This one might take a while even though it was a flying vist so grab a tea, one or two biscuits and try and stick with it. This is a good one!!!!

Our 24 hour bus ride went alot smoother than we thought, but we were blessed with picking the cama suites (beds to us common folk) on the bus so we travelled the long hours in comfort.

It was around 4 when we got into the bus terminal and noticed straight away that Puerto Iguazu is a built for the tourist. Its a small little town serving the natural wonder that is Iguazu Falls, so as you can imagine the prices are high and the two of us nearly passed out when we got to a small supermercardo after dropping our bags off at the hostel to buy a few bits. Lee and myself were made up to be back in jungle teritory and more importantly enjoying the 27 degrees centigrade of an Iguazu winter. Its easy to tell locals from travellers ...wooly jumpers and jeans versus shorts and t-shirts ;)

Our hostel was really lovely. We had a really nice double room which was kind of seperate to the main building so we could come and go as we pleased. Our first day in Iguazu was spent doing nothing at all ... honestly we bearly even scratched ourselves. It was such a treat we just walked around the town and tried really hard not to spend any cash. We werent too fused to do anything other than make our way to the falls and head on our way again. We had met a lovely couple from Australia who had been to both the Brazilian side and the Argentinian side and they were blown away by both sides. While it was hard to say what our expectations were we excited to see what we had heard so much about. After a day of recouperation we were set to see the falls. Buses run a shuttle service to and from the falls from about 7am every morning. By 8.30 we were on our way. The layout is similar to that of a big park or zoo. You get a map of the area when you get there and can meander around at your leisure after that. We dicided to pick up some tickets for a boat ride which by all accounts was not to be missed. There are three main routes (the top route, middle and bottom) within the park but we went straight for the big dog the "devils throat" doesnt it tell you everything you need to know from the name? The map showed us a pathway to take a train that runs to the top of the route, as we were making our way there we stumbled apon a pack of coatis. A coati is a small mammal; I think a cross between a racoon and an anteater. We had a resident coati in camp in Costa Rica called Derek. Generally you wouldnt really see too many coatis in the wild, as they are quite weary of people and mostly only come out at night to feed. But in this park they come from the surrounding jungle and are so clued in they know theres food to be had where there are humans. They navigate their way through the park and through the restaurants to see what they can find. We had to drag ourselves away to make our way to the train. We found the queue for the train and waited for our turn to jump on. When we got called the train was pretty full already so we got split up and were sitting on different carts. I got a little old dear intent on talking to me on the trip. I could tell she was lovely but couldnt understand a word. I gave it my best shot with the few sentences Rob has taught me but it was a lost cause. So we did what you do when you have no idea whats going on. We smiled at each other and ou´d and ah´d at the scenery along the way.

When you get off the train you can hear the water from all around. The park has built pathways over the water so that you can safely navigate from one place to another. Its easy to see just how vicious the water could be if someone fell in, the speed of it as it passed under our feet was unbelieveable. People generally milled along one side of the pathway heading to the devils throat and in the opposite direction when coming back from it, what was funny was that everyone walking in the opposite direction to us was soaked, some from head to toe, some in rain jackets with just wet hair and a wet face but everone with a smile on their faces. What was lovely aswell was that the crowd was so mixed, couples, friends, familes with young kids and family along with older relatives, some stopping every few feet for a breather but determined to get to the main attraction.

We had bought a pair of poncho´s for our Lares trek but had only used them to wrap around our feet over those few days so we had hung on to them for the falls. Admittedly I looked like a smurf when I put it on but needs must and all that. We made our way out to the end of the bridge which brings you right out to the mouth of the waterfall. Im not entirely sure where the water comes from but it flows over the side of the waterfall with such strenght and speed that it spits out huge clouds of mist - thats what soaks everyone. Its really hard to put it into words, everyone tries to guess when they might get a clear minute to whip out the camera for some photos and within a minute or two the camera are getting stuffed away again for protection. The clouds of mist just keep coming one after the other but once your there your more than happy to get soaked by it. The few stolen photos are worth the wait. We must have stayed there for ages just watching the flow of the water it was quite mesmerising.

The Australian couple in our hostel had suggestested doing all of the routes before taking the boat trip as you can get quite wet and would need some time to dry off so thats what we did. We made our way around the other routes meandering in and around the structured jungle. It felt a lot like being back on Camp with the frontier gang and we loved it. Every now and again we would come across another little pathway which would take us to another waterfall. It reminded me a little of the secret garden. Something I wasnt expecting was the number of butterflies. They were amazing. Big, small, they flew constantly around certain parts of the park and their colouring was just stunning. One actually landed on my finger and stead there for quite a while, I tried to get one of the cameras but sure enough the minute I tried to take a photo it flew off.

When we were pretty much done with the trails we set out to find the entrance to the boat ride. It was quite a trip down to water level and again as we were walking down to the water side dry as a bone everyone else was walking back up the stairs soaked only this time soaked right through. As we queued we were given our lifejackets and a dry bag to put our gear into (an indicator of just how wet we were about to get). We clammbered on the boat and made our way towards the back stategically thinking we might have picked the best seats but of course everyone got soaked so that bit didnt really work out to plan. Two seconds after we sat down in our seats I heard Irish accents from behind us and sure enough there were a couple from Waterford and three lads from Cork sitting in the back row. Where else would you meet a gang of Irish only down the back of a boat in Iguazu Falls! The boat started up its engine and we were off - first they brought us to the foot of one of the waterfalls the spray came into the boat a little and the screamers were off, then the boat pulled back out a little and the driver gave us the nod to take a few photos, the scenery was breath-taking. We even got the Irish lads behind us to take a photo of us. (This turned out to be a bit of a plan destroying action - I had my poncho wrapped so tightly around myself I figured I was water proof but then the photo happened and the seals were broken). After a minute or two the driver gave us the nod and we packed all of our cameras away. I threw my shoes into the bag aswell as we had a sneaky feeling what was coming. The boat took us to the second waterfall and took us so close to the bottom of the fall that we got well and truely soaked everyone was laughing and screaming at the same time. The water was freezing and simply took our breath away. The boat pulled out and brought us back to the first waterfall only this time we didnt stop at the base of it. The boat took us into the spray and under the stream of the waterfall. It was absolutly immense, admittedily not for anyone who doesnt want to get wet, I saw a few faces get on the boat with perfect makeup which was non exsistant by the time we got off. It was a short dip under the waterfall but worth every penny. We tried a "one more time" chant but they werent having any of it. Then we took our turn walking back up the staircase drenched as those coming in the opposite direction tried not to stare.

There wasnt too much of the park let to see after that, we wondered around a little waiting to dry off and stumbled upon two little sister waterfalls. Dont get me wrong they were big but not in comparision to the other waterfalls we´d seen over the day. There was a little area to sit down so we parked for a while just watching them. The two of us were pretty quiet just sitting there taking in how much fun we´d had over the day. My mind started to get preoccupied with lunch possibilities so I was giving Rob the nudge to make tracks to pick up lunch but he was pretty happy just to stay put as we stood up to leave (or so I thought) he took my hands and brought me back over to the waterfalls and in that little spot by two sister waterfallson the 4th of July we got engaged! Now anyone who knows me knows its pretty hard to make me speechless but there I stood gobsmacked! I really wish I had known what was coming because I would have paid much more attention to what was unfolding. Rob produced a little ring and popped in on my finger and I stood there like a deer in headlights. Truth be told the words "holy s***balls" may have popped out of my mouth once or twice which was unfortunate but I was so shocked I'm just glad it wasnt anything worse. After a little while I double checked that I had actually said yes but Rob was on the case and gave me a little rundown of what I´d said.

The rest of the day was as you can imagine was a bit of a write off we made our way back to the bus shuttle service and back to our hostel where we had a little celebration dinner.

We´re writing this a little while after Iguazu and its still sinking in, every now and again we catch each others eye and have a little giggle knowing that were both still thinking did we just get engaged!! Im not sure if that will satisfy the questions but thats all your getting while were away so it will have to do!

We left Iguazu Falls on Thursday to make our way to Buenos Aires via night bus (still smiling like idiots).

Thanks to everyone who sent us congratulations messages, even though we are so far away we really felt like we got to share it with everyone at home as if we were there.

Next installment, Buenos Aires where they do everything a little different and seem not to sleep - Ever!!!

Love to you all,

Rob and Lee xxx