Iguazu Falls – The legend!

Straddling the borders of Argentina and Brazil these amazing falls are a must do on any trip to South America. The first European to be accredited with  discovering  the falls was the Spanish  Conquistador Alver Nunez Cabeza de Vaca de Vaca in 1541. A big thank you to him.

The falls are part of the Iguazu river. which in itself stretches 1,320 kms. The falls are located at the spot where the river falls over the edge of the Paraná Platea. Approximately half of the river’s flow falls into a long and narrow chasm called the Devils throat which is also the highest viewpoint on the Argentinian side.

Eighty percent of the falls are in Argentina and 20 Percent in Brazil. The Falls stretch in width for 2.7 kilometers and their height varies from 60 meters up to 82 meters, making them  taller than Niagara and twice as wide.

The falls are easy to reach by both bus and plane to either side. We stayed on the Argentinian side of the falls in the charming city of Puerto Iguazu. This makes more sense than staying on the Brazilian side of Foz do Iguassu as the Argentinian side offers much more possibilities. A bus connects to both sides. We did this a couple of times and you don’t even need to show your passport on the Brazilian side although that was several years ago so worth checking.

The eternal question. Which side is better. Argentina has more nature trails and you can get right to the top at Devil Throat. . We also did the speed boat trip and went right under the falls which is a not to be missed experience.

Distances can be far but you can use the train ( lines sadly can be horrendous).

The Brazilian side as said is much smaller in scale so in some ways you can get a better perspective and enjoy better unobstructed viewing points. Both sides have a museum which are both worth seeing.

The biggest draw to the Brazilian side however is the fabulous Bird park

There has to be a legend.  So in this instance legend has it that a deity planned to marry a beautiful woman named Naipí, who fled with her mortal lover Taraba in a  canoe. In a rage, the deity sliced the river, creating the waterfalls and condemning the lovers to an eternal fall.

Its worth buying tickets in advance. For more details Click here