Puerto Iguazu, Argentina: Waterfalls and the Rainforest

Today, I went to the waterfalls, which are in a rainforest, which is where I am in the picture above.  Like the glaciers, I have probably a hundred photos from today, all of which are gorgeous.  I am going to share a few of my favorites, along with some tidbits I learned about Iguazu. 

Here they are!  These falls, Cataratas de Iguazu, and the river that they divide into the Upper and Lower Iguazu, form part of the border between Brazil and Argentina.  The falls above are all on the Argentine side; since I don't have a Brazilian visa, I couldn't go the the Brazilian side...but they are apparently better on the Argentine side anyways :-)

A rainbow over one of the smaller falls.  Beautiful!

I think the most impressive part of the falls is how wide they are.  This picture doesn't really do it justice, but they just keep going and going and going!  There are 275 falls, ranging from 200 to 269 ft tall.  And the width?  In total, the edge over which water falls is 1.7 mi.  Crazy!

Me in front of the falls.

Always one for boats, I got on this one, which took me directly under the falls you see in the background as well as under the Devil's Throat (more on that later).  It was like being in a very load, wet whirlpool...so cool!

This is a shot of the middle of the falls.  You can see half of the Devil's Throat on the left, Isle de San Martin in the middle, and about half of the stretch of the falls on the right. 

Another beautiful set of waterfalls.

Saltos Dos Hermanas (Two Sisters Falls).

This is the Devil's Throat.  269 ft high, 492 ft wide, and 2297 ft long, it is absolutely stunning (and loud!).  The top right of this picture is Brazil, and the bottom left is Argentina.  Almost in two countries at once...darn visa.  After seeing this, I took another boat along the top rim of the falls, then down one of the side rivers to get back to the park entrance.  We saw some animals (turtles, lizards, etc.), but it really didn't compare to the falls (hence no pictures).

The last venture of the day was a 10 km (6.2 mi) hike to this waterfall, under which I went swimming!  The water was nice and cool (it was the first time I wasn't dripping in sweat all day), clean, and it was the perfect way to get refreshed for the walk back to the park entrance.  Iguazu really is a natural wonder, and I feel so lucky to have been able to see it!