Saturday, 11 October 2014
I had breakfast at 7.15 am, then I packed some clothes (I wanted to do the boat ride which apparently gets you wet) and my pick up came at about 8.10 am to the Iguazu National Park, Argentina.
The Iguazu waterfalls was discovered in 1542 by a Spanish traveler named Alvar Nunez, who was travelling from the Atlantic coasts on his way to Asuncion, Paraguay. On his way, he could hear the thunderous roar of the waterfall, as well as feel splashes of water. When he saw the waterfall, he apparently exclaimed 'Santa Maria' or Holy Mary, and it became known as the Santa Maria waterfalls for some time, until the Argentina government decided to pay respect to the name that the native Guarani people gave the waterfalls - Iguazu which means, in their language, big water. There is a street in Puerto Iguazu named after Alvarez Nunez.
The National Park was opened in 1934, and is currently about 67,000 square meters. There are about 2,000 species of animals here, including 200 species of birds. The biggest bird here is the harpy eagle, the biggest eagle in the world; the female can weigh between 6 to 9 kgs and the males between 4 to 5 kgs, and it is about 1 meter in height. It can catch a prey 3 times its body weight! It is endangered. The biggest mammal here is the jaguar, an adult male can weigh up to 100 kgs. There are also pumas, wild cats, monkeys, lizards and coatis here.
After paying the entrance fees (215 pesos), we first walked along the Upper Circuit, which is only about 650 meters long. The biggest waterfall here is known as the Devil's Throat, the falls are about 80 meters long. The second biggest is San Martin, about 60 meters long and the third is Bossetti. Unfortunately the trail leading to the viewpoint to see the Devil's Throat and San Martin waterfalls were destroyed in a flood about 3 months ago, so we could not see the Devil's Throat and the San Martin waterfalls up close. There have been droughts here, although rare, one in 1978 and one in 2006. During this time, many of the smaller waterfalls disappear, making it possible to go on a boat ride to San Martin Island, and climb to the top of the island to see the waterfalls up close from there. There is a unique geological formation on the island known as "The Window", that allows you to see the Devil's Throat. Apparently there was also a movie shot on the island in 1986, The Mission starring Robert De Niro. But none of this I could see!
What I could see from a distance was the San Martin waterfalls, the Bossetti waterfalls, two waterfalls side by side and similar in height known as Adam and Eve, and many other smaller ones.
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