Iguazu Falls from Brazil and Argentina

My second visit to the falls was never going to be a disappointment, just the opposite. It was so nice to see all that water and green jungle after traveling across the pampas which is flat and often dry. Our outing on the Brazilian side started at a local bird park where we were able to see close up many of the colorful birds of the jungle. I suspect many of these are not as common in the park outside as they once were. The bird park was in a lovely jungle setting with large aviaries, some of them walk in ones. In one of these a cheeky toucan took a liking to my watch buckle and later my gold rings. He tugged at them with his long green beak and then flew onto the path to try the toggles on my sandals. I didn't see him initially and found myself being tapped on the shoulder by a local who pointed put that I was treading on a toucan's tail feathers! The park is well worth a visit and for my mind we didn't have enough time there before we were taken off to either take a helicopter ride over the falls for $110 USD or to go into the national park. Some of the girls took the flight but it seemed too much for ten minutes so I went through the entry point and took the free bus up to the end of the road from where it is possible to walk to a point where there are falls all around and one can get saturated standing out on the boardwalk over the falls. Dinner was at a buffet style restaurant where for $20 you got heaps of choices for salads and then they brought around so many different roasted meats on sword length skewers. It was beautifully cooked and delicious all around. I was excited to learn about the all you can eat ice cream. I can report that it is possible to eat too much of a good thing.The following day we travelled to the Argentinian side of the falls. There was the usual delay on the border with our guide Alex declaring that they change the rules every time he crosses. His take on this was that they give the Brits a hard time because of the Falklands war. I was surprised to hear they have a grudge against the Chilieans also and one friend of the guides had been delayed for three hours without any explanation (except that they mustn't have liked where he came from)!Our full day at the park was spectacular. We walked to the boat and took the exciting ride under the falls where everyone got drenched. I could not stop laughing as more and more water poured down my back and at times I had so much water in my face I couldn't open my eyes. There is more water going over at this time of year than when Siew-Gim and I came last February. The falls were boiling and the mist coming up was caught by the sun creating rainbows. All very impressive.Our afternoon was spent walking on the tops of the falls and then talking the little train up to the Devils Throat where we walked for a kilometer across the metal walkways to see the water cascading down from a wide flat river to a narrow 1000 foot drop. Wow!! And wow again.