Shock and Awe...

Iguazu Falls, Argentina

April 11, 2007
S 25°41.250
W 054°26.700

We took the 9:00 AM bus from Puerto Iguazu to Iguazu National Park. We wanted to maximize our time in the park to ensure we saw all of the great sites including the Garganta del Diablo, or Devil’s Throat, which we saved for the grand finale. The weather was perfect, not a cloud in the sky and the temperature at departure was a balmy 80F.

We entered the lush, green park, in the middle of the rainforest we saw from the plane yesterday, and made our way down a well marked trail (appropriately named Green Trail). At the end of the Green Trail two routes lead tourists down different paths (Upper & Lower Circuits) to see the main show, THE WATERFALLS. We opted to hit the Upper Circuit first since it was closer and we were anxious to catch our first glimpse of the falls.

First, I should mention we have heard a lot of mind blowing stories about the glory of Iguazu Falls from other travelers during our travels, and everyone describes them as a “must-do” in South America. We always planned to visit the Falls on this trip, but kept our expectations low to avoid potential disappointment… and to make the overall experience of seeing The Falls truly our own. We’re not waterfall “experts” by any respect; we’ve never seen Niagara Falls or any of the other “big boys.” Our only real experiences are the summers we’ve spent in Yosemite where numerous falls are calming to the soul and spectacular in their own right.

With that said, our first views of Iguazu can be described as Shock and Awe. It is very difficult to express the gargantuan beauty that stood before us at our first lookout point. Yes, we expected a big, beautiful waterfall; however, nothing could have prepared us for the massive amount of water aggressively pouring over the numerous cliffs stretching across the horizon for at least a mile. The greenery of the rainforest intertwined with the white water created a perfect marriage; symbolized by the rainbows arching across the emerald pools at the base of the falls.

As we moved from viewpoint to viewpoint we were able to see more falls from different angles and even peer across to the Brazilian side—which didn’t look nearly as exciting. We continued to weave our way along the catwalks set-up through the forest for several hours, passing small swarms of butterflies soaking up the sunny weather and even catching a glimpse of a toucan quietly eating his lunch above our heads.

We jumped on a small train, specially built for transporting tourists through the national park, and took a twenty minute ride along the rails to the staging area for the grand finale, Garganta del Diablo. The entire park had already far exceeded our expectations, what could possibly be next?

At the “train depot” we could see approximately 400 M of catwalk stretching across Rio Iguazu towards the falls. As we made our way across the river, we could see the current quickly being drawn to one spot, the Devil’s Throat. The immense volume of water poured down with such force it looked like a massive caldron of boiling water; mist and steam filling the air. There were rainbows everywhere; you literally needed to turn in a circle, wiping mist from your eyes, to take in the phenomenal site! The sheer drop-off, the intensity and violence, has been compared to what the early European sailors imagined the edge of the flat earth to be like—a perfect assessment.

Overall, the day was absolutely perfect in terms of weather, scenery and, of course, company. Iguazu Falls should be on any South America itinerary and rates number two on our list of favorite sites in South America. (Look for the entire list coming out with the South America Wrap-up next week.)