Not far from Paraguay, at our doorstep, between the borders of Argentina and Brazil lies the largest waterfall system in the world. The Iguazu Falls run for over a mile and a half along a 260 foot deep chasm with hundreds of waterfalls plunging over the edges on both the Brazilian and Argentinian sides. The number of waterfalls range from 150-300 depending on the height of the Iguazu river. The name, Iguazu comes from the Guarani words 'y' and 'guazu'. 'Y' means water and is kind of pronounced like 'uh' but the sound doesn't really exist in our English language, which may be why the common name has been changed to I-guazu. 'Guazu' means great or big.
Some of you may know we had the opportunity to host a college student for the last couple months. Connor shadowed Dan on all of his ministry-ventures and among other things was able to be a part of youth camp and a backpacking trip that Dan led. We didn't want Connor to leave Paraguay without seeing the Iguazu Falls and so we planned a family trip as part of his time here. We first took him down to the Jesuit Ruins (you can read about a previous visit to the Ruins here) and then headed across the Argentinian border for four days to see the Falls! It would also be the first time our family had been there in seven years so it was like going for the first time for all our kids as well.
The majority of the waterfalls are on the Argentinian side of the river and so their National Park is much larger than Brazil's and has miles of elevated catwalks over the water including a small train that shuttles visitors to the far end of the waterfalls and back. The Argentinian side is special because you're right among the waterfalls but on the Brazilian side you get great views of the Falls. In places you have waterfalls dropping from above you, flowing under the walkway and then plummeting yet again down into the main river system. It's truly breathtaking and you can't help but get a little wet in places. On the days we went there were rainbows everywhere!
After hopping off the train at the first stop our family started down the pathway with Connor. Upon rounding a corner we got our first glimps of the Falls. The water was clear and white and roared in our ears from all around. There were waterfalls in front of us, waterfalls under us and from somewhere behind us waterfalls roared in the distance.
A little farther down the catwalk one of the locally famed wildlife emerged from the woods and clambered along the hand rail: a Koati. Imagine a raccoon with an especially long nose and tail. Koatis are like raccoons too in that they have developed a love for people-food and will go to great lengths to get a snack. When we ate lunch a staff member had to scrape a plastic bottle on a stick along the ground to scare packs of Koatis away from our submarine sandwiches.
As we continued along the pathway the waterfalls didn't get any less impressive. Different views of the same waterfalls and drawing even closer to God's creation left us with a sense of awe. When we'd round another corner even more waterfalls would come into view. And all the while, everywhere we looked there were rainbows. At one point our path literally took us underneath a rainbow... truly amazing!
Awe-struck we finally reached the end of our path. While we waited for the train to take us to the largest waterfall of all another animal came out of the trees: a monkey. This primate wasn't any less ambitious than the Koati in trying to get people-food. He scaled along a power line until he was perched above two oblivious tourists enjoying a healthy lunch of salad and (I kid you not) bananas. At about the moment we realized what the animal was planning to do he dropped straight down onto the table like a super spy. The tourists screamed at the sudden appearance of the monkey and before anyone could react he happily made off with a handful of salad and a banana under his arm.
Our final boardwalk took us over the wide river for half-a-mile toward the the Devil's Throat: Iguazu's largest waterfall where approximately half of the river's water flows into a long and narrow u-shaped chasm. As we approached the plume of mist rising hundreds of feet into the air we noticed that everyone passing us was wet... hmm. When we reached our destination the path took us to the very edge of the massive waterfall where we could look down into the abyss known at the Devil's Throat. The massive amounts of water converging from three sides completely obscured the river below and yes... we got wet.
After a fun train ride back to the park entrance we stopped at a museum which had caught Toby's eye on our way in. The kids bravely posed next to a Jaguar which are native to the area. Haley even put her hand in the fierce predator's mouth! Tired but happy, we finally made our way back to our truck. It had been an amazing day and the next day was going to take us over the Brazilian border to the other side of the Iguazu Falls where we would be able to take in the full scope of the worlds largest waterfall system!
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