An afternoon in Brazil

"Don't go chasing waterfalls. Please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you're used to" sang Lisa Lopez in their hit single. Well, too late TLC, we have arrived at Iguazu Falls on 16th March, and if you thought "I've seen one waterfall, so I've seen them all" you'd be wrong.

We landed in Puerto Iguazu (on the Argentinan side) about 2pm and our taxi driver offered to take us to Brazil for the afternoon! Why not, we thought?! 

We crossed the Iguazu River, aptly named after the indigenous term for “great water” which marks the international border between Argentina and Brazil. 

In Brazil we took a helicopter ride over the falls, the view was exhilarating! Wow, Weezer! The Iguazu falls have tremendous striking natural beauty. It's taken us hours to cut our photos down to the few (ahem) below.....every shot was stunning. 

Our carriage awaits...

Hola Capitain!!

The river does a complete u-bend Argentina straight ahead and Brazil below

Time for a closer look

I am holding the camera straight it's the horizon that's at the wrong angle!

Looking down into the Devil's throat, the most impressive section of the falls

The footpath to the top left comes from the Argentinian side

The Rio Iguazu stretches away to the south in its deep cutting

Safely back to solid ground

Once back on land we took a short walk alongside the falls to get a panoramic view. From walkways and a long jetty viewers can count about 270 waterfalls which drop vertically some 100 metres and are spread in a horseshoe shape over two miles of the Iguazu River (that's higher than Niagara Falls and twice as wide). 

We were there at the end of the rainy season (November - March) and were informed the rate of flow of water going over the falls may reach 450,000 cubic feet (12,750 cubic m) per second. The pounding water created a fine mist which covered us and the surrounding forest. 

A Coati, native to South America, normally shy and found in small groups these cheeky chaps are so used to people around Iguazu that they hang around in large gangs, raid the rubbish bins and will happily steal the lunch from your plate and anything from your bag if you leave it lying around!

A cheeky capuchin enjoys the views too

There's a better view around every corner