To reach Iguazú we had elected not to take yet another 20 hour bus so we flew in 1.5 hours instead which was very pleasant. Arriving in the town of Puerto Iguazú we were greeted by familiarity in a comforting way: the heat, humidity and jungle surroundings reminded us a lot of Central America - good memories.

We located some good empanadas for lunch, did some food shopping then spent the rest of the day at the hostel as Simon had eaten/drunk something dodgy. I spent a lot of time in the pool (fantastically provided in our cheap hostel) which was a relief in the heat.

The next day we headed off bright and early to see the Falls. I have now been to all three of the great falls so here are some facts to compare them: The Iguazú falls are 60-82 metres in height; Niagra is a third shorter at 50 metres, but Victoria falls are 108 metres. At Iguazú there are 150-300 different waterfalls depending on water level and span 2.7 kilometres in length (but 900 metres of this aren't covered in waterfalls) - wider than Victoria Falls, but Victoria can claim the largest curtain of water. Niagra's claim is the highest flow rate. Anyway I can testify that all are spectacular with Victoria being the least touristy by far!!

We first of all walked around some of the extensive metal walkways for fabulous views. The waterfalls fall between lush greenery and in the sun they looked spectacularly beautiful. The walkways meander through the jungle- it was good to get out of the sun. First thing as we walked along the first path, we came across a very tame family of coatis: they weren't fazed by us at all. During the day we saw more of them, particularly at lunch spots! We also saw lots of birds with blue eyebrows and beautifully patterned and colourful butterflies. The whole package was great, only spoilt by many people and their selfie sticks!

After a couple of hours of walking around we headed down to the river's edge and boarded a boat for our close-up falls experience. After enough time to take some photos, everything was safely stowed in dry bags and we were off at speed straight towards the falls and right under their spray. Instantly we were soaked and couldn't even open our eyes to see how close we were. And before we knew it, the shrieking ended (that was Simon) and we were out. We did this one more time around the corner at another fall just to assure our complete soaking. A good experience although over too quickly. Happy to be cooled down from our wet clothes, we found a good lunch spot next to two secluded waterfalls before continuing.

We decided to walk a trail where we hoped to see more wildlife and although there were a lot less people, there wasn't much more wildlife as it was the hottest part of the day although we were rewarded with the sighting of a troupe of monkeys crossing above us. In hindsight we shouldn't have done this walk as once we got on the small train to take us to the most spectacular viewpoint, the heavens had opened and weren't stopping. But we had wanted to save this to the end of the day when there would be less people. After sheltering at the train station for ages, the rain not stopping and Simon pointing out that we appeared to be the only young people sheltering, we took the plunge and stepped out into the downpour. Our clothes had only just dried from the morning and were soon pretty wet again. However the boardwalk was very quiet except for a large group of Asian tourists. On the way we passed a German priest, bizarrely dressed in his priest outfit, and an elderly lady accompanying him, who were just returning. I suddenly felt rather pathetic having sheltered from the rain whilst they were bravely continuing. Although they did have umbrellas.

We quickly reached the end of the boardwalk and the main waterfall, Garganta del Diablo (Devil's Throat) and suddenly were right on top of it. The water crashed down below us, we were soaked even more by warm spray and we were mesmerised. The camera made it out briefly but it can never convey the power and size of this waterfall that we were stood on top of. Although we were soaked and a bit cold, we were grateful for the huge amount of space we had and almost uninterrupted views.

We squelched our way back to the train station where I spent the time waiting for the train wringing out my socks several times. Back at the park entrance we boarded a chilly air-conditioned bus to take us home. We picked up our laundry and some more food before getting back to the hostel and finally becoming dry! That evening we learnt that the volcano we'd hauled ourselves to the top of six weeks previously in Chile, had erupted in spectacular style.

The next day we were back at the falls but on the Brazilian side and finally an easy border crossing again. Everyone got off the bus on the Argentinian side then on the Brazilian side the driver gathered passports of non-Latin Americans and got them stamped for us.

We arrived at what seemed to be a more polished visitor site than the Argentinian side. We were whisked away into the park on hybrid buses and began the walking trail. There were many less paths on the Brazilian side but they still gave us fabulous views; as well as a panoramic overview of all the falls, and a better perspective of how big they are, we were also able to get right up close to some of them. One walkway took us across a flat piece of water which was where one waterfall dropped into and another started. Again we got a good spraying from the mist but it was welcome in the heat. As we got to near the end, it began to rain so we waited it out and had lunch - the raincoats had been left behind again. It eventually stopped and we walked to the last viewpoint. After resisting buying a hideous commemorative plate from the souvenir shop, we dragged ourselves away from these awesome falls that had entertained us for two days.

As it was only 1pm we thought we'd visit a bird park across the road but when they didn't accept credit card and then a bus turned up we hopped in it instead. Safely back into Argentina with four more stamps in the passport we hit the ice cream parlour then back at the hostel I indulged in a national pastime, a siesta (I'm sure this is key to the economic problems - shutting down 1-5/6/7pm every day. Not even I need this much sleep). We cooked once again, saving ourselves for Buenos Aires.

Our third day took us back to Brazil once again, to satisfy Simon's engineering craving: to see the world's second largest hydroelectric dam. Transport here was a little trickier. We could have not bothered stamping into Brazil again but thought it better, just in case, but as the bus wasn't going to wait for us, we had to wait for the next one from the same company to arrive. After this we had to change bus at the terminal in the town of Foz do Iguaçu, taking us to the dam. The Brazilian buses allow obese people- as well as the usual old/disabled/pregnant- to use the priority seats which we found a little odd.

We had booked on a special tour where we were shown a slightly cheesy American-style video, about how amazing a project it is, before being transported to various sites by bus. We first drove round the outside to get a perspective on how large it is then went inside to see some of the workings of it including the control room that straddles Paraguay and Brazil, showing how well two countries can work together.

So, here's some dam facts: although the second largest, it produces more power than the bigger Chinese dam. At the height of its construction, which began in 1971, there were 40,000 workers. They had six concrete factories and an ice factory (which they mixed into the concrete instead of water to prevent air bubbles). There are 20 turbines, 10 each belong to Brazil and Paraguay and they only all started working in 2007. Paraguay only uses the energy from two of its turbines and sells the rest to Brazil. This gives it 75% of the energy needed for the country, the rest coming from two other dams. From the other 18 turbines, Brazil gets 17% of its energy, no mean feat considering its size. We drove to the Paraguayan side of the dam, spending about five minutes so technically we can say we've been to Paraguay now! From the bus we saw lots of trees with white plaques next to then. These are planted after someone has completed 15 years of service or have retired.

Whilst we enjoyed the tour, it wasn't as exciting as some of the reviews made it out to be. Simon was a little disappointed at the engineering simplicity of it but then I think that's part of what makes it incredible. Also on the drive from the visitor centre to the dam, we saw loads of capybaras hanging out on a river bank- even they enjoy a good dam.

When we left, it was raining and we still hadn't brought raincoats with us. It took over two hours to get back as we had to wait ages at the border but we got chatting to a nice French guy who was at the start of his trip. We were relieved to make it back once again to Argentina (four more stamps in the passport) where we had a lot more hope of understanding what was going on: it was weird to be surrounded by Portuguese and not be able to speak any of it, despite many words being the same or similar in Spanish.

That evening we went to a sort-of gourmet market where we sat outside to share a delicious meat, cheese and olive plate. The next morning was our flight back to Buenos Aires. I was lucky to get a window seat and was able to have a quick last aerial sighting of the Devil's Throat falls and the spray that it throws high into the air.

Katy