Most Beautiful Waterfalls: Iguacu in Brazil

We stayed at the four-star Tropical Das Cataratas which is about ten miles from the airport at Foz do Iguaçu, and has the almost perfect location for an hotel overlooking the Iguaçu Falls on the Brazilian side with just a two-minute walk for a stunning view of the falls from a terrace. There is also a twenty-minute walk along a walkway next to the falls with various viewing platforms en-route and an amazing platform at the end of the walkway. The hotel is a very attractive, colonial style building with two restaurants a bar and very pleasant, relaxing gardens.

We walked along the footpath next to the falls for about 2 miles to a viewing platform at the top of one waterfall and the bottom of another. It was absolutely spectacular. Several coatis, a kind of south American Raccoon and large lizards wandered along fearlessly near us. The cute coatis were amusing to watch, rummaging in the rubbish bins, but apparently the favourite delicacy for Jaguars so you have to wonder if you are being watched by something slightly more dangerous. We didn't get eaten, just wet from all of the spray from the falls.

After standing out on the terrace watching the sunset and the stunning view of the falls, we had dinner in the hotel restaurant. Quite a grand looking, colonial-style hotel and restaurant, but the food wasn't quite up to the apparent grandeur. We were of course, a captive audience and it's difficult to complain given the stunning location. There was also a pleasant bar with a jazz pianist and singer to while away the evening.

We booked up a couple of trips at the hotel travel agency for the following day, because, although the falls are stunning we needed some activities to keep us amused. We took a bus from outside the hotel to "Macacu Safari" where we were taken in an electric "jeep" to some "jungle" then went on a "safari". O.K. so perhaps it was a mini theme park based on Jurassic Park, and the "safari" was a 600 metre walk. This slightly disappointing start was followed by a very amusing and thrilling motorboat ride. An inflatable motorized inflatable boat took us into the white-water and under some of the waterfalls, into Argentina. We were unable to land on the Argentina side, because my partner is Russian and would have needed a visa, but we wouldn't have seen anything very different from there anyway. The pilot of the boat played in the white water, trying to make the trip as exciting as possible for the screaming tourists, regularly drenching us all under the spray. It was very amusing trip and we were completely soaked. It gave a different more frivolous perspective to this stunningly natural beauty.

After a delicious buffet lunch at the hotel, outside by the pool, we took a double-decker bus to the visitor-centre, where we left the national park and walked 200 yards to the "Parque das Birds" - not a bad way to spend an afternoon, with a selection of birds and few monkeys.