Iguassu Falls

I know I`ve already raved about the Falls on my previous post, but today we went back to them, this time to the Argentinian side. And oh my god it`s even better than the Brazilian side.

While I would still recommend doing both (same as everyone), the Argentinian side is fit to bursting with stuff to do, including boat trips and easily accessible walks. And the walks don`t last 9km like one on the Brazilian side.

We did all of the walks (being three) and also got a combined ticket for two of the three boat trips. We went for the Aventura Nautica and Paseo Ecológico for AR$300. The other boat trip available was the Gran Aventura, but that takes about 80 minutes. Who has time for that.

The first one we went on the 20-minute Aventura Nautica, which takes you right up to the Falls in two places, and gets everyone in the boat soaking wet. You do get a waterproof bag to put your things in, and I changed into my swimming shorts (I was wearing them under my shorts) and flip flops because I`d heard how wet you get. And you`re literally as wet as if you`ve jumped into the river. But it`s so worth it. The views from the very bottom are incredible (when you can see through the spray) and it`s exhilerating to bounce your way up the rapids towards the cataracts and see them so close up.

We finished the day with the Paseo Ecológico, which was a relaxing boat ride along the forested waterways on top of the Falls. That was a really nice thing to finish with as it`s very calming and you get to see some wildlife along the way.

But right before we did that, we did the actual best part of the entire thing. Seeing the Devil`s Throat from the Brazilian side was fantastic, seeing it from the Argentinian is mind-blowing. You get so close to it you feel like you could be hovering over the semi-circle of pouring water, spraying mist and thundering noise. There`s an omnipresent rainbow here as well, which makes it all the more impressive.

This, for me, was the absolute do-not-miss of all of the Falls. In fact, I think it`s the most impressive natural thing I`ve seen in my life. The world will have to do very well to top it. You do get very wet from the spray coming up, but you don`t care because the sight is amazing. Milena`s review is: "IT`S SUPER AMAZING". That says it all.

We are slightly disappointed though, because we found out while we were here that you can do moonlight visits to the Falls for the five nights surrounding the full moon. Which starts tomorrow! So close...

But tomorrow we`re getting on the overnight bus to Buenos Aires (another 20 hours on a bus, how delicious...) but we paid for `cama` (bed) which looks a lot more comfortable than the Convencional we had coming here from Sao Paulo. Very much looking forward to Buenos Aires, I`ve heard very good things about it so let`s see.

15 Hours on a Bus

And I survived! It's the longest I've ever been on a mode of transport, including flying, so it was a bit of a trial. We had to go for the Convencional bus, which is the cheapest, so it got us from Sao Paulo to Foz do Iguacu for 30 pounds, which is really good. But it also meant limited legroom, a slightly reclining seat and not a lot of other comforts. But it was actually fine. We had regular stops for toilets (there was a toilet on the bus though) and we even went to a couple of roadhouses where they gave us all an electronic card and we took food from a hot buffet and then paid our tab on the way out. Not too shabby!

For me, as someone who is prone to travel sickness just driving down my road in Birmingham, I was worried that it would be a hellish journey. I took a couple of travel sickness pills before we left, and if they did anything then they worked, because I was fine, and even got a few hours sleep.

We have another long bus journey coming up soon, from Puerto Iguazú (on the Argentinian side of Iguassu Falls) to Buenos Aires, but we're going to splash out the extra 10 pounds and go for a semi-cama one, which should recline to almost bed gradient, and apparently they serve you food too!

Overall, as quite an uptight traveller, I was impressed with the journey and am no longer worried about going long distances by bus. Which is handy really, as I have a hell of a lot of them coming up! But not Buenos Aires to Peru. That mother of a distance is getting flown.

Tomorrow Milena and I are finally going to visit Iguassu Falls themselves (on the Brazilian side) so I can fulfil that dream. Along my trip I have several glowing hotspots that I'm really looking forward to seeing, and this is one of them. Hopefully it won't disappoint!