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Eighteen hours later following the sweaty Nazi, the kid chucking up behind us, the hypothetical questions and all of us in hysterics, we arrived in Foz do Iguazu, the Brazilian city bordering Iguazu falls, the largest waterfall in the world joining Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil.
Once settled, we arrived at none other than Pizza Hut for a hearty western lunch assuming the prices would be cheap. We were wrong and immediately hit with the strong ¨Real¨ currency being 1.5 to the dollar making everything much dearer. Worried that these prices may burn holes in our pockets quickly we opted for cooking our own traveller-style meal for dinner - mushy pasta and tomato sauce. Our saving grace was our dessert, apple crumble or what we thought was apple crumble until baking it until golden brown, slicing it open and looking, horrified, at the loaf of bread before us ready to be served!
Waking up early we made our way back to Argentina to visit the Argentinian side of the falls first. Getting a little train to the first walking circuit of four felt like a Disney commercialised ride but what awaited us at the top (Devil´s Throat) was absolutely indescribable. The waterfalls were breathtakingly beautiful and throughout the day we saw them from different angles and heights, slowly getting more damp as we drew closer.
The highlight of the day was the boat ride directly underneath the falls where the driver enjoyed steering in and out of the gushing gallons of water as we squealed and became completely drenched as we experienced the biggest power-shower ever! (Thank goodness we had been pre-warned and removed our bras and shoes, although Laura´s passport was not so lucky and her American visa is no longer entact!) We had to giggle as we ended the boat trip climbing into a 4 x 4 jurassic-park style jeep to re-enter the jungle to search for more animals - once again in vain! The only redeeming feature was the heart of palm tree that was pointed out and a small mixed-breed rat guinea pig creature!
Ending the day at the Golden Triangle, a viewpoint where all three bordering countries can be seen, allowed us to comprehend the enormity of the Falls at sunset.
The following morning began with our worst nightmare, or more specifically Jamie´s worst nightmare....the loss of his passport! Panicking slightly as our private driver waited patiently to take us to Paraguay for the morning, we were assured he would not need it for the border crossing anyway as the laws are so lax. Forewarned to leave Paraguay before midday due to the danger of the country, we entered without ID, passports or even speaking to any Immigration officers! Great security, we felt safe from the start! The infamous black market of Ciudad de l´este, known as the biggest electronics market in the world, was where we were headed despite hiding the little money we had in every pocket available!
Emma, driving everyone mad with her indecisiveness over whether to buy a new camera and whether Charles would agree with the purchase, decided against it. Meanwhile, Laura visited the outdoor market with Dan and Emily buying a secret purchase for later convenient use having bartered it down to one dollar. Luckily for our driver, our private trip obviously earnt him enough money to purchase a new flatscreen television and DVD player which he happily carried to the car and later dropped off at his gated house! Aware it was approaching midday, we had to leave Paraguay and eagerly awaited a phone call with regards to the whereabouts of the missing passport. Unfortunately it never came so we returned to the hostel where Emma suggested J checked the front pocket of his bag, where sure enough the passport was lying, blissfully unaware of the stress it had caused!
In the afternoon we visited the Brazilian side of Iguazu Falls which is equally as exquisite as Argentina. The rainbows which formed on the spray looked even better than the postcards! The secret purchase made earlier was an umbrella hat which, after taking the lift to a high viewpoint, Emily, Dan and Laura whipped out much to everyone´s amusement! The racoons around our feet dampened Laura´s enthusiasm whilst encouraging Emma to take one home! The picture of the falls will remain engrained in our memories forever and deserves its place as one of the seven natural wonders of the world as well as one of our highlights.
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