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SSHHHH! I´m in Brazil

I took the bus from Buenos Aires to Puerto Iguazu to visit one of the seven natural wonders of the world - Foz do Iguaçu (on the Brazilian side) and Iguazu Falls (on the Argentina side). The falls actually is on the border of 3 countries - Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay - but is viewed from Brazil and Argentina. It is recommended that you view it from the Brazil side first and after seeing both, I highly agree.

After a 19 hour bus ride complete with a flat tire, I arrived in Puerto Iguazu. The buses in Argentina are definitely better than the buses in Peru, but they still have some mechanical problems as I experienced! However, we didn't have to have armed guards aboard and we were even given blankets and pillows and served wine with dinner!

Puerto Iguazu is a small tourist town on the Argentina side. Since January is the high tourist season, the town was swarming with tourists! I arrived at my hotel a little before 3 PM very hot and tired. I was looking forward to a nice cool shower and a little lunch, but the owners of the inn suggested I go immediately over to Brazil to see the falls. Since the Brazilian visa is very expensive for Americans, I did not want to parchase a visa for just a few hours. I found there are ways to get over into Brazil to see the falls. Just don't tell anyone I was there!

I dashed over to Brazil to the Parque Nacional do Iguaçu to see the famous panoramic views of the falls. Brazil is Portugese, so that is why the falls are named differently. Within the park, you take a bus to various tourist attractions including hiking trails, canopy trails, and finally the trails to the falls. It is in the jungle, so it is very hot and humid with tropical plants and animals even puma.

The panoramic view of the falls was spectacular! They are SO big that you can not take them all in with one look - you have to move your head at least 180 degrees! The power of the falls was breath taking and even more so as one trail led you down to the base of Salto Fiorano falls where you could FEEL the power through your body and the spray in your face. It is here that I saw a 270 degree rainbow. If I hadn't been standing on a walkway, it probably would have been 360 degrees! It reminded me of the "Pilot's Rainbow" Bill and I saw in Kuai.

I was wondering how the Argentina side could top this! The next day I found out how!

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