A 5.00am start to Monday morning sucked but it was necessary for the journey we were about to embark on. We had a full 14 hour drive south to the city of Foz do Iguacu (meaning "Mouth of the Iguazu River") which is the Brazilian town nestled against the double-border with Argentina and Paraguay. The town is most famous as the base for exploring the incredible Iguazu Falls which can be experienced from both the Argentinian and Brazilian sides.

Just the thought of a 14 hour journey would normally bore me to death but it actually passed by pretty quickly. Duncan our tour leader put on a fun music quiz which kept us entertained for the morning. Ria, Oli and I teamed up and went on to smash it with Duncan promising free Capirinha's for winning. Happy days!

For the majority of the journey the picture outside was a never ending reel of green land.. I think I underestimated the size of Brazil, its massive! But as the sun began to set and we neared Foz do Iguacu the landscape became much more interesting and signs of civilisation were more apparent.

We arrived into the town where life was "20th Century" in comparison to the previous destinations we'd visited.. large shopping malls were scattered around, as were big chain restaurants such as Pizza Hut. We stopped off at a nearby supermarket to stock up on supplies and drove a further 15 minutes to arrive at the Hostel Nature. It actually felt cold for the first time since I arrived in Brazil.. jackets on!

It was late.. 9.30pm and we still hadn't put up our tents or eaten dinner.. needless to say another meltdown followed especially after someone had taken my tent and I ended up with a filthy one. It wasn't until 10.30pm that we ate our dinner which was put on for us by the hostel. It turned out to be possibly the worst, tasteless, bland meal I've ever had! However, the free Capirinha's off Duncan made up for it followed by another round at midnight. What a long day!

After a surprisingly decent sleep in what was cooler weather we had a day trip into Argentina planned. Located on the Iguaza River between Argentina and Brazil is the world's largest waterfall system, the Iguaza Falls.. billed as one of the highlights of South America so I was looking forward to seeing if it lived up to all the hype.

A minibus picked us up, drove us to the border, passport stamped, and into Argentina we went.

Having entered the park we were informed that a few of the trails had been closed down as Jaguars were loose.

Ria, Oli and I joined up with Hannah, Catherine and Saskia from the other group then we hopped on a theme park style train which took us to the furthest point in the park that leads to the mighty Garganta del Diablo. From the train a man made walkway led us over the huge river to the viewing point of the largest waterfall in what was now a roasting hot day.

On approach, the spray from the falls is what you notice first and because you're slightly above the water level you have no idea of the impact happening below. But then the tale begins to unfold as you make your way into the gantry viewing point which enables you to watch an unbelievable mass of water drop over the huge edge (to the right) and crush its way down into connecting falls as it ferociously disperses down the valley (to the left). It was truly monstrous in size and extraordinary in power. An enormous amount of spray is created from the combined force of the falls making the view down the valley a thing of mystical beauty.

As we were making our way back to the train to transport us to one of the few trails that remained open I bumped into a friendly face from Vidigal in Rio. It was Sebastian from Sweden.. was great to see the lad and have a quick catch up with him.

The six of us continued to the trail. Having thought there wouldn't be much more to see from the Falls, I was proved wrong. The trail opened up more view points and different angles of many more of the falls and some of the scenery was absolutely stunning.

Towards the end I did get a little bored of looking at waterfalls but there is certainly no doubting how beautiful this place is.

We boarded the minibus around 4pm, crossed over the border into Brazil and headed back to the hostel. The evening was spent having dinner and enjoying quite a few drinks, calling it a day after midnight.

The next morning we drove to the Brazilian side of Iguaza Falls where we were promised panoramic views of the whole waterfall system. Quite a few people had mentioned the Argentinian side was the better of the two so I guess I wasn't as excited to see them as the previous day.

It was another hot clear day arriving at the park early. A double decker bus took myself, Ria, Ollie and Anthony down to where the trail started which immediately presented great views of the falls on the Argentinian side. View points were available for every 100 yards it seemed with nothing changing all that much so I thought that would be the case for the remainder of the trail. How wrong was I?!

About 45 minutes into the trail we approached the "Devils Throat" where the majority of all the major waterfalls meet on both sides of Iguaza. It's very rare that I get blown away by something or something is able to move me but what I saw left me pretty much speechless! A gantry walkway takes you out into the heart of the falls so you become surrounded, almost involved in the theatre going on around you. I can't really describe in words what to say because no words can do it justice.. but if I had to it was like standing in the middle of an unbelievable animated film or fairytale.

The scale and enormity of the whole system is staggering, almost overwhelming, the sheer volume of water crashing down around you causing spray to soak your skin, the rainbows, the colours.. just WOW!! I was buzzing and literally couldn't stop smiling. It was an incredible experience.. one which I'll never forget.

For people to say they prefer the Argentinian side I just can't understand.. but each to their own.

It was around 12 noon when we exited the park.. an empanada stand lured me in for some freshly cooked pastry treats - delicious.

We arrived back at the hostel via a taxi and had a very chilled, lazy afternoon in the gardens which are some of the nicest I've seen at a hostel.. with an open plan bar/terrace area, swimming pool, a big lake, zip wires, hammocks, amongst plenty of greenery and wildlife.

The evening was kind of a sad one because our group would be splitting up the next day as tours were going off in different directions. Unfortunately, Oli was one of those people aswell as Emma who'd be moving onto a different truck heading over to Uruguay. Had an absolute blast with them both, even throughout the meltdowns!!

We had our last meal together as a group of 18.. a delicious fish chowder cooked by Duncan, our leader, and had a very chilled evening as we all had another early start in the morning where we'd begin our marathon journey to Buenos Aires.

This morning was mental.. oh how I do love the sound of thunder and torrential rain when I wake up in a tent and I need to pack it away. Anyone who says camping is fun needs leathering!

Swimming shorts on, water proof jacket on.. DRENCHED!!! But no meltdown surprisingly. I still hate camping though.. it sucks!!

Off we go to Buenos Aires.. let's do this!

Caio Caio xx