275 waterfalls

When we planned where we wanted to go during our 9-week stay to Argentina, Iguazu Falls wasn’t on our list. We reasoned that we’d seen Niagra Falls and that was good enough for us.

As the planning evolved, we found ourselves searching for a place with good birdwatching in an interesting area, and Iguazu was a natural fit. Finally, it was added to our list.

Iguazu is NOT Niagra. With 275 separate waterfalls over 2.7 km (1.67 miles) long, it’s hard to take it all in. And for anyone who likes to see waterfalls with sheer power and lots of water, Iguazu delivers.

There is no one place to stand to get a full view of all the falls. The best way is to take the time to walk the many paths through the National Park to the many overlooks.

We spent two days working our way from one viewpoint to the next on the Argentinian side of the Falls. Every time we got to an overlook, we “ooh’d” and “aah’d” over the amazing sight of huge volumes of water plunging over the falls. The sound was a constant roar, and we had to shout to each other to be heard.

The National Park has a little open train shuttle to a boardwalk that crossed over water to reach the overlook at Devil’s Throat, possibly the most thrilling.

Some of the boardwalks took us very close to the Falls, sometimes at the top and others to the base. We often had to put our cameras in our bags to protect them from the gusty sheets of mist.

We zipped up our rainjackets on a sunny day, put up our hoods, and started to walk to a lookout at the base of one of the falls. A light mist became heavier rain, and soon sheets of water were coming down from one of the falls with such force, we stopped before we reached the railing and turned back. For a time, on that viewpoint, we stood alone in the rushing water.

Even though the day was sunny with a gentle breeze, it was hard to see rock details through the mist rising from the falls. We’re sure the view must change with high winds and different weather.

The raised boardwalk paths allowed many small channels of water to run toward the river. We searched for interesting plants and butterflies along the way.

The Falls on the Brazilian side are less extensive, and even though the views are from different angles and (we hear) well worth seeing, we decided to save our money and spend the rest of our time in Iguazu seeing birds.

How do the falls at Iguazu rank with all the others? According to a database that keeps records on the world’s waterfalls, “…Iguazú Falls is, in terms of sheer size, the largest waterfall on earth. Though not the most volumnous nor the tallest, the sheer power exhibited by the Iguazú River at these falls is second to none…. There was no question in our minds, Iguazú Falls is the best waterfall on the planet and there’s really nothing else that needs to be said.” 

In hindsight we realize that Iguazu Falls deserved to be high on the list for our trip to Argentina. Our error has now been corrected.

 

September 2016