I read somewhere that on a day with a lot of water you could see over 500 little waterfalls. We didn't bother to count and just enjoyed what we saw. It was a sunny day with blue sky. I don't know how many degrees, but definitely more then a hand full!
Then we came to the bulls eye of the waterfalls and this walkway would lead us close to the falls and promise a refreshing spray of water and cool down our bodies. There were a couple of vendors who offered rain capes for sell, but I didn't see anybody using their offered goods. We stayed for a couple of hours as there was not more to see from the Brazilian side.
It was nice and I already thought that we could skip the Argentinian side, but decided to go anyways. So we travelled by local bus to the boarder to leave Brazil. We took another bus to get into Argentina and had to take a third bus to get into the town Porto Iguazu. As it was holiday season, most of the hostels where booked out. We found the last room in a small hospedaje for a expensive but not crazy price.
After a nights rest we took a bus to get to the falls. We only had to wait a short time until we entered the park with tickets in our hands. A small train brought us closer to the falls. It didn't take long until we had the first contact with wildlife and the falls.
There are many different trails to different parts of the falls you can take. We had a lot to do to see all, and after 8 hours there we still didn't manage to complete them all. We encountered another phenomena at the falls. Almost everybody had a large flask of hot water with them and a small pumpkin cup with a metal straw on it. After a little bit of research we found out what it was. It is called "mate". An infusion out of the leaves of a tree. You fill the crushed leaves into the pumpkin cup and fill it with hot water. Then you drink it through the straw and when it is empty, you fill hot water on it again. This is a very popular drink in Argentina. We heard there'd is a fight going on between Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay of who invented it. By the look of it I think it was Argentina! Our first attempt was a pretty bitter taste. More to that topic will come soon.
We heard birds and animals everywhere next to the constant roaring of the falls. It was again a hot day, but most of the trails where covered by trees and it was beautiful.
We didn't take the chance to go with a small boat over the river and into the falls, but it looked like a lot of fun and the many boats were always filled with people. But we could hear them scream when the water hit the boat and they got wet by the water.
At the top of the devils throat, where the biggest waterfall is, it is like a different world. You see over the calm looking river and it seems like it is standing. And then you have this huge edge where the water keeps on thundering down in a non ending circuit. I felt so small in comparison to this natural spectacle. But as this sign says, there is no way to explain it.
We loved this side and as said, we didn't manage to see it all. There is an island where you could go with a shuttle ferry, but we didn't have time to wait. It was an unbelievable experience and one of the most impressive moments, nature offered me so far.
We stayed on a campground for the night and enjoyed a huge steak and a bottle of wine. Finally in a country with good eating habits... I like!
Enjoy some photos of the Brazilian Iguazu falls and some pictures of the Argentinian Iguazu falls here.
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