It's not one big waterfall but a collection of around 100 falls, ranging from 60 to 80 meters in height. Right up on the border, the falls separate Brazil and Argentina, and you can visit them from both countries.
We had to get some money first, which can be interesting in Argentina. You get a much better exchange rate if you exchange dollars on the "black market". Right now a US dollar will get you just under 5 pesos if you exchange in a bank, whereas the black market rate is about 6.8 pesos. There is not much confidence in the currency, which tumbled in value a decade ago when Argentina defaulted on a lot of its international debt. People would rather store US dollars under their bed than put their pesos in a bank, and they pay a nice premium to get them.
As you can imagine, black market money changers do not exactly sit in a high street store. In the big cities like Buenos Aires it could be a guy in the street muttering "money exchange", in the smaller towns business owners usually oblige. In Rosario, I was taken into the back of a shop where three burly old men sat around a huge pile of pesos, drinking coffee and generally looking gangster-ish. In Iguazu, we had to ask around a lot and finally managed to find an olive farmer who would change our dollars. I'm not sure if it was his first time changing money, but he seemed quite nervous. It was a relief to get out of there with a fat wad of pesos and not in the back of a police truck.
Which side of the falls is better? A question that can cause heated debates in hostels all over Latin America. In my opinion, it's the Argentinian side because there are lots more walkways and you can get closer to the falls. Saying that, you do get a more panoramic view from the Brazilian side.
We spent a day walking around the Argentinian side, passing so close to some of the falls that we'd emerge soaking wet. We took a boat ride through some cascades where the water fell so strongly that it was difficult to see anything, and spent time at the top of Garganta del Diablo (Devil's throat) - a thin plateau that drinks down half of the river's flow. We spent ages marvelling at the immense volume of water that smashes its way down the rockface here. I also wondered what it would be like to go down it in a canoe.
The highlight of the Brazilian side is an awesome walkway that snakes its was past several waterfalls so that you are perched right in front of the very same Garganta del Diablo section. Rainbows everywhere - I even saw one that went all the way round in a circle. I have never seen so many rainbows in my life!
There are a few other things in the area. We visited the Itaipu dam, went to Paraguay, walked around a shelter for tropical animals and went down an amethyst mine.
The dam holds some pretty impressive titles:
- It is the world's largest operating hydroelectric facility in terms of annual energy generation, supplying 90% of electricity consumed by Paraguay and 20% of Brazil's demand.
- The amount of concrete used to build the Itaipu Power Plant would be enough to build 210 football stadiums the size of the Estádio do Maracanã.
- The iron and steel used would allow for the construction of 380 Eiffel Towers.
- The volume of excavation of earth and rock is 8.5 times greater than that of the Channel Tunnel.
There are, however, some pretty depressing stats that they don't tell you about. The lake that was formed by the dam displaced 10,000 families and drowned Guaira falls, a collection of falls that was bigger than Iguazu falls. Just to dash any hopes that that they could ever be un-drowned, the Brazilian government dynamited the submerged rockface to make it easier for boats to navigate the lake. Boooo to them.
The same day we visited Ciudad del Este in Paraguay. The whole city is one big duty free shopping centre and thousands of people cross the border to buy supplies for their businesses every day. My passport got a lot of action that day as we started in Argentina, went to Paraguay, Brazil, then back to Argentina!
The animal shelter helps injured animals from the region. Amongst others, there are a couple of Toucans that were found in a suitcase bound for Europe and a Puma that was kept to fight dogs in Buenos Aires.
Wanda mines are a short bus ride away from the town and are the principle source of amethyst in Argentina. I was under the impression that mineral exploration was quite technical but apparently they just pick a spot, blast it with dynamite and see what comes out. If there is a chunk of amethyst they have to spend days chiseling it out by hand.
Only three weeks left - now it's time to see what Brazil has to offer!
The falls are surrounded by jungle and have a lot of coaties running around.
Salto Bossetti waterfall section.
Views from the boat. About 23 seconds later I got soaked.
The view from the upper platform - lovely.
A double rainbow!
A butterfly with the number 88! This must be the brother of the one I saw in Colombia with the number 89.
Apparently the moss that grows here is quite rare and only grows in and around waterfalls.
The view out from Garganta del Diablo.
The walkway on the Brazil side. I would not have fancied building that.
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