Iguazu Waterfalls

Itaipu Dam
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We caught the bus to Sao Paulo (5 1/2 hours) and then a 16 hour bus to Iguazu (different spelling I know there seem to be numerous)so arrived very bleary eyed and tired at 10am. This led to the first lost property of the trip - which was Michelle forgetting to pick up to Lonely Planet South America book (our travel bible) in the bus station. Luckily (but sadly) we only have two weeks left in South America so we'll survive.

That afternoon we decided to visit one of the 'Seven Modern Wonders of the World' - the Itaipu Dam - the largest Hydro Electric dam in the world. It supplies 95% of Paraguays electricty and 25% of Brazils. It was quite impressive, but nothing close to natures effort at the Iguazo Falls that we visited the next day.

Looking upstream towards Devils Throat
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Awesome is a good place to start to describe the falls. They consist of 275 seperate waterfalls and is right on the Argentine and Brazilian border. So for the total picture you can visit it from both sides. The Brazil side was an impressive build up as you walk along seeing waterfall after waterfall until you reach the biggest one  - Devils Throat, which simply takes your breath away. The noise as you approach them is thunderous and the power awe inspiring. It makes you wonder where all that water keeps coming from.

I could feel the spray when this was taken
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To view the Argentine side we said goodbye to Brazil and crossed the border. This side needed a full day to explore the many walkways that take you up so close to the falls that you get cooled off by the spray. Thanks to the Smith family we enjoyed a special trip on a speedboat that takes you through some rapids and then right underneath two of the falls. We got absolutely soaked and loved it.

After the dutch courage of a beer that evening we booked to spend the next morning in the jungle trekking, abseiling down a waterfall and canoping (flying fox between the tree tops).

You can get very close to the falls
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Next paragraph written by Michelle 'scared of heights' Smith

The trek led us to the canoping site and I was practically hyperventilating just climbing the 20 metre ladder into the trees. But I did it and managed to enjoy flying 800 metres along above the forest. That gave me a little more confidence for the abseiling and once I saw Dave getting soaked through and landing safely at the bottom it was my turn. It was a great morning but all the anxiety wore me out which was ok as I could recooperate on the 20 hour bus south to Rosario after lunch.