Iguazú Falls... where do I start? Well, the name is as good a place as any: the word Iguazú comes from the local Indian language and means "Big Water".  I'd say that's a fair assessment of the 275 falls along 2.7km of the river - they are huge!  I've always been more of a fan of wide, noisey waterfalls than the tall thin ones, so I was more excited to see these than I was when I went to Angel Falls in Venezuela.  I had heard that to see the falls properly you have to visit them on the Brazilian side, and on the Argentinean side (the Iguazú River is the border between the two countries), so this was to be where I cross the border... therefore here is my last entry from Brazil as I finally leave the country I have fallen in love with so much.

Due to popularity on the more convenient route, I had a bus ticket which meant I had two changes instead of the usual one, and I was forced to wait longer in the normal changeover town of Dourados as well as experiencing a delay in my bus from here too.  This was the first time I had ever known a Brazilian bus to be late, not bad at all considering I expected them all to be fairly untimely.  Luckily there was a pikey fairground near to Dourados bus station, and I felt it would be rude not to go and check it out for a little while.  Once I was done with the fairground fun I returned to the station, and started to think about budgeting the last of my Brazilian cash to avoid another trip to the ATM... once I was done I realised I had made a page of notes all in Portuguese!  Perfect, I am just about to leave to a Spanish speaking country and I am finally getting the hang of the language in Brazil.

I arrived in Foz Do Iguaçu which is the nearest Brazilian town to the falls and went to the supermarket to purchase a budget lunch.  In Brazil they rarely let you pack your own bags, and despite having bought hardly anything the bagging-boy (without me noticing) decided I needed two carrier bags... so obviously I left without one of them as it just looked like an empty one lying around.  They waste so much plastic in Brazil it is ridiculous.  Anyway, no need to panic as I went back and got it without any problems.

So, first up was the Brazilian side which allows you to get an overall view of the falls from the other side of the river; this day I really missed Luciano and his panoramic camera function!  It only takes half a day to see this side, although waiting for the buses and standing in queues can really affect this.  I waited for about 25 minutes at the bus stop on my way there before I was starting to give up hope... then a woman in a "Cooper Taxi" showed up and offered to take me to the falls for the same price as the bus; fantastic.  When I arrived I joined the big queue that was winding around the visitors' building.  This took forever to shift and when I finally got to the front I saw that there was a seperate ticket office which you have to go to first.  I asked the guys at the gates if I had to queue again in the big one if I went to buy my ticket and they very meanly said yes, even though I had used my best Portuguese :-(  Another thing was that I had been told I could pay with Visa here (like EVERYWHERE in Brazil), but the woman in the ticket office said only Visa debit cards, and as mine was not a Brazilian one it did not work!  So the last of my cash just about stretched to my entrance fee... not sure how I was planning to get back to the hostel.

Once I finally got inside there was another queue for the bus that takes you to the walking path to view the falls.  Eventually I arrived and could start the experience.  All the waiting, queuing and annoyances were worth it... the falls are beautiful.  The park is also filled with the most beautiful butterflies I've ever seen, and lots of racoons trying to steal everyone's food as well as various lizards.  On the Brazilian side you walk parallel to the falls for about a mile until you reach a walkway which extends out along a huge fall at the end called Garganta Del Diablo (Devil's Throat).  When you walk on this walkway you get rather wet, which was very refreshing on this scorching hot day, especially as I only had the bottle of water I had taken with me and no cash to buy anything else!  For an overall view of the falls the Brazilian side is great, but to get up close and personal you have to go to the Argentinean side.  For this I had already arranged that I would wait for Maaike to arrive in Foz Do Iguaçu so that we could go over together.

When I left the park I went to the bus stop completely forgetting I had no way of paying for a bus back to the hostel.  It is about 20km away so walking was not really an option, especially with no water and it was getting towards sunset time.  So, there was only one thing for it, it was time to partake in my first bit of hitchhiking in South America… everyone must be going to the same place surely.  Well, the cars that stopped were either going to the airport or to hotels near to the park, not much use to me as I had to get back to the town.  Then I was spotted by a Brazilian family who were staying at the same hostel as me and they very kindly stopped and gave me a lift.  I was really quite lucky with all of my transport that day.  The first thing I did when I got back to the hostel (after having a shower) was make use of the swimming pool and do a spot of socialising before cooking up the leftovers from my economy lunch and hitting the sack.

Maaike arrived a little later than planned the next day, so rather than rushing to get to the Argentinean side we had a catch up and relax instead.  Although we did go in the pool, the water was a little too cloudy for either of us to want to submerge ourselves and practice our synchronised swimming routine.   She treated me to lunch and paid off my hostel bill with her abundance of Brazlian cash before we set off on the bus to the border.  And before any of you say anything, I paid for things in Argentina to pay her back.  To our surprise this bus arrived rather quickly and we were soon on our way.  After queuing up at the wrong place (this seems to be a new habit of mine), we arrived at the office to stamp us out of Brazil.  Maaike got through fine, but there was a problem with my passport.  For some reason the guy who had let me into Brazil at the border with Venezuela had given me just 30 days in Brazil rather than the 90 days that every other UK/European resident gets given.  They were talking to me in Spanish which really confused me, but eventually we got it sorted and they just changed it to 60 days and sent me on my way.  I was assured that there would be no problems if I ever want to go back to Brazil, so that was a relief as I think I will return here one day.

We waited at the bus stop for about 5 minutes and no sign of any buses, but a nice man in a car did stop and ask us if we wanted a lift.  We figured that there was nowhere he could go other than the Argentinean border post so in we got.  I got in the back with my backpack and noticed that the door handle was missing from my door… but there was one on the other side, so I had already made a plan of clambering over my stuff to get out should anything bad start to happen with this guy - I have such trust in Brazilian men!  Anyway, this guy was fine and Maaike entertained him with some conversation as I sat in the back and minded my own business for most of the trip.  We got through the border and decided this guy was ok and that we would let him drop us off at our hostel door (aren't we kind).  That evening we went out for dinner and I had my first glass of wine in Argentina along with some tapas.  Getting used to talking Spanish again is really going to take some hard work.

The next day we got up reasonably early and headed out to the Argentinean side of the national park.  A very happy man sold us our bus tickets and a very grumpy man struggled to give us change at the park entrance.  On this side of the falls there are three walks: the upper, lower and the one to the Devil's Throat.  There is also a train to connect the different walks which does not come very often and is absolutely packed.  The lower walk was really good as I saw the falls at the same level and you get very close at times, so close you can even taste the falls if you want to.  The upper one allows you to look over the falls but it does not extend very far.  The walk to the Devil’s Throat is also very impressive as you get to see a very violent waterfall from above, and you get very wet when it explodes every now and then.  For me, the Argentinean side was better as you get to see, hear and feel the water much more than the Brazilian side, and you also get an overview of the falls but it is not so panoramic.  I also got to see more varieties of butterflies and lizards, and even got to see some monkeys playing in the trees as well as some beautiful birds.  At one point I had a wasp fanclub when I was eating an ice lolly, and I could not shake one of them off at all and it got to the point where it really wasn’t funny any more, fortunately I avoided swallowing any or getting stung.  I think Maaike enjoyed watching this as she enjoyed eating hers in peace!

We arrived back at the hostel with time to spare before my bus to Buenos Aires.  Whilst we waited I got to have my first listen of the CD Maaike had bought me for Christmas.  The guy in the hostel was very reluctant to put it on as it is super cheesy… but once it was on he was singing along and I think he even made a copy!  Then it came time for me to leave Maaike once again, possibly for the last time.  It was also time for my first experience of Argentinean buses.  I have heard so much about the buses here that I was very excited to try them out… whenever I have mentioned I am coming to Argentina people always comment on the wine, the steak and the amazing buses!  I have to say, this was by far the best bus I have even been on in my life; 20 hours flew by.  It was very comfortable, showed four different films, I was served food, wine and whiskey with a smile, and to cap it all off they are cheaper than the buses in Brazil.  Argentina is off to a good start and I haven’t even tasted the steak yet.