Brazil
Massive Iguacu Falls; a True Wonder of the World
Spectacular Iguaccu Falls - Eleanor Roosevelt once said these Falls located on the Brazil-Argentina border "make Niagara Falls" look like a faucet.
By Alan Hoskins
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IGUACU FALLS, Brazil - Waterfalls have held my fascination ever since my first look at Niagara Falls - the power, the might, the beauty that make them one of nature's greatest wonders.
So when I heard that Eleanor Roosevelt once said after seeing Iguacu Falls, "Poor Niagara! This makes Niagara look like a kitchen faucet," I knew I had to see it for myself. Located on the border between Argentina and Brazil, Iguacu Falls is a series of 275 waterfalls stretching 1.7 miles in width, dwarfing both Niagara and Victoria Falls. Plunging as many as 270 feet over a precipice that is greater than Niagara's by more than 70 feet, water plunges at the ferocious rate of 17,000 cubic yards a second.
Iguacu Falls can be seen three ways - by foot, by boat and by air and I'll be darned if I were coming 3,000 miles without seeing it every possible way. Situated about 500 miles southwest of San Paulo on the border between Argentina and Brazil, about 80 percent of the falls are located in Argentina but the most spectacular views are from the Brazilian side.
A Guarani Indian word meaning "Great Waters" and pronounced Ig-wa-soo, Iguacu is the Brazilian spelling; in Argentina, it's Iguazu. I desperately hoped my first look at the Falls would come from the air, but no such luck.
My first view would come from the Argentine side, about a 10-minute walk from the Sheraton Hotel where our bus had been parked. In the distance, the sound of the falls was unmistakable and the anxiety of seeing them was getting the best of me. As I neared the Falls, it was if I were listening to a great symphony orchestra building up for a grand finale and with each step, the anticipation mounted. As I came around a curve on the walkway, it was if a life-size panoramic movie screen had opened up in front of me and all I could do was stop and marvel at the incredible site of cascading water as far as the eye could see.
Martha, who is still so spry at age 84 that she runs from one point to another when she's in a hurry, was right behind. Clasping her head with both hands, the only thing she could get out was "Oh my, oh my."
The Falls were still several hundred feet away but the width, depth and size were far greater than I had ever imagined. Once over the initial impact of the size and splendor, I found myself mesmerized by the power of so much water.
Numerous rocky and wooded islands on the edge of the escarpment over which the Iguacu River plunges divide the falls into the 275 waterfalls or cataracts. The water cascading 250 feet into the mysterious "Devil's Throat" gorge creates an ever present dense cloud of mist and a myriad of rainbows that add even further to the amazing specter.
Just the mighty roar of the river as it crashes down to the bottom of the canyon a 17,000 cubic meters a second with peaks of nearly four times that quantity can be heard for several miles.
Called the "most beautiful 1,000-meter walk in the world," the hike to the base of the Falls is no less dramatic - although wetter. Those brave enough to venture out on a walkway at the foot of one of the Falls came away more than a little damp. "Wait until I tell my white water friends about this," laughed one of the more daring travelers.
It was hard to believe that our crossing to the Brazilian side the next morning could top what we'd seen - but it did.
"We will stop for a helicopter ride if anyone's interested," our guide offered. My hand shot up immediately and seven more followed, enough for two flights. At $60, it was too good to pass up. Besides, I'd never flown in a helicopter and what better place to get my baptismal flight?
About a six-minute flight from down river, the enormity of the Falls doesn't hit home until you're right above it. From the ground, I was under the impression all the water was flowing in one direction. In actuality, the water cascades from the Parana Plateau that is fed by about 30 rivers flowing from three directions into a gigantic gorge of water that stretches upwards of a mile in length.
The flight includes three trips up and down the length of the Falls - plenty of time for not only the obligatory photos and video but time to enjoy the enormity of the Falls spread across a 2 ½-mile floodplain amidst dense virgin rain forests.
Back on the ground, the view from the Brazil side was as good as advertised, probably better. From a precipice high above the Falls, there are waterfalls as far as one can see in both directions. I couldn't help but wonder what Portuguese explorer Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca felt when he came upon such a feat of nature back in 1541.
Long before the arrival of the Portuguese and the Spanish, the area belonged to the Guarani people. The story goes - or legend has it - that a tribe forming part of a powerful people known as the Caiguangue worshipped Tupa, the Supreme God, and his son M'Boi, the Serpent God.
Upon learning that Taruba, a young warrior from a neighboring tribe, had fallen in love with the Indian Naipi and fled with her in a pirogue, M'boi flew into a rage. Summoning up all his strength, he parted the earth and created the gorges of Iguacu. The pirogue was swept over the waterfall and vanished into the raging waters.
Taroba turned into a palm tree and Naipi became a rock in the front of the falls. M'Boi buried himself upright up to his neck in one of the caves in the canyon so that he could keep an eye on the two lovers and ensure that they would never be able to embrace each other.
I couldn't see any embracing lovers from my lofty perch but I could see a small boat dart up near the Falls and then suddenly speed away only to return a few minutes later.
It was one of those boats that would provide the highlight of my visit. But first, 180 steps had to be navigated down to the Devil's Throat where a walkway allows visitors to walk well out into an area of raging water so close to the Falls that getting wet was part of the attraction. While the generous walkways made getting past others on the way back up, I was vividly aware of the jungle and its many sounds as I made my way down the winding path.
To reach the boat, a truck to us through a subtropical rain forest where more than 600 species of birds, mammals and reptiles have been identified ranging from the jaguar and puma to the black howler monkey and Brazil's national bird, the Toucan.
Much larger than it had appeared from above, the boat held abut 40 passengers, all of whom were fitted with ponchos and booties to protect clothes and shoes. Once on the water, it requires full throttle in order to overcome the force of the current on a bumpy ride rivaling white water rafting.
"Look, they're not wearing any rain gear so we must not be going to get very wet," said one observant passenger of the crew's attire as the boat neared the Falls. Only after brief stops for photos did the rain gear come out as the boat headed for the throat of one of the Falls.
Between the mist from the falls and the tumultuous waves at the base of the falls, I could hear nothing but the pounding of the water and an occasional scream from one of my fellow travelers. Even though we were so close, there were times when I lost sight of the waterfalls because of the mist.
While the steady spray of water was getting us wet, the ponchos were doing the job keeping our clothes dry so I was totally unprepared for was about to happen.
With so much water plummeting over the Falls, the boat despite its size rocked and dipped and a couple of those dips left me gasping and screaming. It was if someone had taken a 10 gallon bucket of water and dumped it on me. Not once but twice. My trousers were soaked, my shoes drenched and my feet squished in my wets sock as I climbed out of the boat.
The weather in late March was perfect so drying out came quickly and the drenching would soon fill a full page in my book of great moments as I returned to the upper rim for one last look.
Waterfall upon waterfall. In either direction as long as the eye could see, water was crashing down. No single picture could ever capture all the vastness of its magnificence but it is a photo that is written indelibly into my history of great memories.
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