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 Iguazu
falls--The Second Wonder of the World
December 12-16, 1999
Pit-vipers, capuchin monkeys, toucans, coatimundis, armadillos,
tree anteaters, tapirs and jaguars.
Iguazu Falls has them
all, and more, and we hoped we would see some--but not all of
them-- when we got to our destination, a five-day visit to this
great natural wonder, and we weren't disappointed!
Iguazu Falls is classified as the
Second Wonder of the World in the World Heritage list of the
100 top sites. To get there, we flew from Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil, changed planes in Sao Paulo and landed in Iguazu by
lunchtime. By the time we got to the Sheraton International
Iguazu Hotel, traveling, the heat (about 90 degrees Fahrenheit)
and humidity had taken its toll. We were exhausted!
But one look at our living quarters for the next five days and
immediately we were renewed and ready to roll.. The Sheraton
Hotel was beautiful, clean, spacious, AIR CONDITIONED, was within
walking distance of the falls, and each room had a balcony with a
spectacular view facing Devils' Throat.
We dumped our luggage and were on
our way to the most incredible set of adventures viewing a natural
wonder that I may ever be privileged to enjoy first-hand.
Iguazu Falls is located in a
national park on the Brazilian-Argentine border, 19 kilometers
upstream from the confluence of the Iguazu and the Alto Parana
rivers. Paraguay is just an international bridge away. The
falls are the most overwhelming falls in South America, and
perhaps in the world. The main falls are 20 meters (look up
how many feet that is) higher than Niagara and about half as wide
again. (I learned later that the name Rio Iguazu is Guarani
for big and I is Guarani for water). The Rio Iguazu receives
the waters of some 30 rivers as it crosses the Brazilian plateau.
Approaching Devil's Throat
The Gargantua del Diablo--
Devil's Throat, the most spectacular of the falls, is
located on the Argentinean side. This massive roaring
mountain of cascading water was to be our first clear view of the
falls. We were to have many other perspectives but nothing had
prepared us for the massive bodies of cascading waters we would
see everywhere we looked over the next several days.
The river contains many little
islands, scattered over a width in some places of three miles.
Rapids race over and around the jutting black rocks for about 3
miles, and suddenly tumble over a huge precipice and down
through a perpetual cloud of mist. In a miracle of nature,
when the sun
is out, it creates spectacularly brilliant rainbows.
We saw many from our balcony and came upon others from many
other scenic vistas.
The falls plunge down in many
separate cascades-- 275 in all. Viewing it from head on, you
see multiple falls. They extend in a huge arc 1.8 miles
across. At the bottom of many of these falls, the waters
tumble in
a setting of begonias, orchids, fern and palms. Many
animals--toucans, flocks of parrots and cacique birds, are hidden
in the trees, and the ubiquitous swifts that dodge in and
out of the cascades literally make their nests in the basalt rock
behind the showers and mist of Iguazu.
We watched in fascination as
hundreds of these small black birds careened through the mist and
suddenly changed course to dart without effort through
the waterfalls to settle safely in nests behind the falls. Many
brilliantly hued butterflies-from the more than 500
different species found in Iguazu--also hovered near the falls and
within the national
forest that we were to visit later.
The
first European to stumble upon this natural wonder was the
Spaniard Cabeza de Vaca in 1541. We could almost imagine his
astonishment as he discovered these massive falls in his voyage
westward. His wonder
could not have exceeded ours.
Devil's Throat, the most massive of
the falls, would give us our first close dramatic view. To
do this we had to hop into small motorized boats for a
choppy ride to the middle of the river. As we bumped along
toward the small landing on a tiny island almost hidden in the
mist, I watched one of the boatmen steer while sipping mate --an
ubiquitous drink in the region. He drank it by sucking on a long
silver straw spoon punctured with holes. In my broken Spanish,
I asked if this was indeed mate, and he immediately offered me a
taste. After my inquiry, I couldn't refuse; I took a
swig
---it tasted bitter like a green tea without sugar.
Gallantly, I passed the cup around to the adventurous few
who wanted a taste. They weren't pleased with the taste either-but
later on several people bought their own supply to take home. He
explained (en Espanol) that mate could make you relaxed and
sleepy, but I didn't notice anyone dozing off. Our
water-world journey was just beginning.
We disembarked on a small grassy
island and began to tread carefully over a series of
slippery metal catwalks. Making our way far out into the
river, we paused frequently to pop out our cameras from
zip lock bags and snap photos quickly to protect them from the
heavy mist. These metal catwalks have been
damaged and sometimes partially washed away by floods. The last
major flood occurred in 1986, and we were to se the results of
these disastrous floods several times over the next few days.
At the end of the catwalk, suddenly
a chasm of falling water appeared before us. It was Devil's
Throat, and I have never seen such a huge volume of roaring water.
It was late afternoon, when the light is best, and we marveled at
the massive cascading falls.
Through the mist we watched as
swifts dove through the air, sometimes straight down, and
sometimes heading directly toward the basalt face of the rock
behind the falls. "They were just going home,"
according to our guide Gabriel. He told us a romantic
Guarani legend of the falls-a tale of an
Indian maiden and her unrequited love where two lovers reunite
forever at each end of the rainbow that appears each time the sun
shines on this spot. You can almost hear the roar of the Devil's
Throat, like a devil singing, according to the Guarani legend.
It was hard to tear ourselves away
from this panoramic view of the falls, but we knew even more
spectacular vistas were awaiting us the next day.
On Tuesday we got an early start for hard day's trek down to the
bottom of the trail; this event was described, rather accurately
by World Cruise literature as our Lower Circuit Zodiac "Great
Adventure Tour." Our guide Gabriel led us out the back door
of the hotel, down a forest trail, and we were on our
walk into the gorge. Soon, the path became a series of slippery
metal and wooden steps with bridges and lookout points jutting out
over myriad waterfalls. The brilliant sun was obscured
on and off by cool mists as the trail descended deeper and deeper.
Around each bend, we
might encounter yet another short bridge, another set of steep
steps , or another dramatic vista of water tumbling over huge
rocks on the way hundreds of feet down into the gorge.
Here and there,
monkeys, lizards, and coatimundi appeared and disappeared;
birds of the tropics could be heard high up in the trees, and
brilliantly colored butterflies flitted in and out and through the
dense growth and up into the dense canopy of green overhead.
In my journal I wrote, "This
is perhaps the most perfect day I could imagine."
Finally,
the precipitous steps of the trail ended at the river's edge where
zodiac boats were tied to a small dock.. We pulled out
raingear we had stuffed into backpacks, in anticipation of
the watery ride ahead, and guides placed about 12 people in each
zodiac. Fortunately, I had run
back into the hotel to take off hiking sandals in favor of
trekking sneakers after I heard one of my women colleagues
suddenly screech when she saw ants climbing all over her legs as
she stood alongside the trail. I didn't want my shoes to get
wet.
What a roller
coaster ride we had! We sped through the waves into and
under the falls, back and forth several times. Droplets of water
filled the air and sprayed all over, drenching us as
the zodiacs raced through the falls, darting in and out and
returning to soak us again. When we were
thoroughly drenched, we headed into the rapids and down the wide
river, which at some points was 250 feet deep. Several miles down
river we reached our destination, a steep stair step climb
back up to the top of the canyon. Steps and more steps; somebody
counted 240. One woman felt she was having a heart attack because
of the heat and the climb; we worried how we might have to get her
out of this isolated place as we kept climbing.
Luckily, she recovered enough to make it on her own after
awhile. At the top we saw two four wheel drives with open
air benches-- what I would call safari trucks. They were
waiting to haul us through the nature preserve, the next leg
of the trip, and back to civilization. I can't say we were
happy to leave. It was some kind of paradise-if you had on plenty
of Off or Cutters.
That night we went to a Brazilian
restaurant to have dinner and dance to throbbing Latin
American rhythms-- tangos, meringues, rhumbas and Jingle
Bells in samba time! It was summer in Brazil, and
Christmas music interspersed with the Peruvian, Brazilian,
Argentinean marimbas, drums,
and flutes didn't seem real. We ate and danced far into the
night. And so did the seventh grade graduating class sitting
near us and celebrating the end of the school year.
The Guarani Indian village
What a change! We rode into a
Guarani Indian village to learn more about their culture.
Since childhood I had wanted to do this. Requesting that we
observe silence in order to listen to the sounds of the forest , a
Guarani guide and a Spanish speaking translator accompanied
us in groups of
10 as we walked quietly along a narrow trail through the
tropical forest. We stopped periodically to learn about armadillo,
wild boar and anteater traps of the Guarani. The highlight
of the morning came when a dozen Guarani children, all about six
years old, appeared in a clearing. They sang songs of their
culture, accompanied by the thumping of six- inch wide sticks of
bamboo that they beat in time to their songs.
Appearing much the same as they did
in the movie, "The Mission" that I had seen on the ship
only days before, they wanted no money and wished only to share
their cultural heritage.
The next day the trip to Iguazu
Falls ended. To get back to the ship, we got up at 3 a.m. for
breakfast, boarded a plane at 4:30 a.m. and after a stop in Sao
Paulo, and rejoined Ocean Explorer I, in Buenos Aires.
This had to be one of the most
special experiences of my life, one I will never forget.
I hope that someday I can return to Iguazu Falls to share this
magnificent natural wonder with my family.
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