Las Cataratas de Iguazu Part Dos
Saturday we spent all day at the waterfalls, which were beyond spectacular. "Iguazu" means "big waters" in Guarani, and they certainly live up to the name. The falls are within a national park that has been slightly Disney-fied in terms of trains and paths to get around, but it does allow for incredible views of the falls. The most spectacular is La Gargantua del Diablo, or Devil's Throat. It is formed where part of the river falls into a narrow canyon, which means that it is an insane amount of water falling into an U shaped cliff. We were on a platform right over one side of the fall, and the spray from the falls was so intense we were completely soaked after only a few minutes of snapping pictures. From there we headed to a different path that allowed us to see the rest of the falls. We saw
lots of wildlife, including tons of butterflies of various colors, extremely large lizards, a caiman, coaties, and even a toucan with a vibrantly red beak!
However, the highlight of the day was La Gran Aventura, which started with a half hour safari in an Indiana Jones-esq truck through the jungle, where our guide identified some of the flora, and educated us on the animals that live in the jungle. The safari ended at the river, where we put on lifevests, loaded our stuff into waterproof bags, climbed into large speedboats, and speeded
do you see the boat disappearing into the mist of the waterfall?
upriver, through the rapids, to get a river-level view of the falls. Then our guides told us to put away the camaras, and we headed directly into the falls! Upon our groups cries of "otra vez," they took us back into the falls three times!
after our "shower" in the falls!
posted by aprilmae @ 12:55 PM
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