Iguazu Falls

Friday 27 April 2007

Today was the big day, and a "special day," according to out tour guide. We saw Iguazu falls today, which are the largest waterfalls in the world. (Not the tallest, that's Victoria falls in South Africa, but the largest as far as number of falls, amount of water going over, size, etc.) There are 275 separate falls, falling 80 meters from the top.

Our timing wasn't great, however. It has been raining for weeks in northern Argentina, and it poured for the two days before we arrived, so the river was rather high. In fact, the falls normally flow at 2,000 cubic meters of water per second, but today, they were flowing at 10,000, and rising! So, we were able to go on the two main paths, but were unable to take the boat ride into the falls, or to see "La garganta del diablo," the horseshoe-shaped, most intense part of the falls. It was like only being able to see the American side of Niagra. A little disappointing.

That said, however, seeing what we saw was still an unbelievable experience. The falls were so huge, so powerful, so awe-inspiring, we definitely enjoyed ourselves. And Ryan was in photographic heaven - waterfalls, and lots of butterflies.