After all our independent travelling, we had gotten used to making our own plans and darting from place to place at our own leisure. All that changed when we suddenly realised that we had a 4 day tour of Iguassu Falls on the Argentine-Brazilian border starting on 28th Feb (as you can see this blog is waaaaay behind!). We had already investigated the bus route and there was a bus direct from Sao Paulo to Puerto Iguassu on the Argentine side of the falls, which is where our tour was based. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the bus station ready to go, we were informed that the bus was full. Since our tour was starting the next day and it was already 10pm, we started to get a bit stressed!!! Only one thing to do when these things happen, break out the lonely planet and sit in the middle of the bus station staring at the book as if a solution will magically appear – which of course it didn´t!! After wandering around all the ticket offices aimlessly and a brief stop at an internet café to investigate flights (very expensive), we decided to hope on a bus to Curitiba ( a few hours away) with our fingers crossed that we could get an onward departure to Foz do Iguassu, the town on the Brazilian side of the falls, since border crossing is a relatively simple procedure.

We were in luck!! After a stopover of only a few hours (in the early hours of the morning no less), we caught another bus to Foz do Iguassu and then a taxi across the border to Puerto Iguassu. After all the stressing, it was a welcome relief when we arrived at Hotel St George – a 4-star hotel with a swimming pool and HOT showers – a far cry from the 6 bed dormitories we were used to! After a brief talk from our tour operator, we headed out for some food and Marisha had THE BEST steak sandwich ever, for the equivalent of a few pounds. Lets just say that they don´t lie when they say that Argentine steak is the best! After all the excitement we eventually crashed out, since we had an early start the next day.

On the second day we joined the others on our tour – mostly couples from all over the world, all with great stories to tell – and set off to explore the Argentine side of the falls. There are simply no words to describe just how spectacular Iguassu Falls is. You will see in the pictures just how many waterfalls there are, but you cannot imagine being up close to them, the sheer volume of water that comes crashing down, the mist that rises back up and the deafening noise that it all makes. Add to this, more butterflies than you have ever seen in your life and rainbows around every cascade, and you begin to get an idea of just how stunning this natural beauty is. We walked first to the Devils Throat Fall, the biggest gorge on the falls, and then walked both the upper and lower circuits, where you get two very different views of the falls. Given that it was over 35 degrees, being drenched by the mist is quite welcoming, but not quite content, we opted for the boat ride that goes under the falls. The force of the water as you go under is immense, but it’s so fun that when the guide asks you if you want to go again, everyone screams ‘YES’ and you end up going under four or five times at least! Of course, about 30 seconds later you’re dry again! After that we hopped into a jeep, for a mini safari through the forests, but we didn’t really see much until the end, when there were about five hamsters (yes, hamsters!) grazing on the lawn! After a long day, we headed back to the hotel, used the sauna and pool (hurrah!) and then headed off to dinner with Lee, one of the guys from our tour group.

The third day we crossed back into Brazil to see the Brazilian side of the falls. There is less to see, so this was only a half day tour, but it was still just as impressive. You get a more panoramic view from this side and can really take in just how enormous the falls are. After this we headed off to a bird park, where we walked through large cages full of macaws, parakeets, toucans, vultures and many other species of birds. Although they weren´t wild, they had a lot of room and being up close to a toucan was an amazing experience – their beaks look like they are stuck on, but you can see how sharp the serrations are, so there is definitely no stroking, unless you want to loose a few fingers! That afternoon we returned to the hotel and had lunch with Lee, and Tony and Jill (a couple from the tour), and that was where things took an interesting turn….

We had planned to go to Patagonia (southern Argentina and Chile – glaciers and mountains!) in May, but having just come from there, Lee informed us that by that time it would be far too cold and most of the sites would be closed for the season. Since we had planned to go there eventually and Lee spoke so passionately of his whole Patagonian experience, we realised that it wasn´t something we were willing to chance missing and made one of those ‘now or never’ decisions. That afternoon, we broke out the Lonely Planet and Rough Guide again, stole Lee´s Footprint guide, and by the end of the day had booked a 20 hr coach ride to Buenos Aires, where we planned to finalise a few of the finer details, before heading south into Patagonia…