Our next stop in Misiones Province was Puerto Iguazú. The town of Puerto Iguazú sits at the confluence of the Parguayan, Brazilian, and Argentinean frontiers. Less than 20km from the town of Puerto Iguazú is Parque Nacional Iguazú - home of the mind-numbingly impressive cataratas (waterfalls).
The park's emblem, featuring the vencejo bird - more on him in a bit..
Rule #1: Stay on the Paths..
Walkway to the Garganta del Diablo (The Devil's Throat)..
Mists rising from the cascades come into view..
La Garganta..
Rule #2: No Moving in for a Closer Look...
Note the birds in the video that dart in and out of the waterfalls' spray...
These are vencejos de cascada - the bird from the official emblem of the park. In English, they are known as Great Dusky Swifts (Cypseloides senex). Because their wingspan is so wide and their legs so short, they are unable to alight on the ground or any horizontal branch without getting stuck there permanently, unable to take off. They have adapted by building nests on slight protrusions on sheer rock faces - such as those behind the waterfalls at Iguazu. Yes, behind the waterfalls. Incredible, needless to say.
After seeing the Garganta del Diablo, another trail skirts the upper edge of the falls.
Small wonders abound, as well...
The third and final trail descends to the base of Salto Bossetti - one of the cascades - and then skirts the edge of the giant basin where the falls empty into the Iguazú River. At the roaring base of Salto Bossetti, we got soaked through with spray from the crashing water... The trusty camera survived.
If you travel here you will see folksy art depicting Iguazu landscapes that include an impossible amount of rainbows. If you tend toward skepticism, it could be easy to see these depictions as bordering on hokey or overdone... but they are, refreshingly, pretty damn spot-on.
Rule #3: Do NOT feed the Coati.
...even if the coati tells you he is of legal drinking age.
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