It's Summertime in Iguazu Falls

Frequent travelers are always asked questions like, "What's your favorite city"? or "What city has the best food"? Whenever I'm asked about my favorite natural wonder, I answer, "Iguazu Falls."

It was in the early 1990's that Ron and I took a 10 day trip to South America. Our itinerary included Buenos Aires, Rio de Janiero, and Iguazu Falls. The two cities were fascinating, both Buenos Aires and Rio being among the top cities for food, and you know how I love food. But the highlight of our trip was the few days we spent in Iguazu Falls. One of the most beautiful parts of the trip was getting to the falls. We flew there, and the captain skimmed over the tropical rainforests of Brazil on his way to a touchdown at the Iguazu Falls airport. That plane ride was simply spectacular.

Our hotel was in the national park, with beautiful veiws everywhere. Iguazu Falls border the countries of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. The falls were first discovered in 1541

by the Spanish Conquistador Alvar Nunez Cabez de Vaca. It has recently attracted botanists and biologists from around the world, who come to study the flora and fauna. For those of us who are not scientists, it offers beautiful vegetation, hiking trails and boat rides through the falls, all in a tropical climate. We met many university students in Iguazu Falls, there for a few weeks or months with a scientific expedition.

These falls are different than other famous falls, like Niagra or Victoria. Iguazu is somewhat U shaped. When you approach the falls by boat, which we did, you are almost surrounded by the falls at one point. Water is falling all around you at different heights and speeds. We took an inflatable boat into the falls, with the spray soaking us. The warm water from the falls cooled us on a tropical day, but left us drenched. We disembarked the little boat to find ourselves at the bottom of the falls, having to hike the whole way back. An Italian woman on our boat was in big trouble. She was dressed in a silk dress and high heeled shoes. Is that any way to go to a park? She ended up taking her shoes and stockings off, and hiking back barefoot. We all laughed.

Next time you plan a cruise or tour to South America, be sure and include Iguazu Falls on your itinerary. It is truly one of the wonders of the world, at least of what I've seen so far.