As soon as we stepped off the bus, humidity slapped us in the face; we were definitely back in the tropics. The town of Puerto Iguazu is actually nice, very laid back and relaxing. After our epic ride from BA relaxing is what we needed so headed to a wildlife rescue centre. Not wanting to wait 2 hours for the next English tour we opted for the Spanish one. I'm practically fluent now anyway.

My fluency obviously only extends to menus as I had no idea what the guide was saying. They could be stealing the animals from the jungle for all I knew. The poor lady opened the flood gates when half way through she asked, in English, if we had any questions. Some of you know what I'm like with animals, I had loads of questions! We saw my favorite bird (now that I know Puffins are mythical), the Toucan, capuchin monkeys (from night at the museum), giant ferrets (ewww), a giant otter, a baby anteater (my favorite), reptiles, cappibarra (the biggest rodent in the world), many colorful birds and some very regal looking hawks and falcons. A great warm up for animal spotting in the Pantanal.

Our full day we dedicated to the Argentinian side of the falls, lucky we did. It's not like Niagara Falls where you can see the falls from the road, Igauzu falls is within Igauzu national park, a huge area with many different walks to different lookouts and areas. Being the walks are through the jungle and there are Jaguars and Pumas in the jungle, I was a little nervous at first. I soon calmed down and just worried about snakes.

Our first view of the falls was from the top of the biggest fall, Devils Throat. A 1000m boardwalk over the river eventually has you over the falls with masses of thundering water cascading down over green little islands, while birds and butterflies fly about in the mist. Absolutely spectacular. Getting a decent photo wasn't such a spectacular experience. Emmett and I were just about ready to throw some very deserving candidates into the raging water. We moved on to the next walk instead.

The jungle walks themselves were beautiful and each viewpoint we came to was as stunning as the next. I'm not sure how many photos of a waterfall is reasonable, whatever it is I'm sure I surpassed it.

Seeing the jet boats cruise the river beneath the falls, we thought we best have a go for yet another perspective of the falls. The driver was 'loco'. A couple of times I thought he was literally driving us into the falls. Though we didn't drown we definitely looked like drowned rats. Obviously the reason everyone was wearing bathers. Good to know for next time.

We didn't see jaguars or pumas but there is lots of wildlife about. The snake and the lizards didn't excite me, but the very forward Coati's did. They are kind of a cross between a raccoon and an anteater and being people have been feeding them they are no longer afraid of humans. Seeing them jump up on tables to try and takes people's food amused me no end. One little guy had got his paws on a ketchup sachet and was trying his hardest to open it. Being fairly sure the packet isn't good for ones digestive system I thought about confiscating it. Then I thought about the pictures of Coati scratches and how annoyed I'd be if someone took my ketchup. I let him be.

The majority of the falls are on the Argentinian side meaning you are either standing above them, next to them or below them. We had heard across the river the Brazilian side, Foz de Iguazu, gives a good view of all 7 (or thereabouts) falls. With half a day to spare before yet another night bus, off we went. If you ever need to smuggle something to brazil this is the border for it; argentina stamped us out but brazil doesn't bother to stamp you in or even make you stop. We were illegal immigrants for the day.

We only had an hour and a half for the whole operation before our big bus trip. Arriving at the park entry you actually have to take a 20 minute bus to the point where the viewpoints begin. We hadn't factored that in. Luckily there are only a couple of view points so we were able to whizz through. It's not as spectacular as the Argentinian side but gives is a great view of all the falls together, definitely worthwhile. Which is fortunate as the huge line for the bus back to the park entrance meant we missed our bus back to Puerto Iguaza. Crap. With no other option we jumped into a rather pricy cab but alls well as we didn't miss our bus!

From here Brazil beckons, another night bus and we will be in the wilds of the Pantanal. This also means we only have 3 weeks left before we head home. Usually this is something that would leave me feeling sad and mopey but I've had an epiphany this trip, I'm actually looking forward to coming home. Of course I always miss my family and friends, but this is the first time I will be ready to stop traveling and head back to Ad's. Probably nothing deeper than missing my well stocked wardrobe, coupled with a deep desire to be able to flush toilet paper again.

See you in Brazil!