The Iguazu Falls

The last stop (and grand finale!) of our trip was three days at the Iguazu Falls. We were lucky to catch the River Iguazu in full spate and as we approached the falls for the first time, walking along a metal walkway built out over the river, we could see the water beneath our feet beginning to swirl and shudder as it raced towards the precipice. Then the noise, at first a distant rumble, became a thunderous roar and we saw a towering cloud of spray ahead of us.

And then we were there - perched above a chasm, with millions of gallons of water hurtling over its edge.

We stood and marvelled and prayed that the platform on which we stood was well secured.

We spent three days at the falls, seeing them from both the Argentine and the Brazilian sides. Both countries have made the area a national park and the facilities and surroundings are wonderful.!

We had not realised how wide the river was and how far the falls stretched across it

nor how far the water had to fall!

Every view takes your breath away, but the whole thing is so vast it's almost impossible to capture its true grandeur in photographs.

The falls held a second wonder for us....the air is full of incredibly beautiful, fragile looking butterflies!

As soon as you stop....

...or put something down...

they land and search delicately for the mineral salts that they crave. It seems like a miracle that something so apparently fragile can thrive in such a turbulent place!