Another Wonder of the World -- the amazing Iguazu Falls ("Big Waters") located at the border of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. And what an adventure getting there! Our group consisted of 76 people, and we were loaded onto four 19-passenger prop planes, for a 2-¾ hour flight. Thank goodness for our ear plugs!
Because there's been a lot of rain this summer, the river was exceptionally high and the amount of water that was crashing over the falls splashed back up higher than normal, so to me, they didn't appear to be much higher than Niagara Falls.
There are 250 giant cascades twice the height of Niagara Falls, plunging over hard granite to a gorge 260 feet below. After walking about a mile over metal bridges connecting little islands, we were rewarded with an incredible view of Devil's Throat, similar to the Horseshoe Falls in Canada. The sediment in the Iguazu river is quite heavy, and since the water is naturally brown colored, portions of the falls looked like chocolate milk thundering down to the gorge.
After a lunch of Argentinian BBQ, we took the Upper Circuit trail for different views of the Falls. It sprinkled briefly, and as a result we saw rainbows in the mist, with the boats in the river below appearing to pass through them. We saw some animals that look like raccoons with yellow striped tails and a pointed snout, several varieties of butterflies and an interesting black & white speckled lizard.
This was truly an awe-inspiring, unforgettable experience!
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