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Published: September 3rd 2009
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The Devil`s Throat 31 secs
1 additional video(s) currently being processed I have a distinct memory as a child sitting at our kitchen table in Moymet watching Tarzan on tv, on what I think were Saturday afternoons. It was always in black and white. In the show there was a big set of waterfalls in the jungle and the huge falls always seemed to trigger my imagination. I was a seven year old kid once more as the Iguacu mist dampened my face.
There are two sides of the falls to visit - the Brazilian side and the Argentinian side. We had based ourselves in the town of Foz do Iguacu on the Brazilian banks of the Rio Parana, so we began with the Brazilian side.
We started along the main trail and caught glimpses of the white falls. Then we arrived at the first lookout and our first view of Iguacu. Well part of it anyway. Looking across the Rio Iguacu, the cliffs were draped with a white and brown sheet of water. The jungle was a constant background, fighting against the water for its place on the cliff. The trail was hemmed in by trees and plants and we admired many butterflies as we strolled along. The next
lookout revealed more waterfalls. A third viewpoint and more waterfalls. And on and on and on. Jessica and I were really surprised at the size of the Iguacu Falls. On the Brazilian side we really got a panoramic view of the scale of the falls. I knew from photos that they were big, but it has to be seen in person to get a real sense of their size and volume. We later read there are actually 275 waterfalls that make up Iguacu. Very hard to get it all in a lens.
A fellow tourist offered to take our photo with the falls in the background. The result is a photograph of us from the waist down and no waterfall. Thanks!
The trail then led us to a walkway which took us out and over part of the Rio Iguacu and near the Devil's Throat, but stopped well short of us being swallowed! This was the most impressive part for me. The Devil's Throat is in the shape of a horse shoe and the river plunges downwards 80 metres from all sides. The heart of Devil's Throat is a powerful combination of noise and water. Nature at its
best and most glorious. It was as wet as we got on the Brazilian side - halfway between mist and rain, the water droplets seem light enough to float in the air and find their way to places rain would never reach.
Rather than go to the the Argentinian side the following day, we headed to Itaipu Dam. One of the seven wonders of the engineering world and the only one in the southern hemisphere. Prizes for naming the other six!
A local bus dropped us at the gates of the visitor centre and we booked ourselves on what they called "The Special Tour". From the viewpoint, the dam is very impressive. It is huge. From start to finish it covers 8km, comprising of an earth dam which runs into a stone one which then becomes 3km of concrete at the working heart of the dam. We were told the height of the main dam is equivalent to a 65 storey building and that at the height of construction forty thousand men worked on site.
The dam is a joint venture between Brazil and Paraguay, so everything is split 50:50, including the nationality of the employees and
the two billion dollar price tag. There is a Paraguayan general manager for 12 hours and then a Brazilian one for the next 12, and so on. Inside the dam we were shown to the control room where a yellow line split the two countries domain. Obviously it is just symbolic, it wouldn't be very practical to have the lads in the control room showing their passport everytime they walked to the other side of the room!
With a brain full of facts and figures, we headed for the monster's guts. We prepared ourselves by putting on helmets and anti-swine flu masks. As you can imagine, the generators were pretty massive and noisy. The shaft of one generator must have been the size of my old bedsit in Ranelagh. Then the tour was finished. That was it. I enjoyed getting to go inside the dam, but R30 was a bit of a ripoff and it ended much too quickly.
What we needed after all that noise and electricity, was some energy of a different kind. Some zen. On the way back to Foz, we hopped off the bus at the next village and walked a few kilometres to
a Buddhist temple. We had a picnic in front of the temple and shared the view with Buddha. The Parana river before us, Brazil on the left bank and Paraguay on the right. Our balance was restored.
Next day we crossed the border into Argentina. We decided to reject the offers of a R50pp tourist transport and DIY it, which turned out to be no hassle and at least R70 cheaper. Somewhat of a relief getting back into a Spanish speaking country. After paying the park fee, our first port of call was the little train station. There as no steam train or anything like that, just a small train like ones found in theme parks. After a ten minute ride, we disembarked and followed the raised slippy platform across the river. The river is freckled with little islands where we saw Toucans hanging out in the trees.
The walkway reached a dead end and there we were within touching distance, standing right at the edge of the Devil's Throat. The noise was an incredible roar. We watched the brown Rio Iguacu advance towards the Devil, it was as though the water was being dragged kicking and screaming
to its fate. Brown turns to white as water mixes with air and plunges into a hidden world. It all resembled the pouring of a pint of Guinness!
The next four hours we spent on the many other trails, getting up close and personal to another part of the Iguacu falls. Only when we were soaked to the skin did we head back to Brazil. Jessica had read that being close to the Iguacu Falls would transfer energy to the human body. By the time we left Iguacu we felt a buzz through our veins.
From James
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ellen
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Whow!!
The pictures are briliant you can almost hear the thunder of the water. I never imagined you could have so many waterfalls together would love too be there just to see the scale of it. Ellen