The Iguaçú Falls fittingly receive their name from the Caigangues Indian word meaning ‘great waters'. The falls are formed by the Iguaçú River dividing into 275 separate falls and are surrounded by the virgin jungle of Iguaçú National Park. The highest fall, the ‘Garganta do Diabo' (Devil's Throat) reaches 70m (230ft), which is one and a half times the height of Niagara Falls ...

We head for the Brazilian side of the Falls, where, just across the border, we find an excellent restaurant serving buffet style costing only $15/£3. We then enter the National Park, and pass the historical Tropical Cataratas Hotel from where we take the short walk to the Falls for a magnificent view of 'Devil's Throat', the main cataract. There is a guided tour and then you can visit the bird sanctuary right beside the entrance. Helicopter rides over the Falls are only possible from the Brazilian side.

Back to viewing the Falls from the Argentinean side. You initially walk from the National Park main area and then take the train to the start of the walkway to Devil's Throat. A fantastic walk by anyone's standard. The train journey takes you back to an area where you can take a break for an hour or so and have lunch, after which we head off for walks along the upper walkways, known as ‘Circuito Superior', offering excellent photo opportunities.

Then towards the end of the afternoon, we take the one-hour ‘Gran Aventura' trip, which is run by Iguazu Jungle Explorer. You initially travel by truck along the Yacaratia trail for 8 kms. At the end of this you board a powerful twin engine launch boats taking you 6 kms to the Falls, including rapids. The speedboats break in to Devil's Throat canyon and the main Argentinean Falls. To watch the poser of nature right in front of you, as 1000's of gallons of water cascade over the Falls, is one of life's great treats. Whilst you are advised not to take a camera, you can get some wonderful shots up fairly close to the Falls, before placing it in the plastic bag provided, which does the trick, whilst no one will accept responsibility if you do get it wet. Taking you on a few spins and drenching you right under one of the waterfalls you will certainly get wet, very wet. You are dropped off at front of San Martin Island, from where you walk up to the visitor centre, and board your bus for the short journey home, arriving back at your hotel by 1800. To do this trip in this sequence (and therefore less of an ‘experience'), it must be pre-booked. As far as what to take with you - the weather is usually good at around 20C, so my advice would be shorts, a t-shirt and light footwear, which you should remove once you are on the boat place in the plastic bag they give you, so they are dry at the end . Also, a light cagoule is ideal or you could buy an Iguazu rain covers from the local kiosk. Rain jackets or other waterproofs are inappropriate.

Click on the link to read about Andrew's trip to Tiera del Fuego.