Iguasu Falls

Arriving in Puerto Iguasu late one evening we paid a local boy on a bike the princely sum of 25 centavos to tell us we were walking the wrong way down the street. We turned around and found our El Guembe Hostel a few blocks away down some darkened streets full of stray dogs.

Next morning we got ourselves booked onto an Adventure Tour of Iguasu Falls. The adventure really did start the moment we left our doors. Hopping in our heavily-discounted taxi we sped away down the road at upwards of 100kph whilst remaining in third gear. This had the net effect of not only making a lot of noise, but also making us all particularly attractive to the local female wildlife. Consisted mainly of dassies and butterflies it did wonders for our egos, though I believe the butterflies were actually only using me for my well-toned bag which they hoped to take custody of after a passionate but short-lived love affair.

First up was our tour of the Argentine rainforest around the falls in a 4WD which drank cooking oil by the bucketload and had an unusual accompanying smell. It was good to see our first bit of rainforest, even though this section was not particularly remarkable or full of life. Second, and by far the most exciting thing on our hitlist was a motorboat tour of the Iguasu Inferiór. We sped up the river swinging from side to side, getting glimpses of the waterfalls ahead. After some amazing photo opportunities right at the bottom of the waterfalls the driver hammered the throttle and sent us right under them!! Awesome combined sensation of disorientation and a slightly heavy-handed massage!

--

We then set off on foot for the various viewpoints overlooking the falls on the Argentine side. The whole area was beautiful and impressive, if a little over-infested with American tourists...apparently they're starting a culling program next summer. Fortunately we did find the occasional people who could take good photos of us. One particular highlight of the Argentine side is the windy staircase up to the closed door of a lighthouse - a must for anyone who wants to look particularly stupid walking straight back down again. Later we found out that there are rules about walking on railways tracks even in Argentina - the whistle was blown at us as soon as we tried to hike the route out to Devil's Throat as the last train had departed...shame.

Randomly that evening Grant and Nerys who I knew from New Zealand turned up at our hostel in Puerto Iguasu so we had a little catch-up with each others travels where they recommended what turned out to be an awesome steak restaurant in Buenos Aires. Later Martin and I set off into town calling on Allan, a Danish actor who we knew from Córdoba and had bumped into randomly earlier that day. Starting with an awesome steak each we then hit a bar for a few cocktails whilst Allan provided us with an insight into just how easy it is to pull guys in gay clubs in any country because "they're all there for the same reason". Thanks - we'll bear that in mind! Then on to a surprisingly lively nightclub for a town of 15,000. Three beers and Allan was dancing the funky rabbit around a guy who had comparable hip action to our Thai friends with white shorts. Totally hilarious!

Next day we spent all of 6 hours in Brazil - possibly a little quick but another tick in another box surely??! Well it was a stamp in the passport at least. As readers of guidebooks both at home and abroad have kindly informed me, whilst the Argentine side gives you a close-up experience of the falls, the Brazilian side gives you a sense of the true scale of the them. From the Brazilian side you realize how truly enormous they are, and at the viewpoint in the middle of Devil's Throat, just how noisy they are! Also according to the guidebook (and none of you avid readers at home picked up on this one! :-p) up until the 1930s tourists used to pay locals to row a boat out the the edge of the falls and then paddle like crazy back up the river to prevent them going over the edge whilst they took pictures, spat over the edge and all the rest of it. Total nutcases! Unsurprisingly once upon a time someone didn't row hard enough and that was the end of that not so clever sightseeing option!

After two vaguely-connecting busses each way, we returned to Puerto Iguasu randomly meeting Allan again and getting the lowdown on the previous night whilst being served burgers and sum estranged version of bread pudding by our most crazy Argentine waiter yet! And then another bus...