Tuesday 23rd April 2013 - The bus wasn't the top luxury we were expecting but it was comfy enough. We stopped at a service station, I wasn't sure how long they were going to give us but everyone seemed to be heading inside so I left nicki asleep and followed. On entrance they gave you a huge card with a bar code across it. I walked in and everyone was being served soup, I asked in English if this was free and everyone looked blankly at me. An English girl looked up and pointed at the price. I decided to give it a miss as we had bought fruit etc. I sat on the bench near the bus as I had managed to pick up wifi and the English girl stated "didn't fancy the soup then" she was called Claire and was from Manchester and this was both of our first long bus journeys as she had flown from Salvador. We swapped buses half way to a much more comfy bus which pleased nicki. When we got to Foz de Iguacu, which was fairly on time (9am), we saw Abdul and Fatima in the station, they were annoyed as there bus left 2 hours before but got there at the same time. Funnily enough Claire recognised them from Paraty. I guess this kind of thing happens when you follow a similar route. We got a taxi to our hostel and Claire joined us to the blue house hostel. We decided to move into an empty 8 dorm to all be together instead of a 4 dorm and after charging up our cameras and phones we left the hostel heading for the falls. Carlos and Fabio were the owners and they were great before we left Carlos gave us tips on what to do for the day. Excited to see it as soon as possible, we headed straight to the falls on bus. The bus stop was one block away which was helpful so me nicki an Claire made our way, we had timed it perfectly because the Dutch air hostess we had just met called Jolene had apparently waited 40 minutes. We arrived, took cash out as to pay on card you required a passport and for R$40 we were in to one of the wonders of the world! Iguazu Falls for me is one of those ‘WOW’ places. That’s a big statement to make, but I mean it Iguazu Falls lives up to the hype. The falls were created by a volcanic eruption that occurred about one hundred million years ago and the sheer size of them, the noise and the quantity of water is colossal. Iguazu Falls are wider than both Niagara and Victoria Falls, and having been to Niagara are evidently more impressive. We were warned by Carlos about these small raccoon looking animals, that do anything for food and as we were making our way along the various viewpoints of these epic falls one took his chance to pounce. I was holding a bag of fruit and water and even though it takes ages to peel the fruit out here, I guess because of how natural it is, this animal managed to rip the bag and peel the fruit in one swift swipe. It's worth noting that Europeans seem to be fixed on the fruit being presented well and looking nice whereas here by the time you've hacked your way into something as simple as an orange it looks a mess but the taste is unreal. I quickly held the bag up higher whilst a small group of these creatures gathered underneath trying to jump at the bag. I was worried as I had been warned about rabies so I kept the water and got rid of the fruit they wanted. We could see the Argentinian side from where we were and although the view looked slightly restricted it looked like you could stand a lot closer and we heard your able to feel the 'force' of the falls from there better. But we were pleased with our 360 panorama of the falls from the Brazilian side. We got a lift up to the view point which offered an alternative, higher view. After a hot dog and some noodles, eaten quickly before the creatures come out the jungle again, we headed back to the bus stop. We were disappointed to have to return on a different bus without the open roof top but still we were happy to grab a seat after a fairly long walk. I was really surprised at how large the falls were I think I read that over 100 different falls of water existed here which obviously reduces in high rain seasons when all the falls join up more often. Me and nicki both wanted to visit the parque des aves on the way back which is full of South American birds. We went past the helicopter zone where Jolene had got off and said goodbye to Claire who was off on a jog and we headed to the bird park. I really enjoyed the park, it was great for photos as the birds are so charismatic and colourful. It was R$26 each so i guess a fair amount buy we didnt mind it was worth it. One at the start could talk and was saying Hola to everyone who walked into the park. The Toucans were amazing their faces look fake with the bright yellow beak coming out of a little black face with almost cartoon looking eyes. They had every bird in South America. Eagles, flamingos and parrots. We even stroked the snakes. Some parrots weren't in cages but just chilled in the park out in the open. These occasionally you could hold if a trainer was near to pass you one with some fruit to entertain it. We headed back to the hostel and Claire had bought loads of vegetables to cook later. Nicki had piled the pressure on me saying I was good at making Risotto. Me and nic headed to the large supermarket down the road and it must of taken 20 minutes to translate risotto whilst searching for it. I even drew a picture for the store supervisor. Haha. I was even impressed with myself I manage to cook an enormous amount of food. Enough for all three of us to have seconds and Jolene to have her own portion. We all had beers and stayed up talking till late sat outside. Surprisingly I wasn't bitten too bad considering the location and the amount of time we spent outside. Fabio and Carlos were cool as they joined in with drinks and our conversation. Claire gave us some of her spirits that she had purchased near Penha where we got ours. We met Daniel who was from Germany and Brazil so was a tri-linguist at the age of 19! He joked about the strength and weakness of his and our national teams and his German teams did him proud putting 4 past both of spanishes finest in the champions league semis. I played Claire at table tennis while Carlos informed us that Brasilia was a purpose built capital of Brazil after years of arguments between São Paulo and Rio. We talked for ages about language and met a woman called Mir who was a French speaking Swiss. Once everyone else had gone to bed me and nicki said night to Fabio and Dan who were playing pool and we went to bed.

Wednesday 24th April 2013 - we woke up to get breakfast, again I had been up a bit earlier. Me Nicki and Claire ate with Daniel and Mir. It was lovely to sit outside by the pool, bar the wasps. We intended to go see the water park which was built on a natural thermally heated spring from the biggest aquifer in South America so we said our byes to Claire was off to the Argentinian side for the day. Unfortunately, our intended park was closed and after checking our bank balance decided we should really save our money as by the time we get to Argentina it would be a rush considering the expenses to get there. Since the weather was blistering hot we decided to chill by the pool and sunbathe. I swam in the small pool which was freezing but nice to cool down in as it was easily 30 degrees. Around 4pm breakfast had totally worn off so we were getting hungry. Nicki facetimed her mum while I got in touch with Tom and Claire. I then walked to the shop to pick up another onion and leek and use up the rest of our vegetables in another vegetarian risotto. The portion was again massive and enough to feed Claire as well when she got back. Daniel and Mir left for Buenos Aires so we exchanged contact details with the hope we would meet there for a drink. Abdul had messaged me a few times as were going to have drinks here but decided to meet later in Argentina. We literally spent the whole day in and around the pool so we weren't surprised that when we were still occupying the room Fabio had to empty it to allow for 3 new Canadians who had arrived. They were cool and had flown from Vancouver. We spoke to them whilst they cooked and we prepared for the tickets that Carlos had bought for us. Nicki had wanted to go to Paraguay and since Claire was headed to Asuncion we decide to go with her. A 6 hour journey for R$60 each in absolute luxury! We even got food. Since the bus wasn't till 1am we stayed in their lounge area playing Xbox. We played just dance and got really sweaty taking the dance moves very seriously. Nicki was most pleased to be the best at it! Whilst in the taxi Claire spoke a little Spanish to him again and we had a full blown Portuguese lesson and a small prep for the Spanish switchover into Paraguay. The bus is supposed to get us there for 7am so we will see how that goes but it's so comfy I have to fall asleep now.