"FOZ DE I GUAÇU THE 8TH WONDERS IN THE... " a Parque Nacional do Iguaçu Travel Page by Bert_Pearson

There is a legend that tells of M'Boi, the Snake God who ran after the Beautiful Naipi, his beloved one. She had been kidnapped by the Warrior Taroba.

The Snake God had previously dug the fall of Iguaçu.

The Snake God caught them at the very spot where the waters plunge in clouds of foams.

He then transformed his beloved Naipi into a Stone and Taruba, the Warrior, into a palm tree, separed from one another by the the roaring waters.

When you are about to land in IGUAÇU, the pilot made a 360 dégrees tour over the great Falls.
It was my fist sight of that natural onders. It was stunning.

Found in the state of Parana, they are a mammoth series of waterfalls that plunge through a gorge on the Iguaçu River. A total of 275 falls cascade over a semi circle precipice 3km wide with a thunderous noise out of which is the Devil's throat.

IGuassu in Guarani AmerIndian dialect means: Big Waters.

Water flows at 5000m cube /second.

In 1934, a National Park has been created. It is the biggest borderline reserve in the South of Brazil: 1,500 square km or orchid strewn wilderness alive with wild cats, anteaters, tapirs, deer and monkeys; vivid macaws, araras and toucans fly free through subropical forest..

More than 50 guards work to preserve it and it offers snack bars, souvenir shops that sell postcards and raincoats.

I stayed at the famour Cataratas Hotel at the entrance of the Parc and close to the Falls.

You can see the falls in following a long trails with lots of steps that lead you to the Devil's throat fall.
There is a constant mist hanging over the fall and with the wind blowing you are set to get wet. Torrents of crystal clear water plunge 250 feet down and the roar can be heard from miles and miles afar.

The falls are situated at the border of Paraguay and Argentina. The falls in Argentina side are the best, cause you can walk down very close to the falls. Lovely trek to do.

At the meeting of three rivers from the 3 countries ( Rio Monday, Rio Parana and Rio Iguaçu) there is a little parc with each countriy's monument and flags.

There is a bridge called the bridge of Friendship that has 489 m long.
More than a link between Brazil and Paraguay, the bridge of Friendhsip is a monument sealing the union between these neighbor countries.

Do not miss crossing that bridge. The traffic might be heavy because of the customs at the border. But it is worth the wait. You will enjoy going through hundred and hundred of little boutiques. Vendors will run after you to sell their merchandises... You can find anything and at very low prices if you know how to bargain.

A ride in the park by jeep "The Macuco Boat Safari is a journey that last one hour and half that start with the crossing of the Jungle by Jeep up to the bottom of the canyon. The the boat takes us under the falls. It is an unforgettable experience.

In 1541, not 50 years after the arrival of Columbus in the Americas, Alva Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, the second Royal Emissary to the River Plate, was heading towards Asuncion in what is today Paraguay, from the Atlantic coast, when he came upon the Iguaçu waterfalls.

The records of the Jesuits from the l7th and l8 centuries make mention of the falls and they even had a mission, Santa Maria, a few kilometers upstream.

It was Only in l882 that Swiss explorer Giaccomo Bové, rediscovered the waterfalls with his guide Carlos Bossetti, an italian immigrant.

At the biginning of the XX century the National Goverment sent landscape architect Calos Thays to evaluate them and he recommended thaty they be set aside as a natural park for the use and enjoyment of the public.

I was declared a World Heritage Site in l984.

The Falls have their origin dating back some 100,000 years ant the confluence of the Iguazu with the great Parana River, a site where Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina meet and know today as Tres Fronteras.