As my friends Gordon and Katherine have only a couple of weeks down here, we went straight from Mendoza up to see the Iguazu falls – a must-see when in Argentina.

As well as the spectacular waterfalls (there are over 270 of them!) where the Iguazu and Paraná rivers join there is a natural border between Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. We were staying in the tourist town of Puerto Iguazú on the Argentinian side of the ´Tres Fronteras´ home to a mainly transient population of international tourists who flock to see the ´Cataratas´

We were unlucky with the weather for the few days we were there, but I guess it was just living up to the name ´Rainforest´ which, combined with the fact that it is the quieter season for tourism being the middle of winter meant that the falls were relatively quiet – well the falls themselves were far from quiet! but there were less crowds than usual anyway…

Needless to say, the falls are absolutely amazing, the first time I saw them, as we rounded the bend in the river in a boat coming upstream to the falls, the view quite literally took my breath away. The photos really do not do justice to the enormity of the falls, I found myself staring at the water as it cascaded down, the scale hardly comprehensible even up close.

We spent a day in the Iguazú national park, and a day in the Brazilian Iguaçu national park. For me, getting up close and personal to the falls (going right up and getting a soaking in the boat especially!) on the Argentine side was the better. The view of the Devil´s Throat from above, the river so wide you could hardly see the edges, so seemingly surrounded by water on all sides, you gradually approach this giant plughole with water thundering down into it…

The Brazilian side is also good, offering the best panoramas of the falls, giving a better idea of the overall scale, and had the weather been nicer we might have done some of the many activities offered there. The town of Foz do Iguaçu was quite different to Puerto de Iguazú – much more of a town in it´s own right than just a stop off for tourists, but not nnecessarily worth spending any time in.

In conclusion, if you find yourself anywhere near Iguazu – make the detour and check it out – it´s something that has to be experienced first hand to really get a hold on.