We got off our overnight bus just after noon and made our way over to our hostel on the way realising that Puerto Iguazu existed for one reason only - as a convenient place for tourists to stay on their visit to the falls. We had roughly 2 days here, one full day and two halfs. We had been advised that we should reserve a full day for the Argentine side, so we decided to test our luck and head straight to the Brazilain side of the falls and spend the afternoon there.Hang on, we weren't planning to visit Brazil on our trip, I can hear you say... too true, however, as the opportunity presented itself (5 pesos each for the trip across the border to the falls), we found it too tempting to resist.
The border crossing into Brazil was one of the easiest that we have encountered. In fact, as
we discovered later, the Brazilian authorities have a very casual view of tourists crossing their border on public transport for a few hours to go to the falls. If you don't get out of the bus to get your passport stamped, then they don't mind. However, we heard that if you "forget" to get it stamped and then try to leave from another route, they get a little cross. We didn't know all this and got our passports stamped as we entered.It's hard to describe the falls to anyone who hasn't been there, and photos and videos will never do it justice. It's impossible to replicate the tremendous sound of millions of tons of water falling hundreds of metres into the river below and producing huge clouds of
spray on impact. And the wind that gets whipped up by this carries the spray huge distances so when you are on the lower end of the falls it feels like it is raining, even if the sky is cloudless. All in all it makes you feel like you are a tiny speck compared to the power of it.The piece de resistance on the Brazilian side is a walkway into the Devils claw, thats what the most southerly part of the fall is called. It is a U-shaped part where you have water crashing down a mere 50 meter or so away on one side and the wind carries the spray to make it one of the largest powe-showers in the world. Fortunately I had brought my waterproof bag for my camera, others had not and were frantically trying to shield theirs with their soaked t-shirts. But the view and the experience was fantastic.
We then made our way to the top of the viewing platform and got the view that everyone had been talking about. From the Brazilian side you have the best viewpoint to see almost all of the falls, whereas the Argentinia side takes you closer, which after the enounter below felt almost impossible, but we were eager to find out.
The following day we got on the bus to go to the Argentinian part of the national park, and were immediately met by a massive crowd at the gates. Apparently this side of the border is much more popular and crowded. We had to wait for a while in the blistering heat before gettting in and on to the little train that took us to the top of the Devils claw, where we had our shower the day before. The view from the top was not too bad either, and the roar of the water crashing into the river below was just as powerful at the top.We then went to the part of the falls wher you get up close and personal with the water. Passing on the way a lighthouse, and I can not think of a more odd place to have one, sure you need some warning if you are on a boat heading for the falls, but only if you are deaf and sailing at night. Which is probably a bad idea if you are close to one of the largest waterfalls in the world.
We headed down to the walkways that go along the base of the falls and were treated to some fantastic views where the waterfalls seemed to go on endlessly and you got so close you could almost touch it (which would be a very very bad idea!!). We ended up at the pier where the little speedboats go from that actualy takes you into the falls and handed over our tickets in exchange for a lifejacket and a sack to put our stuff that we needed to keep dry. A sure sign as any that we would be getting really really close, another sign was the heavy duty rain gear the crew were wearing on this extremely hot and sunny day. We packed away our stuff, used the waterproof case we got for Vaniah's camera and got ready for yet another power-shower experience, Iquazu style. It did not 
disappoint, we cruised around for a little while so everyone could get lots of photos then the crew started doing up their rain gear, and the passengers started putting away their cameras. And then we went close to the falls, I think we got as close as about 40-50 meters. It was hard to tell just how close we were with the wind whipping water in your eyes with such power and with all the mist. But it was definately a humbling experience.We then went to dry off a bit and to catch our final view of the day, the walkway just above where the boat ride was. With the evening sun behind us we were treated to a series of rainbows shooting up literally from where we were standing (but no pots of gold), and some of the views were absolutely stunning.
In the end we spent the better part of the day here, and we could have spent longer if all the areas had been open. If the waterlevels had been a little lower you can actually visit an island in the middle of it all, but maybe we'll just save that one for when we come back.
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