The birthday girl had a wish to spend her special day seeing one of the most spectacular natural wonders in the world.  And because she always gets what she wishes for we joined a short flight from Buenos Aires to parts further north.  The window seat sported aerial views over brown flat plains morphing to rich agricultural land and finishing in dense jungles threaded by wild winding rivers before we landed in a remote regional town near the border of Brazil.  We were here to see the famous Iguaçu Falls.

From the jungle-enclosed frontier town of Puerto Iguaçu we dropped our bags and caught the local El Practico yellow bus the 14 km to the Iguaçu Falls National Park entrance.  The heat was well over 40 degrees (104F) with a thick humidity that made any movement almost unbearable.  After a fair walk and some doubt over our survival we eventually caught a little open air narrow gauge tourist train to one of the highlights of the falls – Granato del Diablo – the Devil’s Throat.

The Iguaçu River actually runs east to west away from the Atlantic Ocean for over 1,300 kilometres until it merges with the even bigger Parana River and turns south. The river forms the border between Brazil and Argentina and the falls themselves are easily accessible from both sides.  In fact, the rivalry between the two countries over which side offers the best viewing of the falls ensures that both sides provide outstanding opportunities to see this amazing beast.

And amazing it is!  The mouth of the river where the water tumbles off the plateau is a staggering 2.7 km wide but because of the uneven ground and numerous islands there can be anywhere from 150 to 300 individual waterfalls, depending on the water level.  The falls are generally between 60 and 85 metres in height and can be easily found by the thunderous noise that can be heard from miles away and the constant plume of cool mist floating through the local breezes.

And so we could hear the waterfalls and we could feel the waterfalls as we walked out on a 1100 metre walkway over the flowing water to the tip of the plateau that formed the single largest waterfall of Iguaçu, Granato del Diablo – Devil’s Throat.  From this endpoint we had almost 180 degree views of the most amazing scene possible.  The unimaginable power and the thundering force of the water falling off the 85m cliff was stunning but the deafening noise, constant mist, full rainbows and stark blue skies made this an unforgettable ‘Top Ten’ scene.  Julie was getting a memorable birthday, as requested.

From the Devil’s Throat we walked our way along the numerous boardwalks with the water rushing underneath them before it fell off the plateau in a series of spectacular waterfalls, any one of which would have been national park worthy.  We followed more walking paths to take in other views of the falls, sometimes sensing we’re surrounded by them.  The views were stunning but were choreographed with the roar of the water, the mist, the jungle and the rainbows all around us.  The Argentinians have done a great job of building unassuming infrastructure, mainly the catwalks, to show off their prize.  And what a stunning prize it is!  We took almost continuous photos and video, the scene just too spectacular to take your eyes off.

By the time we caught a local bus back to our little town and hotel it was 9pm, still over 30 degrees and the birthday girl was worn out.  The hot stuffy bus ride tested our stamina and sanity but our hotel had a nice little pool to cool down in and the bar had cold beers for the all important re-hydration.  We later hit a restaurant down the road and sat outdoors while eating the biggest steaks I’ve ever seen, cooked on an open fire in the middle of the restaurant, Argentinian style.  This stunningly memorable day ended late but the birthday girl was happy.

But wait, there’s more.  Apparently there is a long running debate about which side is better to view the falls – Argentina or Brazil.  You can imagine the rivalry between these two countries.  Argentina was pretty fantastic (and we hadn’t even seen all there was to see of the falls from that side) but we had to give Brazil a fair chance of reply so after breakfast the next day we caught an early local bus to have a look from the other side.

But there’s a complication to this plan because the other side is in another country.  We pulled up at the remote local border without much else around us, all the locals and ourselves got out and queued to get stamped out of Argentina.  That seemed pretty straightforward.  We got back in the bus, drove over a bridge to cross the magnificent Rio Iguaçu and on to the Brazil border where the visa holders (Aussies, Americans and a Costa Rica family) had to get their Brazilian visa processed.   While we were doing this the bus filled back up with all the locals and left without us.  Oh bugger.

Eventually our passport was processed and after standing at the bus stop for a while we caught another bus which took us only 400 metres to the intersection of the main road heading south to the ‘Cataratas’ (Portuguese for waterfall).  After the little group of us waited a while on the side of the road in the steamy heat we caught a third bus for the morning to the Brazilian national park.

At the entrance there were hordes of people, mainly locals, queuing up to buy tickets in a Disneyland-type setting.  Very smooth and impressive, modern and efficient, obviously geared for many tourists.  We climbed on to the convertible double-decker bus and rode the outside top seats into the park.  We got off at the Cataratas Hotel to begin an unbelievable walk along the ridge of the plateau with the deafening waterfall filling our views ahead of us.  And the humid jungle heat sat on us as a suffocating blanket – very intense.

As we followed the track the waterfalls were in almost constant glorious view.  Whereas yesterday we were up close and on top of them, this morning we were opposite them so they panoramically spanned out in front of us and we could appreciate their variety, volume and the steps they create.  More interestingly, we saw new waterfalls we couldn’t see yesterday and more of them.  Absolutely breathtaking stuff.

The waterfalls changed their dimensions as we changed our angle and view.  We were getting to the Devil’s Throat long elevated catwalk (which interestingly we couldn’t see from Argentina due to the heavy mist).  The walk out onto this catwalk was beyond superlatives, massive sheets of thundering water crashing down to our left, flowing under our catwalk and then dropping off another ledge to our right and crashing far down below.

From the end of the catwalk there were dramatic crashing waterfalls 270 degrees around us, including the thundering Devil’s Throat straight ahead.  We were soaked from the mist (much appreciated in the heat, pity about the cameras) but were almost paralysed it was so overwhelming.  When you experience something so powerful and you know you probably won’t be back you don’t want to leave.

But leave we did, eventually, walked back across the catwalk, up the trail, more photos (go figure!) as the view constantly changed, souvenir T Shirts, ice cream and a sandwich at the outdoor café.  The heat was absolutely oppressive and energy sapping beyond belief.  If it wasn’t for the incredible beauty and the strong mist when we were close to the falls we would have surely perished in the heat.

Eventually we returned to the shuttle and rode back to the front entrance where a bus driver said it was a staggering 45 degrees (113 degrees Fahrenheit).  But you’re only here once so based on some other western tourists’ recommendations we somehow walked 400 metres to the bird park for an outstanding walk through its aviaries.  In this tropical bird paradise we saw toucans and macaws (multiple variations, all stunning) up close, many other birds (even an Australian cassowary) and reptiles, amazingly small and beautiful hummingbirds, butterflies, great stuff.

The bus trip back across the border and to our hotel was smooth and uneventful, followed by drinks and dinner in the lively town of Puerto Iguaçu.  It had been a long and extraordinary day and yet we had to pinch ourselves that this was actually a trip to Antarctica!

But Iguaçu is the falls that just keeps giving.  And even though the previous day was tough to beat we gave it a good run the following day.  We made our way back to the falls on the Argentina side because there were two activities we still wanted to do for the full Iguaçu experience.

Today was also unexpectedly the day of the animals.  On the walk down to the falls we saw a family of almost 30 coati – sort of a raccoon-type critter with a very long pointy nose and a stripped tail, one of the local specialities that signs say please do not feed.  We also saw a bright green one metre snake that had been up a small tree looking for eggs but was attacked by two aggressively pecking birds and beat a hasty retreat.  Wuss!

We followed a track all the way down to the water level and boarded a little flat-bottom boat for a shuttle over to St. Martin’s Island, which is spectacularly positioned in the middle of the vast waterfall catchment area, and then (slowly) climbed the steep escarpment for magnificent up close views of St. Martins Waterfall and the others all around us.  The thick spray mist was a huge blessing in the oppressive 35+ heat and humidity.  The waterfalls almost surrounded us, deafening thunder in stereo,  the most unimaginable scenes all around us.

One comment on this place.  Even though we are in a remarkably remote location in the middle of the South American continent at the edge of the Amazon jungle both countries had done a great job building subtle but effective infrastructure to view the waterfalls and tastefully cater for the tourists.  Well done.

Back down to the beach and the shuttle to the mainland, then on to our next adventure.  For our ‘Nautical Adventure’, our 12 minute 75 peso boat ride, we put all our gear in dry sacks and donned a big fat sexy life jacket before getting in our large Zodiac for our ‘up close and personal’ waterfall trip.  We weren’t going to just look at the waterfalls, we were going to go in the waterfalls.

We knew we were going to get wet but wow!  First up to St. Martin’s Waterfall for photos, then around the corner up near Devil’s Throat for a couple of charges into full-on waterfalls – thrilling stuff but you might as well have jumped in a pool for how wet we were.  We attacked the waterfall twice, losing both times, then went down around the corner bouncing thru the huge current to St. Martins Waterfall for two more totally drenching and thrilling assaults on the falls.  Absolutely great fun.

We were soaked and squishy but loving it in the heat and made the halfway café for lunch.  Our peaceful break was ruined when we were invaded by coati (we literally had to kick them away or they would eat our lunch; they were much cuter before they became a pest), huge lizards and beautiful birds.  We trudged the rest of the way up the hill and made our way back to our hotel where we caught a taxi to the airport, still slightly damp at the seams.  I don’t think either one of us remember a second about the flight back to Buenos Aires – we slept the whole way.  I was a bit worried about what Julie might want for her birthday next year because this one would be impossible to beat!

And as to the all-important question, which side – Brazil or Argentina – offers the best views of Iguaçu Falls?  We called it a draw.