Leaving behind lovely lovely Florianopolis and our lovely lovely friends there, including 2 more from Rio who showed up (with optimum Irish timing!) just as we were leaving, we got an overnight bus to Foz de Iguassu, the town on the Brazilian side of Iguassu Falls from which we would cross into Argentina - very exciting! After much hilarity trying to get to the bus station in our rented car, which culminated in us bailing out as quickly as possible on the edge of an interstate and leaving the girls heading to Curitiba rather than back to Barra de Lagoa (oops!), the bus journey was pretty easy - certainly getting good at these overnighters! The Brazilian buses are pretty good with their almost-beds - and we've been told to expect great luxury on Argentinian buses, with 180 degree bed-seats, meals served and wine or champagne on tap...I'll let you know how far those rumours stretch... Anyway, we got to Foz with minimum hassle, and somehow managed to find our way (and that of our 4 Irish boys who we came down with and will probably be travelling with all the way to Buenos Aires, if not further) across the border. Although a tip for anyone travelling with 2 people or more - just get the taxi from the bus station to cross the border, it's SO much easier than the bloody bus! But nonetheless we eventually got to Puerto Iguassu and to our "hostel", the very luxurious Hostel-Inn - out of town yes, but with a swimming pool, 24-hour bar and restaurant, we didn't really need to leave (except, of course, to get to the Falls). Luckily they offered a great package for staying there and visiting Iguassu, which meant we could spend the rest of day 1 by the pool, swimming and sunning (it's SO hot!) and generally recovering from our journey. A fab buffet dinner introduced us to the parrilla-style grills of Argentina, and we collapsed into bed with happy stomachs revived from caipirinha-induced strike with steak, salad and red wine, and an early start looming for our day at the Falls... Which was amazingly worth it. We got there at about 9, and it was luckily still reasonably quiet, so we explored the quieter area of the Falls (away from the famous Devil's Throat), wandering along the walkways and taking in the scenery - even the smaller Falls were unbelievable, and flanked by jungle - stunning. The views from the tops of the Falls down to the river at the bottom of the canyon where also incredible, like something out of the Lost World, and with the constant sound effects of immense amounts of water cascading over the cliffs (which surprisingly didn't lead to constantly needing the loo!). Deciding to get a bit more up close and personal, we opted for a boat package at the Falls, heading down to the bottom of the canyon for a speed boat ride underneath the Falls. Really. Totally underneath the Falls, soaked from head to foot, with a moment before we hit the curtain of water to look up and see how much water was about to land on our heads. We really should have guessed from the amount of raingear the driver and cameraman were wearing - they clearly knew something we didn't. And then it was onwards to the Devil's Throat. After a sweet train ride, we followed another walkway above the river, and as we drew closer we could see the huge plumes of mist rising from the Falls and hear the thunder of the water...as the Falls came into view, I was absolutely gobsmacked. As Steve Irwin might say, "Crikey! That's a lot of water" (thanks Dermot!). They are HUGE, and just as impressive as the photo (not mine), with rainbows everywhere and the mists rising up and obscuring the view of the river below. It's utterly incredible and a sight I will not be forgetting in a hurry. Rather than get the train back, we opted for part 2 of the boat package, a float down the river to see flora and fauna (and generally get quite sunburnt). What we hadn't bargained for was a totally cavalier boat-rower-guide...after spotting our first alligator (very cool!), we rounded a bend into a quieter part of the river, where he assured us it was safe to swim. On this day, Caro and I clearly weren't ones for turning down an opportunity to get our clothes soaked (again), and hopped in without a second thought. After a nice swim alongside the boat, we got back in...and 5 seconds later saw our 2nd alligator! The assurances of our guide that they wouldn't attack even if we were sharing the same cubic metre of water with them were't exactly believed. All in all it was an incredible day, and we didn't want to spoil it with visiting the Brazilian side the following day, which (by all accounts) isn't as impressive (although other people's photos were pretty good!). Or could that be that we didnt want to do anything more energetic than spend the day by the pool after a rather energetic (and quite alcohol-fuelled) BBQ and samba night the night before?! A vast pack of 10 of us left Puerto Iguassu to get to Buenos Aires on one of Argentina's traveller-famous cama buses. Our 4 Irish provided the rest of us with lots of entertainment (they were absolutely steaming!), as did the films (we can't seem to escape Chuck Norris) and - yes really - the hot supper and red wine brought out before bedtime. The night passed blissfully on fully reclining seats - now I understand what business class is all about - and we got to BA ready to hit it in style!