Iguazu Falls

After muchos wine drinking in Cafayate we headed up to Iguazu via a short stopover in Tucaman.

We had wanted to see the falls since we planned our trip as we hold such good memories of our visit to Victoria Falls in Zambia during our honeymoon. We weren´t disappointed.

Unfortunately the journey there was far from relaxing. What we expected would be an 18 hour bus journey - standard - turned into 27 hours as our bus broke down and kicked us to the curb (literally) for three hours.

When we arrived at our hostel, in sweltering heat, we did what any normal human being would do and jumped straight in the pool.

On our first night we met some Dutch girls who were staying in our dorm, Catherine and Anne Marie. We headed into the city with them in search of steak and wine and were not disappointed.

The next day felt too soon to do anything strenuous after our stressful bus journey so we decided to just sunbathe and hang by the pool, enjoying a few beers.

The next day we headed over to the Brazilian side of the falls. We were advised to see these first and in retrospect I understand why. There is less to do on the Brazilian side and so it is a shorter visit. You get to see the falls from further away so it is more of a panoramic view you are getting on this side. While you cannot deny the magnificence of the falls from either side for us, we left the Brazilian side wanting more.

After our afternoon on the Brazilian side we went to bed early in preparation to get up early the next morning to visit the Argentinian side. On our way to the dorm we spotted a new born kitten, which I named Snowfall, as it was pure white. A sucker for waifs and strays and with this kitten looking close to death's door, Mike and I snuck it into the dorm, fed it some milk and let it go to sleep on the end of the bed (obviously after checking for fleas). Don't tell our dorm mates!

Neil, from Salkantay trek and other bits of our trip joined us the next morning after arriving from Buenos Aires with his friend Andrea from Canada.

So we all headed to the Argentinian side of falls together and explored the different pathways. If the Brazilian side was good, in my opinion the Argentinian side was better. You are so close to the falls you can almost touch them. The only drawback is it is very touristy.

Particular highlights was getting the boat that goes as close to the falls as is possible on either side - and subsequently getting very wet! Also can't forget to mention visiting the Devil's Throat at the top of the falls - awe inspiring. Here are some more photos from the Argentinian side  - before and after getting drenched on the boat trip.

After a day packed with experiences we headed back to the hostel for a night out on the town. It ended up being steak and wine dinner followed by beers back at the hostel, game of cards and a late night swim. We decided to test the hostel rules of no swimming after midnight. At 2am no-one seemed to mind. Except maybe our dorm mates who did not appreciate us all having hot showers when we got back to the room at 3am in the morning. Oops - poor dorm etiquette I agree. We blame Neil and Andrea entirely for this unruly and uncharacteristic behaviour. Good job we were all leaving the next morning.