As we only had 1.5 days there we had to plan our trip well. We arrived at lunchtime on the first day and decided to take a cheeky afternoon trip to Brazil (as you do!) to see their side of the falls. It was all very easy getting there - just take a bus that leaves every hour (in theory!), quickly run through Argentinian border control, the bus driver sorts out the Brazilian border control for you and then you arrive at the national park! Weirdly this was cheaper than the theoretically easier-to-get-to Argentinian side! The Brazilian side had spectacular panoramic views of the falls whilst walking along a 1km boardwalk. This walk culminated in the boardwalk going right out onto the edge of La Garganta del Diablo (The Devil's Throat), the largest part of the waterfall.
Just as we were finishing up there, we got caught in an enormous thunderstorm! We were literally in the rain for about 2 minutes running to the bus and in that time we got absolutely soaked! I was wearing denim shorts and trainers so I was rather squelchy for the rest of the evening! Andy was better with his flip flops but the rain had already created a mini river and they nearly got washed away!
The next day we were well prepared for the rain and went out in swimwear, quick drying clothes and flip flops! We went to the Argentinian side of the falls and were so glad we had a whole day to spend there as the park is enormous. We did several walks which went past lots of smaller waterfalls then had a nice pizza lunch almost inside the big the waterfall!
After that we didn't think we were quite close enough to the falls so we took a boat ride right into them! That was so much fun! Luckily we had the gopro taking video so I could watch it later as I had to keep my eyes closed through most of it due to the sheer volume of water trying to knock my contact lenses out!
Again we went to La Garganta del Diablo but on the Argentinian side. Pictures do not do this place justice. The full experience included the roar of colossal amounts of water continuously tumbling over the end of the world into a basin which built up every now and then into a massive explosion of mist and spray. Within this mist there were stunning rainbows against a backdrop of different shades of water. Amongst this assault on the senses we were surrounded by the most colourful and exotic butterflies which were a nice reminder of perspective when you feel so unbelievably small standing next to these giant waterfalls. One giant orange butterfly befriended Andy and stayed attached to his bag for ages until Andy gently kicked him off eventually!
All in all a whirlwind of a visit to Iguazu Falls but we will never forget those 2 days. We're looking forward to comparing them to Niagara Falls in a few months' time!
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