Iguazu

After the comfort and luxury of Curitiba we decided to ease ourselves back into the travelling lifestyle by visiting one of the 7 natural wonders of the world*, as you do.

After pitching the tent in the garden of a hostel in Foz do Iguacu, we jumped on a bus to the Brazilian side. There isn't really much point trying to describe it, as we'd never be able to do it the justice it deserves (hopefully the pictures will), but things that struck us the most were the sheer scale of the falls, as well as the sound, which you hear long before you get through the trees to see it.

After the falls everything else seems to pale in comparison, but the bird park just outside the visitors centre is still pretty impressive. It's, as you might expect, full of all sorts of exotic birds, including macaws, toucans and flamingos - as well as plenty of lizards and even a boa constrictor.


The next day, before moving into Argentina an the neighbouring city of puerto iguazu, we took a trip to see the Itaipiu dam - incidentally one of the 7 modern wonders of the world**. The dam utilises the power of the mighty Parana river to provide 90% of Paraguay's power and 20% of Brazil's, which makes it the single largest producer of power in the world, even more than the Three Gorges Dam in China (take that Hayley). And unlike the Three Gorges (massively sweeping statement about China here) the designers endeverd to minimise the effect on the environment and community though various sustainability projects and creating jobs, although its probably all just propaganda and they actually killed-off a few dozen endangered species.




Then we waved good bye to Brazil and said hello to Argentina. As we rode the bus to between the two border posts, you can really feel that you are changing countries, the smells, the sounds, the people and the landscape all are different and all contrive to give you a real sense of new adventures and endless beginnings - Nah, only joking, its exactly the same . They are just two different sides of a river, what do you expect I guess?

After spending a few days on the Argentinian side of the falls we certainly did notice some differences though. On this side you don´t get the all encompassing views offered in Brazil, but what you get in return is a closer look at some sections, and from others dramatic views from the top where the world seems to be falling away over the edge. As a way to round off the whole experience we took a boat trip to get an even closer view, it was basically the most expensive shower you have ever had, but we enjoyed it.

*actually it's not official yet, apparently we all have to vote to make it happen...
**apparently this one is official.