The bus journey to Puerto Iguazu was really quite comfortable and interesting although it was 17 hours on a non-stop bus. We were treated to a supply of snacks, meals and drinks and after some reasonable sleep arrived in the semi tropical town of Iguazu. Our hostal was right over the road from the bus station but typically for us we walked one way, then the other before eventually finding our bed for the next couple of nights. It was a good hostal but once again our packing had let us down. Arriving at 7:30 in the morning, we couldn't get into our room until the afternoon so needed stuff from our rucksacks but our things were all over the place. So after a few groans we partially unpacked and got our things together for our day on the Argentinean side of the Iguazu Falls and after a morning coffee we were off on the bus for the 30 minute drive to the falls. It was lovely to be back in a hot, humid climate as we made our way through the entrance of the National Park. Although somewhat contrived for tourists we enjoyed the walk through the forest, and coming across a couple of coapis (a type of ant eater), to where we were to join the first trip of the day, a guided drive through the jungle to the main attraction - the boat ride up the river and into the foot of the falls themselves. To be fair, the ride through the jungle was rather tame for us as we'd already experienced 'real' jungle a couple of times on our travels, but nonetheless it was a pleasant introduction to this area. Donning our lifejackets and stuffing our belongings into a large wetbag we were off down the river to the falls. As we headed upstream riding a few rapids on the way the Falls on the Argentinean side suddenly came into view up ahead. And what a great way first view of the Falls it was - they looked massive. But as we got nearer and nearer, more and more of the Falls came into sight - the immense scale of them was just incredible and much, much greater than we'd imagined. The real fun though was sailing right into the foot of the Falls and the thundering water as it poured down on top of us - there was so much of it blowing into our faces that at times it was hard to breathe. All too soon it was over and we emerged, totally drenched through to the bone, to spend the next couple of hours walking the lower and upper circuits taking in this magnificent natural phenomenon at close quarters, and many different types, sizes and colours of hundreds of beautiful butterflies. It's difficult to convey in words the immense scale of the Falls. But to give some idea, they cover such a large area that there is a small train running through the park which takes you to one of the most thrilling areas - a walkway to the Gargantua del Diablo (Devil's Throat). This was really excellent and standing right over the Falls gave us a real sense of the power of the water - not to mention another good dousing! Instead of taking the train back we opted for a more gentle and peaceful journey back downstream in a dinghy - thankfully skilfully rowed well away from the deadly drop and raging torrent of the Falls. Although there was little wildlife to see, we were lucky enough to have a close up sighting of a caiman/alligator taking in the warmth of the sun as it lay by its nest - a fine way to end the day.After a visit to the Brazilian side of the Falls (see blog on Iguacu Falls - Brazil) we were back on the overnight bus to Buenos Aires. E & M xxx