The resplendent Iguazu Falls

Inspiration in the jungle

I arrived in Puerto Iguazu worried. I had cancelled one of my two bank cards a few days earlier (see Why I cancelled by bank card) and was about to enter Brazil – the land of muggers and fraudsters if you believe the horror stories – armed only with my credit card. What on earth was I to do if my one and only source of money wouldn’t work/got stolen/blocked/whatever – just like what had happened in Argentina?
My anxiety wasn’t helped by the town on the other side of the border, Foz do Iguaçu, being described in the guide book as “edgy” in the 1980s, as its population grew fivefold while the nearby Itaipu Dam was built. Had it really got better, I wondered?
To reduce the risk of being down and out, without access to a penny, I decided to arm myself with Brazilian Reals in cash before crossing into this dangerous Wild West. Except none of the banks or bureaux de change in sleepy Puerto Iguazu would give me Reals from my credit card. (Hard to believe for a border town, I know, but it’s true!) So it was with a nagging worry in the back of my mind that I arrived in the National Park on the Argentine side of the border to see the Iguazu Falls. 
Wow, wow, wow! Face to face with the beauty and sheer majesty of the falls, my worries melted away in an instant. Mesmerised, I stayed all day until I was thrown out. I went back for more the next day on the Argentinian side and then spent a third day admiring them on the Brazilian side, bewitched by the tumbling tonnes of water and enchanted by the glorious wildlife and superb setting.
Pictures tell a thousand words, and so here are a few to give you some sense of this special place. But so vast are the falls that there is no single lookout from which you can see them all, so if you get the chance to go to Iguazu, GO! It’s one of the most enchanted spots I have ever been to. (And, by the way, Foz do Iguaçu and Brazil were full of wonderful people, without a mugger in sight and my credit card worked fine, thank God!)
A panorama of the Iguacu Falls
The majestic Iguazu falls
A close-up from the panorama of Iguacu falls with a ring around tiny dots of people just above the falls
Zooming in on the panorama above, you can just about make out people on a viewing platform below the Argentinian flag…
The view they get is this
Coatis can be found everywhere, often begging for food
A giant turtle at the Iguacu Falls
These extraordinary giant turtles are in the waters at the edge of the falls at the top!
A composite image of four photos of butterflies on stones
The butterflies are gorgeous…
Picture of a bird at Iguacu falls
…and the birds are too
by Chris

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