Both Sides, Now - Foz de Iguazu/Puerto Iguazu

 We arrived in Foz de Iguazu, our last stop in Brazil, on a sodden Sunday morning. (The 16th of May, for those of you keeping track.) The air was damp, and the town shuttered up for church. We were staying in a hostel rather than a hotel, having cottoned on that these seem to be the best option in SAmerica. We walked through town to the market, where we ate pastries, drank fresh coffee and spoke to the locals. In general, we found Brazilian people incredibly friendly - time after time people went out their way to give us directions, invite us out dancing, or just advise us on what sandwich to order. It is a seriously nice country.

We spent our last day in Brazil visiting the Brazilian side of the Iguazu Falls, pictured right, above and below. The falls actually consists of 270 seperate waterfalls. The highest is 82m, and it is a 3km walk along the length of Iguazu. In terms of annual water flow, it is second only to Niagra. The Brazilian side gives the panoramic overview, allowing a sweeping perspective on the falls. The sheer noise made by the crashing water was incredible. Closer up, you become engulfed in a dense cloud of water vapour, which rises up from the foot of each waterfall. Pictured forming to the right. The national park which surrounds the waterfalls is worth a visit in its own right - we saw racoons scurrying in and out of the jungle and unidentified birds of prey circling overhead.

On the 17th of May, we crossed the border to Argentina. The first big difference we noted was that suddenly living was affordable! The price of food, transport and accomomodation immediately became lower. On our first day in Argentina, we walked around the pleasant town of Puerto Iguazu - a more attractive and safer place than its counterpart over the border. We went out to the Three Frontiers point, where Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina meet in the Iguazu River. At night we tested our rusty cooking muscles by making spag bol in our hostel kitchen, where we met many nice travellers from England, including a BBC producer, who was sharing our room... Who knew that youth hostels were such prime networking sites!

The Argentinian side of the falls was mobbed with tour groups the following day, despite the constant drizzling rain.  It took about five hours to walk the many treks along the length of the falls, which provided innumerable breathtaking close-ups of the falls. The heart of the Iguazu Falls is a gorge called the Devil´s Throat, where the water crashes into an abyss obscured by rising spray and mist. The viewing point here is battered ceaselessly by driving wind and water, a result of the water vapour (or cloud as I thought of it) created by the waterfall. It was a dramatic and unique experience. However after two days of waterfall sight-seeing, we were more than ready to move on to the tango capital - just a twenty hour bus journey away!