We certainly did not want to leave Curitiba, but a great big watery wonder awaited us and after another super nights sleep we arrived in the town of Foz Iguazu. We were certainly not dissapointed, as it was pissing it down, the wet wonder had began already. Ruth and I now being tough travellers, we headed straight out to the falls on a local bus. We planned to spend the day on the Brazilian side of the falls and then that afternoon crossed the border into Argentina.

We were not as tough as we thought as a change of clothes and a sailors wash were needed before we could tackle such a famous natural wonder. A few rather strange looks later due to us brushing our teeth near the queue for the bus to the falls and we were raring to go. The first part of the falls were not terribly impressive. There were a large number of falls spanning across the rock face, but none carrying any real considerable amount of water. The walk along the top of the valley was pleasant and after not too long the rain ceased. We had to jockey for position at many of the viewpoints, competing with large numbers of Japenese tourist who took ´many photo`. Lucky I had my secret weapon and Ruth used her feminine charms to ensure a prime spot our photos.

We continued along the top and were gradually getting closer to the real part of the water fall and a view of the devils throat. The sun was beginning to emerge which made the views even more spectacular. Towards the end of the walkway, we strolled out over part of the waterfalls. Getting covered in spray from the vast quantities of water was a small price to pay for such an outstanding sight, it was truly remarkable.

We stopped for lunch soon after, tucked into some sandwiches and some of Marina´s mums homemade bread. Unfortunately another visitor to the park had his eyes on our lunch. Without really realising what was happening, Rocky the racoon was on our table and delving into our lunch box. Bread tight within his grasp, I was not going to let him off that easily. I reached out to grab it but he was too quick and only managed to grasp at a handful of fur. A wrestling match ensued, but Rocky was a seasoned pro and soon I was at his mercy. He strutted off with the last of Marina´s bread and sat and basked in the glory of another victory over a hapless tourist. It did however provide an excellent show for the rest of lunching tourists and now they were on full racoon alert. The waiter attempted to scare him away several times, but to no avail. I would like to say that I was his only victim, but Rocky was unstoppable. As soon as the waiters back was turned, Rocky snuck back and snuffled further goodies without any trouble, he had my dream job, food thief.

It was time to head back and get to Argentina so back on the bus for us. We got offf the first bus in an intense downpour and waited onthe side of the road whilst the passing traffic attempted to soray us by driving through puddles. Another bus and stop at the Brasil border for an exit stamp. Then a wait for another bus to Argentina and an entry stamp, back on the bus and finally into Argentina and Puerto Iguazu. We found our hotel and spent the night holed up in our room watching a movie, after a hectic day.

Bright and early we headed out again to tackle the Argentinian side of the falls. Ruth having been before, had said it was even more impressive, so I was wet with anticipation. A nice ride on the train and we headed staright to the devils throat and the most spectacular views of the falls. Awestruck. The sheer volume of water is breathtaking and it is a truly incredible sight. Literally millions of gallons flow over every second across a 50m stretch of falls. Unfortunately, gallons of water started falling out of the sky and this theme continued throughout the day. Being hardy Brits this of course was character building weather. That was until the water seeped through to my tanga briefs and I was a miserable boy thereafter. We visited numerous small waterfalls that day and exhaustive every possible view of the falls by the end of the day. We did enjoy a lovely ´pack up` as Ruth would call it under a dripping tree with incredible views.

We squelched back to our hotel and wrung out our clothes, showered and went out for a pizza and bottle of plonk, a nice way to end an incredible day. We had another 24 hr bus to catch the next morning to Cordoba and a short walk to the bus station. The weather however had not improved and as they say in Brasil it was raining daggers (our equivalent to cats n dogs). Ruth had the smart idea to put on all our still very wet clothes and venture out into the lethal rain. It was a good job we did as it hounded it down and we managed to get even wetter despite putting on already soaking clothes. A quick change in the toilets of the bus station and we were off to cordoba. Still a little damp, we tried to dry some shoes and other bits and pieces. We were not however very popular as these items began to hum and we got a few disgusted looks.

Thats it for now, hope all is well.

Lots of love to you all

Greg and Ruthxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx