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Susanne and I arrived in Iguassu in the early afternoon the following day, after having had much sleep on the bus, since the provided in-bus entertainment was less than desirable.
The rest of the day was spent wandering around Iguassu, on the Argentinian side, getting food, then having a go in the casino. It was billed as such, but just had video roulette and poker, and one-arm bandits. Past experiences have shown I seem to be intuitive on roulette, but apparently not as much as Susanne, who seemed to be able to call red / black, 1st / 2nd / 3rd thirds with great accuracy. Jokingly, once I asked her to guess the right number, which turned out right. Her technique of squinting and looking into the distance was impressive but we left having beaten the House.
By the next day, news had reached me that Dave was in town. Dave was doing a tour with GAP Adventures from Buenos Aires to Iguassu, so it was always the plan to meet up, we assumed only in Rio. However, we were not able to meet up, as the day I was in Iguassu, I was on the Argentinian side and Dave had landed on the Brazilian side.
Iguassu was really impressive. I had a great time walking around the site with Susanne, which took the best part of six hours. It was at the first lookout point, I saw Brazil for the first time from across the abyss of mist, thrown up by the many powerful waterfalls. This was just one section of waterfalls, so we continued on to see several other areas, connected by bridges to other sections. Some of the bridges afforded fantastic views; I remember one which looked like an Eden, and below the lush greenery the waterfall powered downwards. A rainbow curving through the scene was the icing on the cake.
There were animals present throughout the site, various birds and a ground-based creature, I think called coatis. One of the final waterfalls we visited was really powerful, and the lookout point was really close. So from the edge, you get soaked. The feeling when youÂ're there is great. I read a theory about the Â'negatively charged ionsÂ' the falls give off makes people happy. Whatever it was, it was cool.
The next day, Susanne and I had to say our goodbyes. She would be meeting up with a friend of hers in Buenos Aires she had done the Inca Trail with, a girl called Laura. Although we didnÂ't know it at the time, it turned out to be the same Laura, who had been a good friend of mine from Cordoba!! It was a surprise to say the least when we found out using Facebook and the Â'common friendsÂ' function!!
ItÂ's never easy to say goodbye, but itÂ's something you have to get used to when travelling around. You meet people, hang around together for days or weeks at a time and get to know them well, and leave them, more than likely, forever. The electronic age makes it easier to stay in touch, but you still miss them.
Later that afternoon, I started my journey to Florionopolis. However, I had to get through the border first, which was a bit of a disjointed mission when taking the bus. It could only take me as far as border control and couldnÂ't wait for me. As a UK citizen, I didnÂ't have to pay anything to get into the country, whereas Aussies and Canadians do, with Yanks having to pay $100 Dollars! As I was waiting for the next bus to come in an hours time, I succumbed to the offer of a taxi ride. At the bus station, I received a text message from Dave saying he was in his hotel - 5KM from me. I would be seeing him a few days from then anyway, so we didnÂ't bother meeting up then. My bus was a few hours late and I was assured by way of a conversation, in Spanish from me, and a reply in Portugese from the station attendant, that it would be here but they didnÂ't know when. It was nearly midnight when I was finally on my way to Florionopolis, which was a 15 hour ride away.
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