As Cataratas do Iguaçu

Puerto Iguazu, the town we're based in for our visit to the Falls, has very little to offer other than a lot of tourist shops, a slot machine casino, and parrilla restaurants. We struggled to find vegetarian food on menus, forget about vegan. On Saturday, we were kind of regretting having booked a three night stay here.

Sunday's spectacular trip to explore the Argentine side of the Falls did a lot to ease the pain and reinforced our desire to visit their Brazilian side.

Sunday night, we set our alarms early and caught the 7:30 bus, hoping to beat the crowds on this Monday morning. The forecast was calling for light rain all morning, but we found blue skies above when we arrived at the Falls' Brazilian visitor center. From there, we rode an open topped bus deep into the rain forest and then walked along a concrete path, taking us deeper still.

Through the forest canopy, we began catching glimpses of the spectacle to come, eventually arriving at a platform that gave us an unrestricted view.

Wow!

Yesterday, from up close, we thought the Falls were impressive, but viewed from the Brazilian side, one sees just how vast the entire waterfall system really is. On top of that, with the early morning sun shining down, the mist created by the cascading water supplied us with rainbow after rainbow.

At one point, the path extends out over the water and offers an unrestricted view of the millions of gallons of water pouring down from above and rushing under your feet. Enjoying this view, however, comes with a price: no one escapes without a good soaking by the mist.

There truly are no words to describe this Wonder of the World, and sadly, the pictures CANNOT do it justice, but the memories will remain.

So, in the end, we're glad we spent the extra day to look at Falls from both sides now, from up and down, and still somehow.....d'oh!

Sorry Joni.Les mer