Iguazu Falls

We were just able to hit the very north of Argentina this time through because we had reservations in Rio de Janeiro for Carnival. As luck would have it, we were able to swing by one of the most breathtaking natural sights either of us had ever seen.

In our travels we have seen many-a-waterfall, but Iguazu Falls is on a different level. It sits just on the border of Argentina and Brazil where, "the Iguazu River passes over a basalt plateau that ends just above its confluence with the Parana River."

Our guide book goes on to explain, "Guarani legend says that Iguazu Falls originated when a jealous forest god, enraged by a warrior escaping downriver by canoe with a young girl, caused the riverbed to collapse in front of the lovers, producing a precipitous falls over which the girl fell and, at their base, turned into a rock. The warrior survivied as a tree overlooking his fallen lover."

Well, we weren't able to find the rock or the tree, but there was no way we could miss the water falls...275 of them to be exact. The national park is set up with multiple trails to view the waterfalls from all different angles. There was even a train that would take you over to the star of the show, Garganta del Diablo, or "The Devil's Throat" in english.

The train dropped us off at a trail made of 1 kilometer of metal platforms. As we got closer to the Garganta del Diablo the wind picked up and it felt like it was beginning to rain. We put on our impermeables and thank goodness we had them, because at the end of the trail lies a platform that sits at the top of the MASSIVE waterfall.

From this platform we stared right down the "throat" of the water fall. It was kind of scarey walking up to railing of the platform because the power of the water plummeting over the edge of the cliff was FULL-ON to say the least. Within two minutes we were totally soaked from the waterfall's mist. It was crazy how much wind was being generated due to the falling water displacing the air in the canyon.

We were able to sneak a couple pictures of the Garganta del Diablo before the camera was on the verge of too wet, but while the pics are cool, they don't do justice to actaully watching and feeling the power of the falling water. This sight was TRUELY humbling!