March 24

I am in Brazil! Puerto Iguazu was great and the falls we absoultely spectacular. We spent the whole day yesterday on the Argentine side walking around the entire national park arround Iguazu. We walked both of the major circuits and stopped at all of the different lookout points that we encoutered. I knew that it was going to be unlikie anything I have seen before but the views still completely blew me away. The sheer size of the falls and the entire park surrounding them were both breathtaking. Ben and I even took a boat ride that took us directly under a few of the falls. It was a blast, and although we got completely soaked it was completely worth it. The tour did not go anywhere near the biggest of the falls (the devils throat) but it gave us a serious appreciation for the strength of the water. Our boat could barely approach one of the smaller falls wiothout being immediately spit out by the waves and falling water. Overall, yesterday was truly fantastic.
This morning we woke up early and caught a bus over to Brazil which was suprisingly easy. All in all it only took us about an hour and a half to make it across and get to our hostel. Along the way we met a British couple who were also on their way to the Brazilian side of the falls and we all met up on the bus over to the park and spent the day together. We actually got really lucky because just as we were arriving at the park is started to drizzle and everyone left, but it only rained for a matter of minutes and we were left with the park almost completely empty. We were able to walk around the major route with the best views without having to deal with massive crowds and annoying tourists. It was so easy and deserted that I could not believe it. All in all, I think the Brazilian side actually offered much better panoramic views and allowed us to get much views of certain parts if the falls. The entrance fee for the park really only allowed us to walk down one path, but that path was great and although we did not get as close to the devils throat, we still got a tremendous view of it. I have some unreal pictures that I am sure will help to describe what the exprience was like, although you can never truly comprehend the falls without seeing them firsthand. I am going to uplaod them as soon as I can (I wanted to upload them now but the internet at our hostel is slower than you can imagine).
Tomorrow night we are catching a bus to Florianapolis so I will check back in from there. Adios!


Harry