An afternoon of awe at Iguazu Falls, Argentina's world wonder
Add this natural marvel to your bucket list
Like most super-iconic natural places, Iguazu Falls has a lot of mystery.
Danger, death, and legend are wrapped up all around the falls. Iguazu Falls is a world wonder and World Heritage Site on the borders of Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil. Composed of more than 200 waterfalls, it’s a thing of drama.
As the story goes, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt said “Poor Niagara” when she spotted the falls, of course referring to that other famous waterfall, Niagara Falls. Indeed, Iguazu Falls is higher and wider than Niagara Falls.
Ask anyone in Argentina what you should do while you’re in the country and Iguazu comes up. Millions of visitors travel to Puerto Iguazu, the Argentine city where the falls are located, each year to see the falls. I started to see why as soon as I arrived.
Imagine a road encircled with trees so dense and thick and green that the other side isn’t even visible. That’s what it’s like driving from the airport to our hotel. We travel in silence for a while processing it all. Being in a quiet car with two children under the age of 9 isn’t common.
The visitor’s center is the landing base for our day at the falls. We stock up on drinks and rent a stroller. There’s a short walk to the train, our mode of transport to the starting point for exploring the falls.
Normally, the train would go all the way to Devil’s Throat but that route is closed, so we disembark at one of the earlier stops and set off on a path lined with trees.
You’ll hear Iguazu Falls before you see it. What starts as white noise quickly builds in volume and intensity. Our first vantage point is on the other side of a wooden bridge and now the anticipation starts showing up in my body, a slightly increased heart rate as we move closer. The water below the bridge is moving quickly; the strong current surprises me and I already picture what it’s all leading to.
Warning signs tell us carrying children on your shoulders is forbidden. An intrusive image inserts itself into my mind. I've seen all the pictures online and the idea of the waterfalls terrifies and attracts me; I feel like, at any moment, I could topple off the edge and into the water below, permanently irrecoverable.
That’s all put on pause as soon as the spectacle of the falls comes into view. The first waterfall we see is maybe a 50-meter curtain of water rushing into a pool below. If this was all I came to see, I’d still be in awe. I would still have seen a piece of nature unlike I’d ever seen before but Iguazu Falls was only getting started.
As we move further along our trail, walls of water are so thick you can’t see a single thing behind them. Masses of water create huge sprays of mist as they drop off completely vertical cliffs into the river below. Strong currents move the water rapidly, ceaselessly cutting around rocks and trees.
The falls lie in the Atlantic rainforest: trees, birds, and butterflies are abundant. You’re walking through one of South America’s most popular landmarks but you could easily be in the middle of a dense jungle.
There were lots of people like us on the trails: tourists with phones and cameras at the ready. A fellow sightseer and I take photos of each other, both striking poses and waving peace signs, framing ourselves around the scene in the background. Further away a group of women stood near the railing trying to get the perfect selfie. I can’t imagine getting that close. If you’re feeling particularly brave, you can take a boat tour right out to the falls. I was not. I saw a boat bobbing in the middle of the river below.
Iguazu Falls happens to be terrifying and soothing at the same time. Layered in so much mystique, resident serpent gods and doomed lovers are some of its lore. Legend has it a jealous deity created the falls when the woman he loved tried to flee with her lover. In a display of anger the god split the earth open thus forming the falls. And if this tale is true, the serpent god still lurks deep under the waters today.
Observing the falls up close, you do feel a sense of wonder. There’s a sense that something powerful purposefully put it all in place. We viewed the falls from the bottom end of the park right before closing time, and I immediately knew the moment would be saved in place, preserved as a lasting memory.