Iguassu Falls

Part of the

South America and Iguassu Falls Trip

Vantage Deluxe World Travel

November 1 - 15, 2010

The main reason for taking this tour was to see the Iguassu Falls.  It fulfilled a long held dream to visit the Iguassu Falls.  Having had the good fortune to visit Victoria Falls in Africa and living in New York State where I have visited Niagara Falls several times.  Last August, I had a tour that took me to Yellowstone National Park where I got to photograph the Upper and Lower Falls in the Yellowstone River Canyon. 

After posting my total trip photographic review, I decided to make a special review button on my web page to share my photos of the Iguassu Falls in total.  I took over one hundred photos as I hiked around the Argentina and Brazilian sides if the Falls. The Falls is viewed by some as one of the great natural wonders of the world.  I could not agree more.

Iguassu Falls (Iguazú in Spanish; Iguaçu in Portuguese, the language of Brazil) in the Atlantic rainforest region of South America straddles the border of the southern Brazilian state of Paraná and the northern Argentine province of Misiones.

Higher than Niagara Falls, Iguassu is rivaled only by Southern Africa’s Victoria Falls, which are higher but narrower. Iguassu Falls is a waterfall system consisting of 275 falls along 1.67 miles of the Iguassu River, varying from 210 to 270 ft in height. The main feature, the Devil’s Throat, is a U-shaped cliff, 490 by 2,300 ft , that marks the border between Argentina and Brazil. Two-thirds of the falls are on the Argentine side of the gorge, giving the Brazilian side the best view. However, one cannot directly approach the falls from the Brazilian side. Travelers visiting the Argentine side are able to pass over and under the actual falls on a series of catwalks and trails. The bridge connecting the two sides of the river is a number of miles away and crosses the Brazil–Argentina border.

Their name comes from the Guarani or Tupi words y [ɨ] (water) and ûasú [waˈsu] (big).^[1] Legend has it that a god planned to marry a beautiful aborigine named Naipí, who fled with her mortal lover Tarobá in a canoe. In rage, the god sliced the river creating the waterfalls, condemning the lovers to an eternal fall.^[2] The first European to find the falls was the Spanish Conquistador Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca in 1541, after whom one of the falls in the Argentine side is named.^[1] The falls were rediscovered by Boselli^[2] at the end of the nineteenth century, and one of the Argentine falls is named after him.

Iguazu Falls was short-listed as a candidate to be one of the New7Wonders of Nature by the New Seven Wonders of the World Foundation. As of February 2009 it was ranking fifth in Group F, the category for lake, rivers, and waterfalls.

Enough background information, now it is time for my photos of the Falls!  I have tried to photograph the falls from many different angles in order to let the viewer see the beauty of this natural wonder!

Just to show that is was a beautiful windy day at the falls.

On both sides of the Falls and River were individual country National Parks. 

Both were excellent Parks with adequate facilities and they each

had a great trail system for viewing the Falls.

This is a view of the spectular Devil's Throat, Garganta del Diablo.  This scene is best seen from the Brazilian side where fourteen falls drop 350 feet with such force that there is always a 100 foot cloud of spray overhead.  The gorge leading away from the falls is called Devil's Gorge.

Note the hole in the rocks!

Looking into the Devil's Throat!

Awesome Power & Spray!

A last glimpse of the falls steam and rapids!

Comparisons to other famous falls

Upon seeing Iguazu, the United States' First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt reportedly exclaimed "Poor Niagara!"^[1] Iguazu is also often compared with Southern Africa's Victoria Falls which separates Zambia and Zimbabwe. Iguazu is wider, but because it is split into about 270 discrete falls and large islands, Victoria is the largest curtain of water in the world, at over 1,600 m (5,249 ft) wide and over 100 m (328 ft) in height (in low flow Victoria is split into five by islands; in high flow it can be uninterrupted). The only wider falls are extremely large rapid-like falls such as the Boyoma Falls. With the flooding of the Guaíra Falls in 1982, Iguazu currently has the second greatest average annual flow of any waterfall in the world, after Niagara, with an average rate of 1746 m³/s.

The water falling over Iguazu in peak flow has a surface area of about 40 Ha (1.3 million ft²) whilst Victoria in peak flow has a surface area of over 55 ha (1.8 million ft²).^[5] By comparison, Niagara has a surface area of under 18.3 ha (600,000 ft²).^[6] Victoria's annual peak flow very similar maximum water discharge (well in excess of 12,000 m³/s). Niagara's average flow is about 2,400 m³/s, although an all-time peak of 8,269 has been recorded.^[6] Iguazu and Victoria fluctuate more greatly in their flow rate. Mist rises between 30 metres (98 ft) and 150 m (492 ft) from Iguazu's Devil's Throat, and over 300 m (984 ft) above Victoria.

However, Iguazu affords better views and walkways and its shape allows for spectacular vistas. At one point a person can stand and be surrounded by 260 degrees of waterfalls. The Devil's Throat, in Argentina, has water pouring into it from three sides. Likewise, because Iguazu is split into many relatively small falls, one can view these a portion at a time. Victoria does not allow this, as it is essentially one waterfall that falls into a canyon and is too immense to appreciate at once (except from the air).

^{Some of the material presented here about the Falls was obtained through Internet search sites that reported about Iguassu Falls.}