Iguaçu Falls (Brazil-Argentina Border)

November 26, 2010

Taller than Niagara Falls, twice as wide with 275 cascades spread in a horseshoe shape over nearly two miles of the Iguazu River, Iguazú Falls are the result of a volcanic eruption which left yet another large crack in the earth. During the rainy season of November – March, the rate of flow of water going over the falls may reach 450,000 cubic feet (12,750 cubic m) per second.

Iguaçu Falls Iguaçu Falls (Brazil Argentina Border)

The name of the falls comes from the Guaraní word for “great water.” Legend has it that a god planned to marry a beautiful aborigine named Naipí, who fled with her mortal lover Tarobá in a canoe. In rage, the god sliced the river creating the waterfalls, condemning the lovers to an eternal fall.

The first Spanish explorer to see the falls Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca in 1541 but the vast power of the falls was not fully utilized until the construction of the huge hydroelectric Itapu Dam power plant built jointly by Paraguay and Brazil. The falls were then re-discovered by Boselli at the end of the nineteenth century, and one of the Argentine falls was named after him. Completed in 1991 the dam is open to tours and provides 12,600,000 KW of power satisfying almost 40% of Brazil and Argentine power needs. This dam, one of the largest in the world, is touted by both countries as a masterpiece of technology.

Iguaçu Falls Brazil Argentina border Iguaçu Falls (Brazil Argentina Border)

Well…matter of fact details do nothing to describe the grandeur of the falls and the tremendous amount of water thundering down 269 feet  and its width which is about four times the width of the Niagara Falls.

Iguazú Falls, called Foz do Iguaçu in Portuguese, and Cataratas del Iguazú in Spanish, lie on the Argentina – Brazil border and are the 7th UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site.

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