Iguacu Falls

My bus journey ended up being 27 hours long in the end, so I was pretty happy to finally arrive in Foz do Iguacu. I didn't mind the coach though as the countryside leaving Rio and in Parana (the state where Foz is) was so beautiful, it made staring out of the window and listening to music enjoyable.

When I got off the coach I jumped onto the bus and into the town to get to my hostel. My hostel is pretty cool as it is made out of old shipping containers and has a pretty chilled vibe. Most people only stay a couple of days to see the falls and then head off, either to over the border to Argentina or further into Brazil.

As I got there probably around 4pm I just FaceTimed Josh and bought some food. After carnaval I'm on a bit of a health kick so I made myself a salad (my first so far 😳) which was divine and I didn't even want a caipirinha at the happy hour.

I met some English girls and a Canadian girl at the hostel and the next day we headed out to the Brazilian side of Iguazu Falls. It exceeded my expectations as the falls are just as incredible as I hoped they would be. We even saw a rainbow above the falls which made my day. The best part was the ledge over the 'Devil's throat' where you get soaked but can see right over the edge of the falls. We had lunch in the park and there were these vicious animals similar to raccoons which terrorised us and tried to claw at our food. After the Brazilian side we headed back to the hostel and just sunbathed.

The second day of the falls was on the Argentinian side and my first taste of Argentina as a whole! Everyone says the falls on this side are much better because they are a lot bigger (it's split roughly 80:20 between Argentina and Brazil) and you get to see the falls up a lot closer, so you really get to understand their force.

We went on an organised tour consisting of the lower and upper trails and then the Devil's throat again but from the Argentinian side. The day was made funny by our tour guide who decided to point out every single spider he saw to us and some good people we met. On the way back, we got stuck for about an hour and a half in between a protest. Then we went to the point where the 3 countries - Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay - meet, which was very underwhelming. By this point I think everyone wanted to get home as it was starting to get dark and we still had to get over the border back into Brazil.

In the eve I went out for drinks and food with some people from my hostel and organised crossing the border into Argentina again the following day.

All in all, Iguacu Falls is one of those 'must do' things in South America. You don't need longer than 2 days but definitely don't skip either side because you get the panoramic views from Brazil but really feel the magnitude of the falls in Argentina. It was definitely one of the highlights of my trip so far.Read more