A panorama of Iguazu Falls shamelessly stolen from wikipedia

My only real opportunity for visiting Iguazu falls was during my time in Brazil, and even then it would have been an 18 hour bus ride on a good day.  Now, it is too far out of the way, too expensive to fly to, and yet too highly recommended.

I purposefully share the above information with my mother, and get the desired response.

A random, roadside parilla in Argentina´s Puerto Iguazu

¨Well, if it´s something we must do, what are a few more dollars after I´ve already spent so much?¨

Bingo.

You might be thinking that no self-respecting adult male should so giddily be riding the purse strings of his visiting mother.  To which I say ¨meh.¨

¨Iguazu¨ comes from the local native words ¨y¨ (water) and ¨uasu¨ (big).  No one ever accused these people of clever naming schemes, but you can´t deny the clarity of it.  Iguazu Falls drops down right at the border between Brazil and Argentina, with Paraguay being mere kilometers away — close enough to visit by bus, but too far to reap the big tourist bucks that come from geographically claiming such boundless grandure.

An interestingly named travel company in town

The falls come together in one central dumping of water that tends to command the most attention (Garganta del Diablo - ¨The Devil´s Throat¨), but in truth there are 275 falls in the area stretching the one-and-a-half mile width of the Iguazu River here.  In comparison to other famous falls, the water output and overall size is just slightly smaller than Zimbabwe´s Victoria Falls, though far more substantial by almost double than our own Niagara.  More importantly, the layout and quantity of the falls allow for a viewing angle over 260 degrees of constant waterfall action.  It´s fairly spectacular, which would explain why it´s so recommended by nearly all travelers that´ve made their way down.

We give ourselves two full days in Puerto Iguazu, with the intention of using the second day to venture into nearby Paraguay for completion´s sake.  That ends up being a terrible mistake, but Paraguay should get its own entry.  Neighboring Foz do Iguazu in Brazil is apparently also fairly nice, but as my mother lacks the expensive Brazilian tourist visa, that´s not an option here.  Puerto Iguazu has far more restaurants than it seems the town could ever use, as well as casinos.  Most of the restaurants were all but empty, leading us to wonder how they possibly stay afloat, unless a seasonal busy time really brings in some serious tourism.

Falls are a fifteen minute shuttle ride away, and we spend the extra dollars to buy a spot on the boat that actually runs into the falls.  I´m initially disappointed to find that it doesn´t travel under the more impressive Devil´s Throat, but the pressure and flow of the smaller falls we soak under end up being more than sufficient.

I´ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Another of South America´s strange garbage receptacles. I know this is to keep trash from the dogs, but filled with loose trash, I don´t see how this is a useful way of dealing with garbage.

Riding the boat up Rio Iguazu

Our first glimpse of Devil´s Throat

Some of the ¨lesser¨ falls. The lower one on the far left is what we´ll be boating under. It´s much more impressive up close.

Mom and me on the boat, pre-drenching

Under the falls

Rainbows over Iguazu. It´s not really visible here, but at times there were two parallel rainbows in action

The long walk out to Devil´s Throat. I´m told the walkway is over a half mile

And there it is.

A view across the chasm to the Brazil side of the falls.

Looking down the valley over Rio Iguazu