"Poor Niagara!" Elanor Roosevelt
To witness that much water all at once is an exhilarating thrill beyond all else. Four times wider than Niagra, Iguazu Falls is one of the 7 New Wonders of the World, tumbling through the lush South American rainforest since ancient times.
I th-th-th-think we coming to a fatterfall... a flutterfall... a very big waterfall!
Piglet quotes
"A strong man and a waterfall always channel their own path"
Unknown
"Romance often begins by a splashing waterfall
and ends over a leaky sink”
and ends over a leaky sink”
Author Unknown.
"I feel like I am diagonally parked in a parallel universe."
Author Unknown
It seemed I had been sentenced to an everlasting nightmare of trying to work out which name, which passport, which airport and which hotel. Sounds pretty straight forward to book a three day trip to Iguassu Falls. However, rubia tonta had us flying into Brazil, staying in an Argentinian Hotel and arguing about it in Uruguay! Never one to be deterred by mere formalities I managed to procure a Brazilian visa and negotiate a transfer over the narrow tourism corridor between the borders. Arriving by dilapidated taxi in the dark of night we finally we found ourselves tucked up in the Sheraton with a the promise of a falls view at dawn with a roof top access key.
"Beginners worry about gear,
professionals worry about skill
and masters worry about light" Unknown.
Day one, Greg was in serious photographer mode and before first light he was positioned on the concrete roof top snapping toucans with a backdrop of pink mist.
When he finally came down, we dove into the massive buffet breakfast overlooking the spray rising from the distant falls. The far off thunder of the waters promised a day filled with the noise of the roaring river and clicking cameras.
“Life is a train of moods like a string of beads; and as we pass through them they prove to be many colored lenses, which paint the world their own hue, and each shows us only what lies in its own focus.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
To actually get close to the falls we had to wander through the grounds of the Sheraton and into the National Park proper. The tiny train was already full of people as it pulled into our station.
The kids ran ahead excited to find an empty carriage. Rolling through the dense greenery of the forest, hearing the bird calls increased my anticipation for our first stop - the Devil's Throat.
The kids ran ahead excited to find an empty carriage. Rolling through the dense greenery of the forest, hearing the bird calls increased my anticipation for our first stop - the Devil's Throat.
“Faith is the pierless bridge supporting what we see
unto the scene that we do not.”
Emily Dickinson
To get to Garganta Del Diablo you have to walk the gangways above the river for a almost a mile. The rivers slips calmly underneath, clear and flat with no hint of the turmoil ahead. Catfish nibbled on the bread crumbs we threw, evolved as completely different species than their cousins downstream past the falls. Snatching quick snaps of exotic bird life flitting from branch to branch, we quickly made our way along the bridge.
“Sometimes, if you stand on the bottom rail of a bridge and lean over to watch the river slipping slowly away beneath you, you will suddenly know everything there is to be known.”
Winnie the Pooh
Of course the ear is the first sense to detect a change, the booming bellow of the devil himself builds to a crescendo. The moistened air heightens the skin to the nearby impending watery inferno. As the vapors thicken and the droplets start to roll, the eyes are allowed to join the celebration of senses. Perhaps it is the continuing movement, the never ending flow of water that seduces the eye into a glazed trance. Maybe it is simply the power of nature subduing the watcher into an insignificant silence. For a moment all one can do is stand and stare at the mighty power of the Iguazu River as it cascades into the never ending pit of the Devil's Throat.
“Give the devil his due”
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
The touristic chaos on the final platform switches between photographers and those being captured by the camera. To capture the essence of the maelstrom seems a gargantuan task.
The winds whip the spray in waves across the crowds, all trying to hide their precious equipment under towels, shirts, plastic bags. When the mist lessens momentarily, out come the cameras trying to frantically snap the scene. Those in the photo squeal and drip, trying to smile while leaning precariously on the flimsy rail keeping them from being swallowed by Satan.
Half of Iguazu's water falls into the Devil's throat. The exhilaration of this, our first lookout, was an amazing way to start our exploration of the 275 falls which make the fish hook shaped chasm of Iguazu.
Wandering back to the sanctuary of the train station we encountered the not so wild coatis. Snaffling around in the trash these creatures were a far easier photography subject that the falls.
“Searching is half the fun:
life is much more manageable when thought of as a scavenger hunt."
Jimmy Buffett
life is much more manageable when thought of as a scavenger hunt."
Jimmy Buffett
We decided to catch the train back in time to catch the boat across to the island in the middle of the falls. It was starting to get sticky hot and we were all hungry. Climbing down the steps to the water level was an arduous chore with the blazing South American sun beating down relentlessly. At least the shady boat ride across was a cooling relief.
The island brought more steps, more views and more wildlife. Armadillos, vultures, lizards, butterflies and colorful finches.
It was easy to imagine the falls had changed little from the time Europeans first ventured into the jungle here.
It was easy to imagine the falls had changed little from the time Europeans first ventured into the jungle here.
Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca was the Spanish Conquistador to first discover the falls in 1541. Greg and I had a long discussion as to if the afore said gentleman would have actually crawled through the jungle in full plated armor or swopped out into his jungle panama hat and tourist vest with extra pockets for the spare camera battery? I suppose the Armadillo spends all day scooting around in full body armour. They are such funny little creatures. Amazing Armadillo facts, they can: eat fire ants, always have 4 babies all the same sex, sleep 18.5 hours a day, walk underwater, and are the only other species than humans that can catch leprosy.
"A man in armor is his armor's slave"
Robert Browning
The kids were starting to revolt against any more waterfall watching. There had been plenty enough falls viewing for one day, so we wandered back to the hotel, damp and exhausted but with a sense of awe and accomplishment. The only water we wanted to see now was the swimming pool. Any wildlife would have to come and find us!
"Eat, sleep and swim. That's all I can do."
Michael Phelps
Michael Phelps
“An example from the monkey: the higher it climbs,
the more you see of its behind”
German Proverb
“Be as a bird perched on a frail branch that she feels bending beneath her, still she sings away all the same, knowing she has wings.”
Victor Hugo
A new day and another pink dawn for Greg to photograph. We checked out after breakfast with a plan to walk one last loop on the Argentian side and then head over to Brazil and perhaps plan a helicopter tour to really snag some winning pics.
"Let your love be like the misty rains, coming softly, but flooding the river."
Malagasy Proverb
Of course because 2 countries share the falls each country thinks their side is the best. My opinion for what its worth, is that you feel you're on the falls in Argentina and in them in Brazil. Brazil gets 20% of the falls and Argentina 80% . The Brazilians allow helicopters to operate and they circuit the falls like the real vultures swinging around on the updrafts.
To compare Iguassu to other waterfalls seems a pointless competition. However, Victoria is the widest curtain of water, Niagara gets first place for most water volume also most visited and Angel Falls the highest. In reality, the relevance of these waterfall statistics are lost in the mist. Guaira Falls further upriver from Iguazu used to claim the largest volume of water going over any falls. That was until the biggest dam in the world, Itipu Dam began operation and drowned them. Itipu is one of the most expensive objects ever built. Of course China will soon one up the dam situation, in size if not cost.
"If you dam a river it stagnates.
Running water is beautiful water.
Running water is beautiful water.
So be a channel.”
English Proverb
In a cruel twist of fate people crowded to take a last look at the Guaira falls before the dam destroyed them. Unfortunately, it ended up being the last thing they ever saw as the bridge collapsed under the excess weight of the extra visitors and over 80 people perished.
"The helicopter symbolize(s) the victory of ingenuity over common sense.”
Montross, Lyn and Prouty.
We decided that we simply couldn't visit the Brazilian side of the falls without taking a helicopter ride. The kids were a little reticent about the whole idea but soon got into the swing of things after take off. Up there, above it all, the huge fault in the earth becomes so apparent. You get sense of the huge flood plain and the ancient path the waters have followed. I think I have replaced my inexpensive need to gain a lofty perspective from tall buildings with expensive helo rides.
Another legend claims "Boi" a huge snake lived in the Iguassu River. A woman was sacraficed every year to calm his ferocious spirit. One year a brave man saved the woman and Boi burst in anger, contorting its body and fracturing the river creating the cataracts and separating the man and the woman.
“What need the bridge much broader than the flood?”
Walking out onto the Brazilian walkways allows you to hang over the precipice while being drenched in heavy vapor. The metal gangways let you to go to the very edge of the precipice, so close the mantle of mist threatens to pull you over the edge. The danger slick and palpable all around.
In Argentina I had felt we were looking down into the devils throat, here in Brazil I felt his hot, wet breath all around me.
Another legend claims "Boi" a huge snake lived in the Iguassu River. A woman was sacraficed every year to calm his ferocious spirit. One year a brave man saved the woman and Boi burst in anger, contorting its body and fracturing the river creating the cataracts and separating the man and the woman. 
“What need the bridge much broader than the flood?”
William Shakespeare
In Argentina I had felt we were looking down into the devils throat, here in Brazil I felt his hot, wet breath all around me.
"Civilization ends at the waterline. Beyond that, we all enter the food chain, and not always right at the top.”
Hunter S. Thompson
Seeing both sides of the river allowed me to feel a certain touristico satisfaction. Our driver was waiting to take us back to the airport, it was time to dry the waters of the Iguazu from our clothes and head back to Uruguay older and wiser.
"What is it that makes a complete stranger dive into an icy river to save a solid gold baby? Maybe we'll never know”
Jack Handy
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