Falling for the Falls

Our bus ride to Foz do Iguassu, the town nearest the falls on the Brazilian side, went smoothly and we arrived on time. We stored our big backpack at the bus terminal and carried a small overnight bag on the go. Our hostel  was on the Argentine side so we had to cross the border and drop off our bags before heading to see the falls. It was already the afternoon with only a couple hours left until the park closed so we could only see some of it today.
Once in the park you take a small train to get closer to the falls. Our first stop was to see Devil's Throat.  We walked over 400m of calm looking water but gradually the sound of the waterfall here louder and louder. When we reached the end of the walkway we were at the edge (and above) the furiously gushing waters. Devil's Throat is the largest and fastest waterfall- there was a certain thrill about standing at the top of the falls knowing how powerful the water gushing past and how dangerous they can be. At the same time it was utterly amazing! We would periodically get mister over, see a rainbow and could never see where the falls ended. We could have stayed all day listening to the falls-it was hard to pull Jon away to see another part of the falls.

We also wandered the Upper Circuit-a pathway of aerial views to numerous smaller falls. They were all equally beautiful but we couldn't wait to see what they look like from below.
We reluctantly left the park, headed back to our hostel and found a delicious meal (Jon had a steak sandwich with a fried egg and Ching Jen had pork chops with mango chutney) just before the town had a brief power outage.  Luckily it came back on in time to watch the rest of the US Open Men's Final.

The next day we went back to the Argentine side first walking the Lower circuit and then checking out the view on Isla San Martin. The lower circuit got us close to the falls we saw yesterday from above. It just got better and better, closer and closer to each fall. The best ones were the falls sprayed us with mist. And at times it felt like we were underneath a waterfall. The lookout on Isla San Martin gave us the same feelings. Ching Jen felt like there was no way the Brazilian side could get any better since it didn't seem like one gets so close to the falls.
We had to leave the Argentine side soon after since we had to cross the border again. It took us much longer than we expected and it left us with only one hour to see the Brazilian side falls. Yet it was completely worth it. The Brazilian side is gorgeous- Ching Jen said she was wrong-this view really was even better! You can see all of the falls in an overall big picture viewpoint. It showcased how large the falls were. One one lookout we walked in front of a major falls coming down, and we watched it gush past under our feet. As we walk in front of the falls we got misted over with water. It felt fantastic! At the end of the walkway there is one falls behind us, Devil's Throat is to our left, smaller falls in front of us, and the river flowing out to the right. Ching Jen was so moved that she had tears in her eyes! It was stunning and something we both will remember always.

We made it back to the bus station in time for our 22 hr ride to Rio de Janeiro.