At breakfast in our hostel we were delighted to hear some Aussie accents. It had been awhile.

Amy and Sarah are a couple of 21 year old girls from Adelaide and we discussed travels over our breakfast, then went our separate ways - us to the bus stop to catch a local bus to the Argentinean side of Iguassu, and Amy and Sarah to get ready for the hostel mini bus transfer that was to take them to the falls also.

On arrival at the National Park headquarters we were browsing in the visitors centre when we spotted Amy and Sarah again. Sarah was upset because she had accidentally left her camera back at the hostel and as Amy's had been stolen previously in her travels, they were totally without a camera to record their day.

We’d love to help we said! So it was agreed they would spend their day with us and I would be official photographer for us all, taking plenty that included the girls. Avan is also without a camera as his stopped working a few weeks ago.The pressure was on the only photographer, but the sky was as blue as blue, and the falls more spectacular than could ever be imagined, so the task was a pleasurable and easy one.

An absolute highlight of our day was taking a speed boat ride through some rapids and then right under the falls. It was certainly not for the faint hearted! We were hit with an amazing wall of ice cold water that slapped us about the body and face and threw us back, leaving us gasping, spitting and yelling out at the sheer exhilaration and fear of suffacating.

One of the crew members of the boat, who was taking a professional video, assuming we were parents of Amy and Sarah, got us up to the front of the boat for an excellent "family" snap. Our day continued to be wonderful as we walked the walks to all different views of the falls, including the amazing Devil’s Throat where the volume of water descending into the falls in a vortex, seems to mess with the senses.

Later in the afternoon, we headed off on an ecological tour of the river which was part of the "green passport" we had purchased and the girls headed off to do some more walks. Before we parted company, though, we made a date to meet in the hostel common room to have a look at the photos, transfer them to a USB thumb drive, then to go out to dinner together.  

We had had a great day, helping Sarah and Amy with photos of their day, and then we had an equally good night out dining together, with good conversation, and even enjoying a couple of bottles of good Argentinian red wine.

Next day we went our separate ways – Us to the bus station in Brazil to try and get ourselves off to Campo Grande and the girls had an overnight bus booked to Buenos Aries. Before we left Amy and Sarah gave us a beautiful hand written card thanking us for taking the photos. Thank YOU girls for giving us a great day too!!


POSTSCRIPT: Two Months after we took the tour the following tragedy occurred, reminding one that travel is not without its dangers.

News Story by Brazil Today News.

Boat Capsizes in Iguacu Falls, 2 American Tourists Dies Posted On Monday, March 21, 2011 
Buenos Aires – Two people died and eight were injured after a boat turned upside-down at the Iguazú Falls area, on the Argentina-Brazil border. The accident occurred around 11am, when a Jungle Explorer company’s boat, in which ten people were travelling, capsized near Salto San Martin. A 25-years old American woman who was travelling along with her husband died. Troops of the local Coast Guard reported that she was rescued by another boat but was seriously injured and passed away when she was being transferred to a hospital. Also, a man whose nationality has not been identified died after the accident.Most of the people at the boat were tourists, three of them were German, while other three were part of the crew. The driver of the boat was seriously injured and remains hospitalized in a Buenos Aires clinic. Sources said that the boat might have crashed into some rocks and rolled over. But some witnesses said the boat engine seemed to have gasped before being pulled by the strong current created by the waterfalls. Iguazu Falls are larger than Niagara Falls, but is second to Victoria Falls in Zambia.Brazilian boats and a helicopter were used to rescue the surviving victims who were afloat going down the huge river. Some grabbed rocks and waited for help to come. Argentine officials said that an immediate investigation began and that the results will be released within 40 days.

Footnote: Iguazu Falls are UNESCO World Heritage listed and feature in the book Unforgettable Places To See before you die. 
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Travel Talk: If contemplating a visit to the falls and looking for the best value we suggest the 3 countries tour was good value ($130ar ea) and the lunch was superb, certainly a visit to both sides of the falls is recommended as both Brazil and Argentina provide excellent infrastructure. However if dollars are short the Argentinean side has the best value as they have about 80% of the falls walks, a train ride to Devils Throat and boat to the island included in the park entry fee. As an add on the boat trip ($110ar ea on its own) into the falls was excellent (provided you are fit and game), however skipping the jungle ($110ar ea) and ecological tours ($50ar ea) (combination tours are available at a discount)  would not detract from your experience particularly if tours to either the Amazon or Pantanal are planned. We also purchased the video taken of the boat trip into the falls and while we considered it very expensive at $30 US it is quite a good production and a nice keepsake but also unfortunately seems to be copy protected, stopping it being transferred to PC.