After another long bus journey from Buenos Aires (we are pros at this travelling malarkey now!), we arrived at Puerto Iguazu. A quiet town famous for one thing: Iguazu Falls. Arriving at our hostel, we were pleasantly surprised to find a massive place complete with pool, restaurant, and bar. If that wasn´t enough, it seemed the good weather had decided to grace us with its presence. So we spent the rest of the day sunning ourselves by the pool, book in one hand and a Caipirinha in the other. Utter heaven.
We decided to take stuff slowly and chill out for the rest of the day. With the weather and our accommodation being so good we booked in for another 2 nights and decided to head off for the falls the next day. That night, the hostel had a BBQ complete with unlimited Caipirinhas (like a rum, it is made from sugarcane alcohol mixed with limes) and a tango show. Although we had just had our fill of tango shows in Buenos Aires, this time they asked for audience participation and let me tell you it is a lot harder than it looks. Nick managed to make a swift escape at this point (typical!) and left me to be grabbed by the dancers with several other backpackers and was then held very close for a song or two. It was so awkward but a good laugh and the mens hair didn´t smell as bad as the greasy appearance makes you think it would.
Arising early, we got on an 8am bus to the falls. It was going to pick us back up at 4pm and we thought at the time "how on earth are we going to spend 8 hours here?!" It was actually going to be very easy (and we nearly missed that bus too!). Heading off to beat the masses of tourists the nice weather would bring, we headed off first to the Garganta del Diablo (or Devil´s throat) being the biggest and the best waterfall of Iguazu. Opting to avoid the train and walk off some of the steak from the night before, we walked through the jungle path to the Devil´s throat. At first we couldn´t hear anything and jokingly thought that maybe they hadn´t switched the falls on yet (!) we arrived at the entrance to the Garganta del Diablo. Not another tourist in site, we walked down the 1 km steel walkway to the fall. Hearing a faint roaring now, we knew we were close. Meeting a couple of people walking the other way, we noticed that they were coming back with very flat, wet hair and wondered why . It didn´t take long to find out and before long, we were soaked in the misty spray from the Devil´s throat. Blinking away the mist, we stood at the edge of the platform with no other tourist around us and looked down into the misty abyss. We just couldn´t work out where all the water (in an endless supply year round) was coming from. The water in the river leading to the devil´s throat is so shallow and calm and doesn´t explain the sheer size and amount of the waterfall. We were in awe. Although we were soaked, we must have stood there for about 20 mins being very snap happy. In fear for our camera, we retreated back down the walkway gabbing like a couple of school girls about how incredible it was! Photos once again do not do this beast justice and we both agree it is very aptly named.
After the stunning Garganta del Diablo, we explored the rest of the park with a couple of girls we bumped into from the hostel. The Iguazu park is a Unesco World Heritage Site and features 275 separate falls in about a 3km stretch ranging from 64m to 82m in height. The park is shared between Brazil and Argentina with the Garganta del Diablo fall marking the border. Catwalk-trails wind through the jungle and over the inlets to different parts of the falls, giving you different incredible views of the waterfalls around you. In the heat, the cooling sprays were very welcome. Rainbows crop up everywhere and you can almost see the ends of them, expecting a small pot of gold like it was out of a fairytale. The sheer size of the place and the beauty of the falls makes it hard to believe that it was natural, you do almost expect to see taps or a hose supplying the water which they turn off at night!
Around the park there is much wildlife to see. A plethora of beautiful different types of birds, Tropidurus lizards and multi-coloured butterflies. One thing, which we thought was cute at first but later became a bit of a menace, was the coati. The coatis have become rather tame and are not scared at all by the sight of people. They were very cool from a distance but when it came to eating lunch, their table side manner was rather rude! Climbing the tables, people´s legs and rummaging into bags; they were a bit annoying. Although saying that, the baby ones were still rather cute!
Engaging our adrenaline junky alter-egos, we headed for the optional 60 peso speed boat ride which actually takes you under the San-Martin Falls. Queuing behind people that were kitted out head to toe in waterproof gear, we decided to strip down to our bikinis (Nick included!) and dry off later in the sun. Watching people strategically pick out seats that might not get too wet, we opted for near the front to get the full force of the falls. We later found out that it didn´t matter what seat you picked, you were going to get absolutely drenched! Heading towards a fall called the three Musketeers near the Garganta del Diablo, we got our first taster of what was to come. The boat was becoming rather waterlogged! Speeding off to the San-Martin falls, our driver edged further and further into the falls. Almost like having a very full cold bucket of water tipped on your head, the driver (after encouraging yells from the passengers) dipped us under twice more before heading to San-Martin island to let us dry off. It´s funny how being dipped under a waterfall can make even the most manly man, break into a fit of giggles. Nick seems to think I am describing him - excuse me while I have another fit of giggles!
After sunning ourselves and exploring the last remnants of the falls we made it on the bus and back to the hostel for another night of food, drink and fun. Sadly, that was the end of our perfect weather and the next day the heaven´s opened and did not let up, thunder storm and all. It´s crazy how quickly the weather changes here. We weren´t sad though, since once again the weather held out for us sightseeing. Sooner or later we will come unstuck!
That night, we signed up again for the BBQ and were delighted to find a Brazilian dancing show for our evenings entertainment. Two women in the tiniest thongs came out, shaking their asses to a funky Brazilian beat accompanied by a man wearing what I can only describe as a sequined shirt, equally shaking his ass! This time I made sure Nick didn´t make a sharp exit and in fact raised his drunken arm when the dancers were coming round for willing victims. Being pulled out of his seat, he finally realised what I had done and the threats of getting me back were in abundance! Seeing him prance about and shake his ass with the dancers was entertainment enough for the whole evening! I think this is actually the hostel that another Mr Moir stayed in when he came past this way last year as I remember reading a similar thing happened to him. It didn´t stop there though and they indeed did get the ladies up followed by the whole hostel in a bizarre Congo line/line dancing samba routine. As everyone was involved it left little to be embarrassed about.
Seeing some beautiful sights, meeting some good people, and having a lot of fun sums up our time here. We were actually a little sad to leave but Rio is calling 22 hours away and I look forward to a cocktail out of a coconut on Copacabana beach. It is said that music and passion are always in fashion at the Copa, you´ll fall in love! On that cheesy note, I´ll sign off!
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