Putting Niagara to Shame: Iguazú

The photos from this park, short-listed for the New Seven Wonders of the World, speak for themselves. One of the world’s largest waterfalls, it is often compared to Victoria Falls in Africa. The name, Iguazú, is constructed from the Guarani words for water (y) and big (ûasú). Defining the border between Argentina and Brazil, these water falls are huge and there are simply far more falls than those in Niagara, which is much more of an individual (albeit large) waterfall compared to this, which was a whole park filled with a series of great falls. One can walk several miles along the trails both above and below the falls. The largest is the Garganta del Diablo, or Devil’s Throat, a huge, ~270º waterfall at the farthest edge of the series of falls from the entrance of the park. The sound of the Devil’s Throat was so strong that one had to shout to be heard over the rushing of the water. I couldn’t help but wonder how many, if any, of the water particles within my person had at some time (or perhaps many times, how many even?) flowed over these very falls. If one is a water molecule, the Devil’s Throat is really the place to be.

An exciting and less expected distraction in the park was the coatí, the adorable little animals with long, very active snouts who expressed the utmost curiosity as to the contents of everyone’s bags. They could be found along the trails, playfully wrestling each other in the grass, and weasling their way into every visitor’s lunches in the dining areas. Though visitors are told they cannot feed them, not everyone was so good at heeding these commands. I wonder how these guys would serve as pets. If I ever move to Argentina, I think I would like a few.