Brazil, The first few days.

We flew into Sao Paolo having had a 12 hr flight, then a flight on to Iguazu Falls. A tad pooped, but these falls are totally amazing. The photos do not come even close to describing them. The first day we met our guide Cristan Albino, local hero, long serving guide, has lived here all his life (as has his family), and knows everything about the area and knows everyone here. Being guided by him is great, and we get to meet his extended family – brother, sister, father and many others.

We had 2 sessions of being guided around the falls, one on the Brazil side and the other on the Argentinian. Brazil has nicer hotels, well, ours is totally fab, Belmond. The views are great and because we are staying within the national park we get to view it outside of opening times, so it is much quieter.

The Argentinian side we think has better views, but we have to join the crowds, and gosh, Argentina might not know how to do wars, but they do know how to do a good crowd. Even so, the ‘Devil’s Throat’ is quite extraordinary. Something everyone ought to see once, up close and personal. Niagara is a mere dribble.

Both sides are set in Atlantic Jungle and now protected by national park status.

But they were hit badly by Covid. Pretty much the only show in town is tourism, so no tourists, no money. But they are resilient and have bounced back with a smile, so Cristian says.