I can explain the Iguazzu Falls in 3 letters...... O M G.........

We knew we'd be impressed with the falls, but i dont think either of us were expecting to be quite so impressed. After working hard in Foz at the schools, it finally felt like we were in South America to do what we'd come to do, see all the wonders it has to hold.

We were collected from the hostel at 9:30am (although nearly missed it as Tom was on Face Book!). We were on the trip with a couple from Denmark, which was cool as i've spent a fair amount of time in Denmark recently so we had lots to chat about! They spoke good english and were very friendly so was a nice day out with them. The guide, Gil, was also a great guy, full of knowledge about everything.

We took a minibus to the point in Argentina were you can see Brazil on one side, Paraguay on the other, and with the point in Argentina it makes a triangle across where two rivers join.

After this we headed to the national park in Argentina, where the falls are. We were on foot from here for the rest of the day. The first park of our trip was a jeep ride through the rainforest, to the river were we boarded a boat which was to take us into the falls (this was an optional extra we chose to add!). We boarded the inflatable speedboat with big waterproof bags and told to put our bags, shoes and socks etc in the bag and seal it well, we were gonna get very wet. We sped off down the river, the sun shining, and the speed literally took your breath away. They stopped before the falls, our first glimpse of some of the falls (the smaller ones), and we took pictures before having to seal up our camera's as well! After everything was sealed up we sped through some rapids and straight into one of the smaller falls, drenching us all, it was wicked. Next they sped along to a much bigger fall, called Devils Throat. You could only see the spray of the water, there was so much of it! The boat head straight into the spray and quickly turned round before heading too far in, drenched again, then repeated it, making sure every bit of us was suitably wet!!!! it was great fun, we really enjoyed that part, although the sun disappeared as we disembarked the boat, leaving us to dry slowly!!!!! Our guide met us and we took a trail up to the top of a waterfall, stopping off at some jetty type bridges which lead closely to the falls, so you can really see them close up. There are so many falls, lots to see, and they get bigger and bigger the further you walk. At the top of the first fall we stopped at the balcony and decided to lean over and take pics of the falls. This was the point when my 7 pound asda sun glasses decided to commit suicide, they dived straight into the falls, stood no chance :o( We also saw lots of wildlife along the trails, millions of butterflies, theres over 250 species in the park, lizards, racoons, camains, turtles etc. The falls are really impressive, so beautiful yet so powerful, but we hadnt even seen the biggest yet. After lunch at the impressive restaurant (recommend that to anyone) we headed by train further into the park. We started walking across a 2km bridge which goes across the river and leads to the main falls. This was where our guide chose to tell us that the ruins we could see not so far away were from a bridge that collapsed in 1992, when the rivers flooded and rose over 5m. That was ok, that was like 15 years ago... Yeah until he then showed us the remains of the new bridge (which we were walking on), which collapsed in floods 3 months ago!!!!!!!!! lol, but it was ok, the bridge was rebuilt and the waters were very low now, no danger! The bridge takes you to a look out which is literally right on the edge of where the river just falls, with almighty force... As you approach the look out, you can see the river is so calm, and then there is just a huge hole in the middle, everything plummeting down the hole! At the look out it mesmerises you at the sheer power of these falls, the velocity of the water throwing itself over the huge 80m drop, the rainbows which appear. Its really a awe inspiring beautiful place, which can only be seen to truely appreciate it. We took literally hundreds of pictures, all of falls, but every angle gives you a new experience. Walking back we decided that few sights in the world, natural sights, would be as amazing as that... Well, apart from performing at wembley in front of 81,000 people, which comes close!!!!

The next day we headed on the bus to the brazilian side of the falls, with one of our housemates sarah. We had been told the brazilian side wasnt as good, but you get a good panoramic view of the awesome falls, all of them. The Brazilian side is much different, you board double decker buses and its very disney like, were as the Argentian side is trails and walking and more natural. We got off at the start of the 400m trail, surrounded by raccoons! The first few of the falls from the brazilian side is great, you can see more at once, and the sun was beaming today, which made the pictures look great! You follow the trail along and catch glimpses of the falls through the rainforest and on look outs which are literally on the edge of cliffs! It was very pretty. Then we headed down following a sign saying escalators and look out, we assumed this was the look out tower we'd seen from the argentinian side yesterday. But it was far more than this. There was a long jetty which lead out over a plate between 2 falls, you got soaked with spray as you walked along it. It jutted out in two directions, both hanging over the top of falls. You had falls all around you, above you, below you, to the sides, it really felt like you were in the falls. That was an awesome experience, more so than the look out tower which gave you a great elevated panoramic view, but none of the intensity of being within the falls. We really enjoyed both sides of the falls and i think we are both now waterfall geeks!!!!!!! Tom has some of the 200+ pics on his facebook and i'll add them to mine tomorrow and some on this site!