water, water every where

Iguaca Falls - Brazil

It stormed the poured all night and we awoke the next morning during the worst of it. Not wanting to waste a day and checking the forecast only to find more rain we decided to brave the weather. When there was a slight break we made for the urban bus terminal purchasing cheap umbrellas from a tienda who had dusted them off and brought them out from somewhere in the back. 2 buses and 1 visitor center later we were dropped off in the pouring rain. With no other choice we started down the path. We walked through lush, green, fresh jungle, turned a corner and there they were. Through the mist and fog, loud and everywhere we looked were waterfalls. Our umbrellas did the job and pretty soon it didn´t matter that it was raining. The walkway on the Brazil side is brief and soon we were standing at the entrance to the Devil´s Throat, the portion that goes right out over the middle of the falls. Afraid of the spray and rain from the fall above rather than the roar of the rushing water below, sans a poncho we only made it half way out before we got soaked and our umbrellas flew inside out.

Iguazu Falls - Argentina

The 2nd day out to the falls was rain free and cloudy. We hopped 2 buses over to Argentina for one last time to find a mass of people waiting to enter the park. Once in we opted for the lower trail as everyone else headed for the upper one. The trail involved some hiking and it was great to be out in the middle of the jungle. The views from this side were much better and we agreed we would have been disappointed if we went to Argentina first and Brazil second. We spent most of the day there as opposed to 1hr over on the Brazilian side. Most of the walkways in Argentina took you right up to the falls from every angle and it was really amazing. To get to the island in the middle of the parque you climb down the hillside, mountainside really, over rocks to where men sit waiting in their boats. If you pay extra they take you whipping down the river right under the waterfalls where everyone was coming off soaked. We chose to just putt across to the island to hike some more. After the lower circuit we got sandwiches and sat in the lunch pavilion where while Nate was running from bees a cuati (fearless little creatures) jumped onto our table and stole his sandwich. With Nate pissed and me hysterical we did the upper trail and went home after a good, tiring day. For dinner we got delicious, wicked cheap sandwiches from a cena truck outside our hotel of frango, jamon, queso, lechuga, peas, corn, mayo... that we both got to enjoy.