Our intended trip to Puerto Iguazu didn’t get off to the best start when we arrived at the airport in Buenos Aires to find that we were in fact NOT booked on our flight. Whilst in Patagonia with almost non-existent internet, we received an email in Spanish, which obviously displayed a reservation number. We briefly looked at and assumed it meant reservation confirmed. What we figured out at the airport, was that the email in fact said, your booking is NOT confirmed! Ooops! The original attendant mentioned there were multiple seats still available, so it wouldn’t be a problem to head to the booking desk and purchase another ticket, however that’s when the next piece of bad news arrived... he had read the system incorrectly and when we got to the ticket office there were no seats available. They mentioned that there may be a chance of two ‘no show’ tickets coming through, so we were instructed to stand by for 30 minutes until the flight check in officially closed. With accommodation booked in Puerto Iguazu and a connecting flight leaving for Rio in only two days’ time, this was an oversight we could have done without. As Adams luck would have it, two seats did become available and with 45 minutes to take off we were rushed to the ticket office, purchased our flights (again), ran back to the check in counters, checked our bags and ran to the gate.

At that stage we had mixed feelings. Although this was a step closer to our planned path, we were quite sure our Brazilian visas were not going to be approved before our flight on the Monday. This meant that we were potentially going to be stuck in Puerto Iguazu for multiple days while we waited for our visas. We questioned if we should even be getting on the plane as there was so much more to do and see in BA! Argh, the dilemmas!

Alas, we did get on the flight and we arrived into Puerto Iguazu to a brilliant thunder and lightning show which was accompanied by a torrential downpour. Our bags arrived off the conveyor belt soaked and our shuttle into our hotel revealed a desolate and sad looking town. Our A$30 a night hotel room lived up to its price tag too, with our ceiling light fixed by duct tape, a squashed mosquito displayed on our shower wall with a blood trail behind it, mouldy ceilings and WIFI that didn’t even reach the room. The thought of us not getting the visa and having to stay there for up to a week was more than depressing.

The next day, being Sunday at home, we decided nothing was going to be done about the visas, so we decided to try and shake our funk and head to the falls.

The falls were well worth the effort to get there. They were unfathomably huge, the velocity of the water astronomical and the landscape they were set in, beyond picturesque. Firstly, we took the train to the most famous falls, The Devils Throat. We walked along the board walks over very calm, shallow looking river beds. The water was coloured a deep, tan after all the rain from the previous day had agitated the river bed. After around 10 minutes of walking, seemingly out of nowhere, the Devil appeared. We could clearly hear the rushing of the water on approach but seeing the force and power behind the gushing water, plummeting over the cliff edge was crazy! The water was falling at such a huge pace that just a little wind gust would send a massive water spray over the on looking crowd, saturating us. Amongst the water there were green shrubs growing, how on earth they survived the force of the water we don’t know. There were flocks of gorgeous little black birds winding their way over the falls, through the mist and deep into the falls where they disappeared from our sight.

Along the boardwalks, we continued to the other areas of the park. Each view slightly different and each waterfall as impressive as the last. When we were away from the falls we were walking through thick, green forest, surrounded by beautifully coloured butterflies, flying vultures and strange little ant eater critters. We even managed to spot a crocodile hiding out of the way of the strong current and a green turtle perched on a rock doing the same. We had an awesome day at the falls and were so pleased we had worked them into our itinerary.

That night was D-day. If we didn’t get our visas approved, we were going to be feeling extremely sad and sorry for ourselves and our pockets would be devastatingly empty. So, at 6pm that evening, (9am Monday morning home time), we got our skype account prepared and called the Brazilian embassy in Australia to enquire about our visas. After multiple dropped lines due to poor internet, we finally got through and found out that Australia had approved them at their end and they had passed them on to the Brazilian authority for the final ok. They could no longer help us and directed us to the Brazilian website that might be able to. After finally finding a number and making the call, we received a recorded message which said they do not take calls regarding visas. An email address was listed which noted ‘If you haven’t received a reply within three days, please write again’. Not the most encouraging message to receive. We wrote the soppiest email, begging for forgiveness for our naivety and hit send, praying that someone would feel sorry for us and approve them. After that our hands were tied, we could do nothing else. We headed out to a steak house for dinner, anxious and deflated. On connecting to the WIFI at the restaurant around 30 minutes later, an email alert flashed up and to our shock it was the email we had been praying for, OUR VISAS WERE APPROVED. Our relief was palpable! A bottle of wine was ordered next and a deflated dinner quickly turned into a celebration! We were going to Brazil, whoop!