Our Great Adventure: Iguazu Falls Day 235 11/05/2015

After an early breakfast, and checking again with Claudia to make sure we knew which bus to get, we walked up to the local bus station and got the 0830 bus to Iguazu Falls on the Argentinian side, arriving there just before 0900. We paid our entrance fees and taking Claudia's advice, walked up to the Paseo Superior. Guarani legend says that Iguazu Falls originated when a jealous forest god, enraged by a warrior escaping downriver by canoe with a young girl, caused the riverbed to collapse in front of the lovers, producing precipitous falls over which the girl fell and, at their base, turned into a rock. The falls originate in southern Brazil with the Rio Iguazu passing over a basalt plateau that ends just above it confluence with the Rio Parana. Before reaching the edge the river divides into many channels to form several distinctive cataratas (cataracts). In the rainy season there are over 275 waterfalls along a 3km stretch with over 2700 cubic meters squared per second of water thundering over. From the Paseo Superior you get an excellent view from the numerous walkways that cross the top of a long stretch of falls ending at Salto Mbigua. From here we reversed our tracks and continued down to the Circuito Inferior, stopping off for coffee and empanadas on route. The lower route takes you down pass a number of smaller falls and along below the falls we'd walked above earlier. We could see across to Isla San Martin where you can cross to in the rainy season alas not today though. The panorama of the falls was beautiful along with the lush green forest and we even saw a rainbow briefly. We continued back to the start of the trail and got the train to Estacion Garganta from where a series of walkways take you across the Rio Iguazu to the awesome semicircular Garganta del Diablo (Devil's Throat) and the deafening noise from the roaring water. We stood mesmerised watching the tonnes of water pour over the edge into the abyss below. It really is a spectacular sight and you definitely feel up close and personal with the falls. We caught the train back down to near the park entrance intending to walk along the Sendero Macuco trail through the forest to a small waterfall. The earlier rain had turned the track into a red muddy quagmire and we decided to avoid getting our shoes filthy (we were not wearing our boots) and head back to town. We had an awe inspiring day and it was definitely worth the effort in getting here. It's hard to believe that the view from the Brazilian side could be as magnificent as this. We stayed on the bus to reach the Three Frontiers, where Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil meet at the confluence of the Rio Iguazu and Parana. We had an awe inspiring day and it was definitely worth the effort in getting here. Back in town we stopped for a drink and apple crumble with ice cream before wandering back to the b&b. In the evening we went to a local Asian restaurant and shared chicken curry with rice and chicken stir fry with noodles. Wonderful food (noce to have something different!) and a great way to end a fantastic day.