Awestruck at Iguacu Falls
The name Iguazu comes from the Guarani words “y” (water) and “guasu” (big). The legend says that a god pretended to marry a beautiful aborigine named Naipú, who fled with her mortal lover in a canoe. In rage, the god sliced the river creating the waterfalls, condemning the lovers to an eternal fall.
Devils Throat middle falls tiered falls
After viewing Iguacu first-hand this myth makes a great deal of sense. The earth truly appears as if it has been violently ripped apart and water has seeped from all directions to come crashing over the tear. Iguacu is the most beautiful, powerful, awe-inspiring natural land formation I have ever seen. We spent an entire day wandering around this park and by nightfall Paul and I were speechless.
Just to gain more of grasp on how impressive these falls are, consider what first lady Eleanor Roosevelt said after touring the falls. “Poor Niagra.”
This is true. Iguacu is actually 4 times larger than Niagara in water flow and much larger in terms of land area and amount of falls. Only Victoria falls in Africa is larger, and just barely. But many people think Iguacu is the prettier and more interesting falls due to the myriad of different cascades that can be seen throughout the park. Whereas Victoria falls is just one large massive sheet of water that is hard to appreciate from land, Iguacu contains over 270 different water falls. Every turn, every walkway, leads to another unique cascade. One minute you are staring down into an enormous gourge with a tumultous river flowing suicidally off a cliff, the next you are wandering beneath delicate columns of falling water, all pouring from different heights in a dense tropical jungle.
Paul and I visited Iguacu on our way to Brazil for Carnival. It was the perfect stop over. An 18 hr bus ride north of Buenos Aires, the Iguacu area is located on the border of three countries; Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. The area is mostly tropical jungle with many cliffs and changes in elevation. As you move west and north from here the land changes into the Amazon pantanal and jungle area. This actually borders the same terrain that Paul and I hiked through in Bolivia several months ago. Of course, that is still thousands of miles away.
There are 2 places to visit the falls, the Argentine side from the town of Puerto Iguazu and from the Brazilian side from the town called Foz Do Iguacu. We heard from many people including some guide books that the Argentine side was much more extensive and if you could only visit one area; that is the area to see.
After visiting many parks and reserves in Peru and Bolivia that were naturally beautiful but rugged when it came to access and guest services, the surprising thing about Parque Nacional De Iguacu was how, well, American it was. There was a direct bus to the park, which brought you directly to a disneyworld like entrance. A cafeteria, signage and maps, information kiosks, tour announcements and amazingly, free public restrooms were all readily available. They even had a little train that took guests through the forests to the first level of walking trails.
The first stop and introduction to the falls was a grand caterata called The Devils Throat. Visitors disembark the train and walk across a nice wooden platform bridge over a wide river / wetlands area. Butterflies swarm around you and small racoon like animals called Cotes come up to greet people on the path. As we walked farther along the trail a rumbling in the distance signaled our proximity to the main falls. The very end of the bridge is a viewing platform. At this point the roar of water is deafening and there is a fine layer of mist in the air. As you emerge onto the viewing platform, the entire main falls immedeately envelope you. The pathways are built right out to the edge of the falls, and you can stand overlooking the entire horseshoe shaped cascades. In one are the water is so immense that you can become mesmerized by the giant sheets pouring over the edge. Every piece of semi-dry land has vegetation growing on it. The contrast between palms and green reeds bursting out of a torrent of white foaming water is stunning. We could see clear across the Brazilian side from one direction and from the others view 280 degrees of falling water. At some periods the water fall is so intense it creates a thick mist that rises up through the crowd completely hiding the view of the river. As ridiculous as it sounds it really did make me want to jump in the barrel and ride the wave down. Besides sure death, I am sure it would be a remarkable way to go. That method and getting shot out of the Volcano in Chile are now my preffered ways to exit this earth.
After viewing the large waterfalls, we made our way back to some of the other paths that traversed different areas of the park. There are many beautiful trails that took us from one spectacular view to another. In some areas bridges cross over the tops of waterfalls, other places the platforms take you close to the bottom of the downpour. The variations are incredible. There are towering skinny falls, stepped multi-level falls, rivers that split around giant boulders, and tranquil ponds with lush vegetation.
The last thing on the Iguacu agenda was to take a power boat ride into the roaring mouth of two of the larger falls. I have a few video and pics of the trip but for the most part it was a very wet affair, so for the safety of my camera it was hidden away. Feeling the power and raoring noise of the falls and being drenched by cascades of spray was a great way to literally immerse yourself in the Iguacu experience. So, if you have been to Niagara and loved it, great for you. But I’ve been to Iguacu, and had 4.3 times more fun!!!!