Lets begin where the last blog started... The bus journey to foz. It was actually ok in the end, the bus was half empty so we both had 2 seats to lie down on and the bus arrived 2 hours early!!

Monday 28th Jan: Wow the hostel!! Was such a cool place, there was a camper van converted into a bedroom, hammocks at the bar and bright colours everywhere!! Our tent was a basic pop up tent, so we were lucky it didn't rain!!! ( there was no sleeping mat, so we slept on the hard stone covered floor. Ouch) ...no room for a wardrobe in this tent Jude!!! Haha!!

We bought a pizza from the deli at the local supermarket for dinner... Which subsequently took 2 hours to cook... Because we didn't turn the oven on haha!! I blame the oven...

Tuesday 29th Jan:

Argentina side of Iguazu Falls:

We first visited a spot where you can see three countries at once: Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, which was cool!! It was at the meeting of two rivers:

We began by getting the train to devils throat, the main waterfall!! Wow (I will use this word a lot in this blog!!) what a sight!! We got so close to the falls, it was HUGE!!! And so much water pouring over the top it was amazing!! We got soaked by the spray coming off the waterfall which was so nice because it was baking hot!!! We then walked along the upper & lower trails which gave different views of various waterfalls, you really feel the power and strength of the falls!!!

In the afternoon we went on a boat ride which plunges you under 2 waterfalls!!! The water was so powerful I couldn't keep my eyes open nor put my head up!! Incredible!! There were puddles in my trainers after we got so so wet but wow what an experience!!

Wednesday 30th Jan

Brazilian side of the falls:

We got the local 120 bus, for £1. When we were buying our tickets at the park I spoke to the lady in Portuguese... And she replied in English haha!!! Was my accent that bad!?! The Brazilian park was much smaller than the Argentinian side, with only one main trail to walk, which had many viewpoints of the waterfalls. Very busy although was nice just walking at our own pace and not being rushed, got some awesome photos!! There is a platform which overlooks devils throat, wow it was MUCH bigger than the view you got from the Argentinian side, the vastness of the falls was huge!! Brazil shows you the size and expanse of the falls!! We then walked the trail again in the late afternoon to take it all in, was much emptier and nice not worrying about taking photos!! Visited the souvenir shop (of course!!) and went back to the hostel for a BBQ which was nice!!

Thursday 31st Jan

Today we visited Paraguay as we were only about 30 minutes from the border and its another stamp to add to the collection... We thought!! We got the local bus which crosses the border and DOESN'T stop at customs on either side!!!! So we got to Paraguay with no exit stamp from brazil and no entry stamp for Paraguay!! Haha it felt so dodgy!! We stayed close to the border in the markets as we didn't want to venture far!! wow what a culture change, felt a little vulnerable - an easy target so we kept the rucksack zips padlocked!! We then got the local bus back to Brazil, hoping it wouldn't stop... We got through the Paraguayan border ok... But then it stopped at the Brazilian border control... And then a guard got on!!! Oh my, I was a little worried... Had images of a Brazilian jail as we didn't have an entry/exit stamp but luckily she was just checking what people had bought and then she got off the bus. PHEW!!!! And we were back in Brazil :):)

Friday 1st Feb

Today we visited the worlds largest hydroelectricity plant - Itaipu Dam, which is a joint venture between Paraguay and Brazil. Situated on the Paraná River river it produces 17% of all Brazils electricity and 100% of Paraguay's power. The reservoir above holds 29 trillion litres of water!!! Building started in 1978 and the dam was completely finished in 2007!!

In the evening we bordered our 12 hour bus to Campo Grande... Time for the Pantanal!!!!