciding at the last minute to remove our shoes and put them in one of the waterproof bags. The ride was fabulous and we got up really close to the waterfalls, when we went back a second and third time and got absolutely drenched, we couldn't stop laughing! I don't thinking the thin poncho I had on really helped to protect me at all!

Our picnic spot.

After a quick trip over to the island, and the chance to dry off a little in the sun, we headed back to the train to go to the last, and most spectacular, area of the falls. The Devil's Throat is the main part of the waterfalls, and the platform from the Argentinian side takes you right over the mouth of it. The power of the surging water was mesmerising and I could have stayed there for hours. Unfortunately, it was nearing closing time so we were ushered away after about 30 minutes.

Turtles catching some rays!

After sorting out my bank issues on Monday morning (the bank had blocked my card and I'd been borrowing money for two days) I decided to head over to Foz de Iguazu in Brazil with Cicily and Becky. They were volunteering there for a couple of weeks, and I wanted to see the falls from the Brazilian side. The border crossing was surprisingly easy, considering that this is one of the main smuggling points in South America, and we headed in to Brazil and checked into a rather nice hostel  - immaculately clean, hot water, sprung mattresses and a hairdryer!

As I was planning to go back to Puerto Iguazu (Argentina) and on to Salta the next morning, we made a quick trip into town to get some Real out of the bank and buy some authentic Havaianas! I then headed to the falls. It was amazing to see the panoramic view of the falls, and some of the views still took my breath away, but I think the Argentinian side was better and I really wanted to return to the Devil's Throat.

Before walking the trail, I decided to go rappelling off the side of one of the cliffs. I was a little apprehensive whilst hanging over the edge but, once we started going down, I realised that the rope was going to hold me quite securely and I began to enjoy the view.

The tower down which I rappelled!

The view from the top!

After I had walked the whole trail, I went back to my favourite spot and just took in the view for a while. I also put on some of my favourite music and had a little dance around when no one was looking!

My favourite spot.

That evening Becky, Cicily and I headed to a churrasqueria (basically an all you can eat BBQ) and had some of the best steak I've ever eaten (up until that point!). The waiters kept bring out different cuts of meat and we felt it would be rude not to try them all! We quickly realised that the selection from the salad bar was just taking up room so we decided to just concentrate on the meat. After heading back to the hostel (on a very full stomach) for a laze in the hammock and a rum and lemonade, I decided that I'd maybe stay one more day in Foz....

I ended up staying for four days as I quite enjoyed lounging by the pool, reading and eating good meat. On the Wednesday I joined Becky and Cicily for their first day volunteering as they were going to a school for children with additional needs and I wanted to see what it was like.

After dragging some others out for more steak on Wednesday night, we decided to take it easy on Thursday and I cooked  a big spaghetti bolognaise for a group of us... then I finally managed to check out (with lots of rum mysteriously missing from my bill) and head to Salta on Friday!