Incredible Iguazú

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18th April 2006

After spending a week in the incredible Buenos Aires I booked an 18hour bus to see the Iguazú Falls.

The bus was excellent I booked a ‘Cama’ seat (means bed in Spanish) which was similar to a 1st class airplane seat. There are two seats on one side of the aisle and only one on the other. I was offered a whiskey or coffee on departure, wine with dinner and bubbles when the movies were on – very classy indeed. Toilets onboard were absolutely fine and we stopped about every 5 hours at little petrol stations to streach and pickup snacks.

Puerto Iguazú is small but busy, full of tourists all visiting the falls. It sits at the confluence of the Ríos Paraná and Iguazú and looks across to Brazil and Paraguay.

After a good night sleep and some amazing Asado (a small bbq grill is placed at the end of your table and the waiters walk around slapping pieces of meat on until you can eat no more), I was up early to cross into Brazil to see Iguazu Falls from that side.

Amazing isn’t nearly adequate for this mind-blowing sight!

Iguazu currently has the greatest average annual flow of any waterfall in the world. The water falling over Iguazu in peak flow has a surface area of about 40 Ha (1.3 million ft²) whilst Victoria in peak flow has a surface area of over 55 ha (1.8 million ft²). By comparison, Niagara has a surface area of under 18.3 ha (600,000 ft²).

I’m unsure how to put into words a description of these mammoth waterfalls. They are huge and unbearably loud – like the sound of thunder. The Iguazú Falls stretch in width for 2.7 kilometres (or 1.7 miles). Their height varies between 60 metres (200 feet) and 82 metres (or 269 feet). This makes the Iguazu Falls taller than Niagara Falls and twice as wide.

A large proportion of the water is thrust down Devil’s Throat, a long chasm that is 82 metres high, 150 metres wide and 700 metres long.

Iguazu Falls are the result of a volcanic eruption which left a large crack in the earth. During the rainy season of November – March, the rate of flow of water going over the falls may reach 450,000 cubic feet (12,750 cubic m) per second.

I visited the falls a second time from the Argentine side the following day to take a boat ride to right under (or very close to it) two of the falls. 100% soaked but well worth it to experience the power and significance of this famous World Heritage Site.