The rainforest around the massive hydro-phenomenon of Iguazu Falls and Paraguay River is beautiful, diverse, tall and subtropical. After the brief taxi ride to the park entrance I entered and just kind of followed the other people through the theme-park like manicured lawns and shiny cafe-scapes to a little kids train. This took us out through the rainforest and after alighting onto a series of boardwalks, where we basically crossed a gigantic river delta kilometres wide interspersed with sections of forest. The anticipation was building - of course you could hear a dull hydro-roar getting louder but also from afar you could see the mist of colliding waters rising into the air.
The Garganta del Diablo (Throat of the Devil) is incredible. A vast expanse of water is sucked inexorably towards a relatively small basin before plunging a hundred metres or so, the result being an immense vortex of whitewater violence. Downstream of the Garganta on either side are grandiose curtains of falling water, individually impressive enough to be their own tourist attraction, but in this setting just a sideshow.
After that I needed to re-caffeinate just to calm myself down, where I ran into Blandin and Elo from France who'd accompanied me in the taxi earlier. We set off together into the strong sun to explore the rest of the falls for the day. We walked the upper and lower circuits from where we were able to view the impressive series of waterfalls that flanked the Argentinian side of the park.
Unfortunately power speed boats on the river and richies in helicopters above took further away from the natural ambience - why do you need to fly helicopters over the top of a World Heritage site I wonder? The remaining rainforest was in great condition and provided habitat for a multitude of wildlife both opportunistic and residential - a million butterflies, goanna-sized iguanas, a huge guinea pig/small capybara thing and cafe-scavenging coatis by the tens ('nose-bears' as the Germans called them!). Large swallow-like vencejos actually make their nests
behind the cascades and inhabit the saturated air surrounding the waterfalls. Vultures also circled high into the sky and many other birds both predatory and otherwise made themselves known throughout the day.
From river-level we observed the explosion of water that was a culmination of the series of falls we had been exploring from inside, above and below. At one point we could get close enough to the spray to get quite wet, a welcome relief in the midday heat. This heat actually got prohibitve after lunch so we managed to do not much and just relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. Definitely worth it to see this amazing natural phenomenon.
The rainforest around the massive hydro-phenomenon of Iguazu Falls and Paraguay River is beautiful, diverse, tall and subtropical. After the brief taxi ride to the park entrance I entered and just kind of followed the other people through the theme-park like manicured lawns and shiny cafe-scapes to a little kids train. This took us out through the rainforest and after alighting onto a series of boardwalks, where we basically crossed a gigantic river delta kilometres wide interspersed with sections of forest. The anticipation was building - of course you could hear a dull hydro-roar getting louder but also from afar you could see the mist of colliding waters rising into the air.
The Garganta del Diablo (Throat of the Devil) is incredible. A vast expanse of water is sucked inexorably towards a relatively small basin before plunging a hundred metres or so, the result being an immense vortex of whitewater violence. Downstream of the Garganta on either side are grandiose curtains of falling water, individually impressive enough to be their own tourist attraction, but in this setting just a sideshow.
After that I needed to re-caffeinate just to calm myself down, where I ran into Blandin and Elo from France who'd accompanied me in the taxi earlier. We set off together into the strong sun to explore the rest of the falls for the day. We walked the upper and lower circuits from where we were able to view the impressive series of waterfalls that flanked the Argentinian side of the park.
Unfortunately power speed boats on the river and richies in helicopters above took further away from the natural ambience - why do you need to fly helicopters over the top of a World Heritage site I wonder? The remaining rainforest was in great condition and provided habitat for a multitude of wildlife both opportunistic and residential - a million butterflies, goanna-sized iguanas, a huge guinea pig/small capybara thing and cafe-scavenging coatis by the tens ('nose-bears' as the Germans called them!). Large swallow-like vencejos actually make their nests behind the cascades and inhabit the saturated air surrounding the waterfalls. Vultures also circled high into the sky and many other birds both predatory and otherwise made themselves known throughout the day.
From river-level we observed the explosion of water that was a culmination of the series of falls we had been exploring from inside, above and below. At one point we could get close enough to the spray to get quite wet, a welcome relief in the midday heat. This heat actually got prohibitve after lunch so we managed to do not much and just relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. Definitely worth it to see this amazing natural phenomenon.
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