Waterfalls of Iguassu

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A full day at the Angentine side of Iguassu falls is incredible. Iguassu is a native word meaning big water - of course in Spanish it would be aguas grandes which was the name of the tour company that took us to Iguassu. The tour was in English, Spanish and French, with the English speaking group being the smallest and the funny thing was he talked for ages in Spanish about things and then explained them in 1 minute in English, so the benefit to us was minimal. What I did learn was that the 275 waterfalls that make up Iguassu are purely from rainfalls as the area is quite tropical. Severe drought, the latest of which was in 2006, caused most of the falls to dry up - but there was no sign of drought at the moment with the falls roaring.

They say the negative ions created by waterfalls invoke happiness in people, the source of happiness at Iguassu was mostly derived from the fact that I had a strong stomach and normal bowel movements for the first time in a while. I’m not sure about the negative ions but the amount of young women getting around in tight white t-shirts while being sprayed by the fine chilly mist from the falls probably invoked happiness in many of the men at the falls. Needless to say the perfectly constructed boardwalks take you right to the edge of the falls for a magical view from both the top and below the falls in many places. I think safety requirement in other countries would prohibit getting such amazingly close views, so it is refreshing to get this close, and these falls are so huge, they make Niagra seem like a trickle.

Walking to the lower part of the falls we see a whole heap of Capuchin monkeys crossing trees just above the path. They are amazing and we get some great close up photos of them including a baby riding on the back of one. Why did I go to the Amazon again? This was all the jungle I needed! We got to the speed boat at the bottom of the walkway and they warned us we would get wet, but we didn’t expect this! We were actually taken into and behind some of the falls - and the water hurt! I hate to think how the DVD must look as the guy at the front filmed us going under the falls with me shreiking like a 10 year old girl. After 25 minutes in the jet boat we had a jeep ride back to the entrance to dry off.

The next day we jumped back on the same tour with primarily the same people to do the half day Brazillian side tour. Half the tour is the logistics of crossing the border and back again, but it is well worth it. About 1 hour of boardwalks give the most amazing panoramic views of the waterfalls and finishes basically underneath one - once again we get drenched with spray which is nice considering the 30 degree temperatures. We spend the afternoon by the pool, eating and swimming and tanning and reading - what a life, so nice to be away from the chaos of the big South American cities!

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Photos

You can get so close to the falls
Gotta love South American safety requirements!