Oi! (Hi!) everyone, and welcome to the final chapter of our blog: Brazil. We've been fairly busy over the last few days, crossing borders, and surveying the Iguazu waterfalls on both the Brazilian and Argentinean sides. Here's what we thought:

We arrived in Puerto Iguazu, Argentina, at around 1 p.m. on Sunday. We'd had a long overnight journey from Buenos Aires (around 19 hours in total), and felt pretty tired upon arrival. We were hoping for a change in the weather from the cold we'd had to contend with in BA, but we didn't necessarily get a change for the better. Instead of the cold, we now had the wet. These factors ensured we weren't going to bother with heading out to the falls that day. Instead, we contented ourselves with getting odd jobs done, and using the facilities of our pretty good hostel in Puerto Iguazu, Marco Polo Inn.

On Monday, we knew we had to get out and see the waterfalls, it being our last full day in Argentina. We decided to try and avoid the tour groups and get more opportunities to see the wildlife by getting up early, jumping on the bus to Iguazu National Park, and arriving by 8:15. The plan worked wonders, because as soon as we walked through the gates, we spotted around four toucans! We thought we'd only get to see them down a trail we were going to do, but knew our best chance was the early morning. It was the perfect start to our day. They were almost comical, with beaks the length of their entire bodies, with bright colours surrounding it, and then jet black everywhere else. It felt like a real privilege to get to see them in the wild. Just as well, as the trail we wanted to do, where we stood more chance of seeing them, as well as some monkeys, was virtually impassable because of all the rain they'd had. It was both very muddy and very wet and we gave up within the first 100 metres.

Instead we caught the 'eco-friendly' train to the next station, where we disembarked to do a couple of walking circuits. Our early entry ploy worked here as well, as these paths were pretty empty. It was here that we bumped into coatis (weird but very cute racoon-like mammals, with long snouts and ringed tails) for the first time. We got some cool photos of one in particular, before setting off to do the 'Circuito Superior'. This short walk gave some great views over the top of many of the falls, with loads of them dropping over the edge in a fury and flurry of activity. The rain had ensured plenty of water, and it was an awe-inspiring and beautiful sight, watching the water tumble, seeing it spray up again on impact with the water below, and getting soaked by the mist. The 'Circuito Inferior' was at the bottom of the same set of falls, and allowed us to see them at completely different angles, as well as getting close to the mist and spray. They were definitely the most impressive falls I've ever seen.

Unfortunately the tour group hordes had now arrived, and we had to queue for ages to get to the Garganta del Diablo (Devil's Throat). The walkway took you across the width of the river to a spectacle that was definitely worth the queues. The Garganta was huge and powerful, capping the earlier falls in its sheer majesty as an unaccountable volume of water fell over the edge into what seemed to be a bottomless abyss, such was the mist and spray generated. We got glimpses of plucky swallows diving right near the water's torrent, catching insects.

Our last activity on the Argentinean side was a speedboat ride, which was great fun. We did a quick tour of some of the falls, getting a new perspective from water level, and taking a few photos. The guides then got us to put up our hoods, stow away our cameras in waterproof bags, and get ready for a soaking! We went 'under' three waterfalls in total, getting drenched by the spray on two and finally getting a small part of the water tumble down on us on the third. We both felt the water trickle off our waterproof coats and on to our not so waterproof trousers, ensuring we both got very wet bottoms!

Yesterday, we crossed the border into Brazil, taking our bags with us and checking into Klein Hostel in Foz do Iguaçu. Once all the immigration hassles had been taken care of in the morning, the afternoon was left to explore the Brazilian National Park. Finally, the sun had come out, after two days of miserable weather which meant we had the perfect conditions to photograph and explore the falls. We had to catch three different buses to get near the action, which took time, but was definitely worth it. The Brazilian side provided a perfect panorama of all the falls from a distance. As we walked along, past butterflies, coatis, lizards and a small rodent thing (we're not quite sure what it was!), the views over the falls got better and better. The spray from the falls, intermingling with the sunlight, ended up creating a few rainbows, which definitely felt like a real privilege to see. The path eventually led to a suspended walkway that led out towards the Garganta del Diablo. Walking along here ensured we got drenched by the power of the spray. It was crazy to be so close to such a powerful force...you definitely would not want to be swept over the edge there!

In the evening, back at the hostel, we joined in with a barbecue that the hostel was putting on. It's a really cool place, somewhere I'd definitely recommend, as it's both really clean and has a likeable, friendly atmosphere. The barbecue was great, especially because we were so hungry. We had chicken wings, sausages and steak, alongside rice and beans (a Brazilian staple). We also sampled a few local beverages. Jo had the stereotypical Brazilian cocktail, a caipirinha, which is sugarcane alcohol with crushed lime, sugar and ice. It was very strong, but really refreshing and tasty. I played it safe with a few Skol beers.

We've had a great time at the falls, and felt really lucky to manage at least a day without rain and cloud. Today we're flying up to Salvador, in the north-east, which we're really excited about. Roll on the 30 degrees centigrade weather and lots of sun!