Foz do Iguacu - First view of the falls from Brazilian perspective

Falls with beautiful rainbow
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Wednesday 4^th July – Foz do Iguacu – Puerto Iguacu

After spending the night in a huge room i.e. 3 rooms, one with the master bed, one with 3 singles and the ensuite which was the same size as the bedrooms, we had breakfast left our bags at the pousada and set of to the Iguacu falls. We were glad to see at the entrance no queues, plenty of people to help and a very lovely complex. We got our tickets, wandered the museum then hoped on the bus that takes you up to the falls. Wow! They are out of this world! I didn't quite imagine the size or amount of falls in the area. The sound is not peaceful like the sea, but a constant roar with 275 different waterfalls crashing 80m into the Rio Iguacu, you can kind of understand what the noise is about. Makes the Huka falls look rather gentle! We really enjoyed walking around the trail which takes you along all different angles of the falls, all platforms of which can't be viewed from any of the previous platforms so it is really well set up to feel like there are hardly any tourists about. There were also lots of furry creatures that looked a bit like a badger with a really long nose... there were families of them everywhere and also butterflies, beautiful birds and a whole lot of other weird animals. The best bit of all was the final platform called “devils throat”. This platform is perched at the very edge of the descending fall. The noise and sight are somewhat overwhelming as you get hit by the spray from the fall behind you. We caught a glass elevator to the top of the falls which was pretty cool and then caught the bus back to Foz after thoroughly enjoying our first look on the Brazilian side. We then set off for Itaipu Dam – one of the 7 modern wonders of the world. What's really amazing is how it united 3 countries – Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil and the land it is on is neutral. After a short movie we hoped on some buses and were driven to our first view of the dam. It is gigantic – enough concrete to build 8 football stadiums similar to the size of the Maracana in Brazil. We were then driven along the bottom of the dam, underneath the huge water pipes with turbines inside which create the electricity. We felt dwarfed! The bus then took us along the top of the super structure which was level with the lake but the top of the dam. Looking down it was like ski field slopes. We continued along the top of the dam taking in the enormous site and then returned back to our hostel to grab our bags. We then caught the public bus to Puerto Iguacu (Argentina side) which was a mission in itself. The bus dropped us off at the Brazilian border along with a Dutch couple we got our passports stamped then waited for at least 45 mins for the next bus. This was jam packed but we managed to squeeze on as it was getting dark. We then stopped at the Argentina border (about 500m from the first border) and after a few questions got the passports stamped and the bags checked before jamming back into the bus. We then quickly located a hostel and set out for dinner. This was our all time favourite dinner so far. We had a Parilla Bruschetta which was like 8 pieces of scotch fillet on a skewer barbecued with peppers and onions. They serve you the first half of the skewer then finish cooking the second half and bring that back to your table. This was accompanied with breads, dips, salad, chips... all for £10, the same price as our accommodation... ok we splashed out!