Iguazu Falls!

We arrive in Puerto Iguazu in the afternoon of Monday, August 9th. From here we will be visiting Iguazu Falls, a major attraction in South America. The falls are taller than Niagara Falls and four times as wide, having 275 cascades. The falls can be seen both from the Argentina side and the Brazil side. We had originally planned on only visiting the Argentina side but decided that since we are here we might as well do both!

We spend Monday planning and then Tuesday morning we head to the falls! We decide to do the Brazil side first, as there is less to do and see there so we figure we'd get that one out of the way. We cross the border by bus, have to get passports stamps, (both exit and entrance) and arrive in Foz do Iguacu, in Brazil. We arrive at the falls and right away are mesmerized! The view is amazing! There happens to be a rainbow right above which adds to the magic. The flowing water, set on top of beautiful green, lush forests could not be any more beautiful. We walk up and down the trails, where we not only see other views of the falls but also lots of wildlife, my favorite being the Lemur looking creatures all over! They're so cute but did get a little close for comfort at times! After spending a couple hours on the Brazil side we loose track of time and rush, and literally I mean RUN to catch our bus back to Argentina, again having to get stamps at the border. We arrive back at the terminal in Puerto de Iguazu, just in time to catch another bus to get to the falls! It literally was pulling out of the terminal... rushed again!

We arrive at the Argentina falls and first stop at the Mate gallery where I make a purchase to bring back home. We then hop on the trolley and head straight to la garganta del diablo, or Devil's throat. After crossing many walking bridges and walking for awhile we arrive at the throat, where 14 falls drop 350 feet, causing a 100 foot spray of clouds overhead. It is the most popular sight of the falls and I see why! It was amazing, literally breathtaking! Laura and I sat and starred at the falls for what seemed like hours. They were so pretty, nothing like I have ever seen before. I've been to Angel Falls in Venezuela, which is awesome, but these blew me away! After a million pictures we get back on the trolley and hop on one of the jungle jeeps!

These jeeps took us on a 20 minute ride through the jungle to observe birds, plants and wildlife, while learning a little about the area. We then arrived at the river where we hopped in a speed boat that would actually take us IN the falls! They tell us we are going to get SOAKED and give us huge waterproof bags for all of our valuables and things we don't want wet. We start the ride and cruise around for awhile, going so fast and making such crazy turns that I don't know how we didn't tip! We stop to take some pictures of capybaras, the largest rodent in the world and then head towards the falls! We get closer and are advised at this time to put all cameras and valuables away. Here we go! We are going to get so wet!! The initial blast from the falls is so intense, it actually hurts a little, but it is so cool! The power of the water is crazy and the fact that we are literally riding underneath it, was amazing! I was laughing so hard, as I could not believe how fast it all happened and how wet we instantly were! We do a big circle and go under these falls a couple more times, with each time getting more intense and causing me to laugh even harder! We then find out we are heading to an even larger one. I didn't think it could get any better than this. The next one is even better, absolutely crazy! This was definitely one of the highlights of my trip! I was so impressed with the falls and our boat trip!

We get off the boat, soaking wet and again have to run to catch our bus back to the terminal in Puerto Iguazu. I don't know how this always happens to us, but we are ALWAYS rushed! Normally running to a bus does not bother me but this time we had wet clothes on (wet jeans which are the worst) and knew that we had a 30-40 minutes ride ahead of us where we had to now sit in wet clothes since we didn't have time to change. Boo! We do make the bus though which was great, we just had a very uncomfortable ride back to town. We run to the hostel, finally change out of our wet clothes, grab our bags and then head back to the terminal for the 4th time that day to get a taxi to our next destination, Sao Paulo, Brazil! We again cross the border, getting 2 more stamps, making it our 6th stamps of the day, way more than anyone needs in one day, and we arrive in Foz do Iguacu before getting on another bus to Sao Paulo! Brazil, here we come! Our final country of the summer!