Wowww! The Iguazu Falls are absolutely massive. We started early (don’t we always) and headed to the point furthest away in the park, as we had been advised that this was a good place visit first thing before too many other visitors arrive in the park. As we are staying within the park boundaries, this gives us a chance to get to places first. First stop was the Devils Throat Falls. We had to walk on raised platforms for a good 10-15 minutes just meters above the thundering river. We could hear the falls and see the clouds of spray rising into the air but we were still not prepared for the falls when we eventually arrived. I was wearing a particularly attractive bright yellow poncho that I bought at the Grand Canyon some 5 years ago with a waterproof yellow rucksack cover so I looked like a massive yellow tortoise - classy!
Basically the falls are vast and surrounded by lush jungle vegetation with numerous bright coloured birds and butterflies flitting around. The falls themselves have small birds flying in and out of the spray which we later found out to be Dusky Swifts and they actually live behind the waterfall - I have no idea how they survive getting to their nests.
We were walking pretty much continuously from 8am to 6pm and managed to walk all three of the trails around the National Park. We saw lots of Coatimundi - cute looking creatures with stripy tails and long noses. However they are considered pests and will steal anything they can get their paws on if they are not watched. We saw toucans - on their own and in flocks of 4 and 5. We even saw huge ants almost an inch long called Tiger Ants with massive jaws... I let Colin go for the macro shot there!
The Park protects the small remaining jungle in this area and is a haven for wildlife. The only thing we did not see was the monkeys that we had been warned about when we first arrived. We have half a day tomorrow so that is my mission - to find the monkeys!
