How lucky am I to visit both Iguazu Falls in South America
and Victoria Falls in Africa, all in the same year. (Please see the blog post way down below "AFRICA: Zimbabwe, Botswana, and South Africa: from
April, 2013)
These two majestic falls have in common massive amounts of
water thundering down and misting everywhere in the air.
Add sunshine and there are magical multiple rainbows. Iguazu also has butterflies in the landscape around the
perimeter of the falls, tucans in the trees, and swifts darting in and out of
the mist.
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| Thrilling, needless to say on the walkways by the Devil's Throat, Brazil side. |
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| The falls are surprisingly quiet and innocuous from the top on the Brazilian side. |
Iguazu, meaning “Big Water” in the local Guarani language, is a colossal complex of falls and cascades on a several levels and in the “Devil’s Throat” a horseshow-shaped configuration of rock and crashing water.
There is so much water falling everywhere that it is difficult to comprehend how the outflow river contains it all.
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| Resting in the shade with friends Karen and Ralph Allen. |
On both the Brazilian side and the Argentine side the
respective countries have established national parks with fully developed
walkways, stone stairways and overlooks, metal catwalks over the water, and
concessions. Shuttle buses and trains
transport people from access points to trailheads to vistas, I particularly enjoyed that we Iguazu Falls
tourists had to walk some good distances, climb and descend stairs, sweat, and
work for our ohhh-ahhh views and vistas.
The world’s most productive hydroelectric facility nearby
harnesses energy from this immense amount of water.
All the water comes from rainfall, not from
dams nor, of course, from glacier melts.
Our tour bus stopped along the roadway for this Iguana to
pass. Notice the yellow line on the
roadway.
We spotted several more of these giant lizards along the
Brazilian side of the Falls, under the grate we walked on and in the low growth
beside the trails.
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| This guy was under the steel grate walkway. He's about 16" in length. |
Day One we visited the sites along the Brazil side. Day Two we scampered along the network of
catwalks on the Argentine side.
Crossing
the border between the two countries was a classic line-up-and-wait
confusion. Our guide Gabriel, known
locally as Chino, was expert at ‘working the system’ with the border patrol to
get us through in only an hour and a half despite the fact that we were lacking
documentation of the infamous Argentine Reciprocity Fee for 7 of our people
(including mine!).
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Swifts
With Ralph Allen above the boat launch site.
 See those Zodiac Boats way down below? With 26 students and Ralph Allen, we scrambled down the trails and stone steps to the bottom, took off outer clothing, donned life vests, and rode out under the falls WHERE WE GOT REALLY WET! It's like having a fire hose directed at you - though I have never actually tried that before Iguazu Falls. |
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| Worried Guy |
Along the way were the occasional sightings of exotic birds in the wild.
Additionally we stopped by
the Bird Park where gigantic aviaries housed a grand assortment of tropical
fowl, turtles, and furry creatures like sloths.
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| Ruby Ibis |
