Iguazu Falls

The video below is from BBC = British Broadcasting Corp. and it is awesome

VIDEO BY LOUISE, she went on trip with us

We traveled to Iguazu Falls staying in the Elegant Belmond Hotel Das Cataratas. Please see tab at left for more detail about the hotel as it is a wonder of the world as well.

It is truly a great hotel with all the fine amenities

Iguazu Falls: is one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature. The title was achieved on November 11, 2011, through an international competition sponsored by the New Seven Wonders Foundation. The magnitude of the 275 waterfalls spread throughout the world and gave the title to the attraction, located in the Iguaçu River, a border between Brazil and Argentina.

The semicircular waterfall at the heart of this site is some 80 m high and 2,700 m in diameter and is situated on a basaltic line spanning the border between Argentina and Brazil. Made up of many cascades producing vast sprays of water, it is one of the most spectacular waterfalls in the world.

The Iguazu Falls stretch in width for 2.7 kilometres (or 1.7 miles). Their height varies between 60 metres (200 feet) and 82 metres (or 269 feet). This makes the Iguazu Falls taller than Niagara Falls and twice as wide.

It is among the world’s visually and acoustically most stunning natural sites for its massive waterfalls.

A large proportion of the water is thrust down Devil’s Throat, a long chasm that is 82 metres high, 150 metres wide and 700 metres long. This chasm has a distinguishing U-shape. Interestingly, there are several islands within the river and the falls.

Special walkways have been built around the Iguazu Falls to allow visitors to get close up to this wonder of their natural beauty and power. A long pathway along the canyon (on the Brazilian side of the falls) is complemented by helicopter flips over the water to allow a completely uninterrupted, unlimited experience of the splendour of Iguazu. Busses of visitors arrive frequently, and travellers are encouraged to arrange such tours well in advance to secure their trip..  If you stay at the Belmond you are in the park when others are forced out .  One day we went to the Argentina side and walked to and over the falls on gang ways

It was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1984. Across a width of almost three kilometres (1.6 miles) the Iguazú or Iguaçu River, drops vertically some 80 meters in a series of cataracts.

Wildlife is ample in the natural rain forest of Iguazu Falls. It’s located on the border of Argentina and Brazil. Animal, plant life and vegetation are abundant at Iguazu Falls. More than 2,000 species of plants and animals call this lush rain forest home. Below is Louise our friend and she is standing in front to a photo.  WE were warned not to go out at night from the Blemond hotel as there were reports of leopards about. Cool photo below

We saw plenty of birds and some wildlife here and here are a few photos of them.  Plus we had a warning from the hotel not to go out at night because of a Jaguar sighting the warning below.  The surrounding subtropical rainforest has over 2,000 species of vascular plants and is home to the typical wildlife of the region: tapirs, giant anteaters, howler monkeys, ocelots, jaguars and caymans.

 

We saw tons of birds and some other animals . The animal below attacked a guests food on the table really cool, I loved them


The Turtle below I found mountain biking and I took it deeper into the wilderness

 

The river, aptly named after the indigenous term for “great water” forms a large bend in the shape of a horseshoe in the heart of the two parks and constitutes the international border between Argentina and Brazil before it flows into the mighty Parana River less than 25 kilometres downriver from the park.

We went river boating up to the falls

We river rafting

I went rappelling

We mountain biked

Please see each tab on left for more detailThis forest biome historically covering large parts of the Brazilian coast and extending into Northern Argentina and Uruguay, as well as Eastern Paraguay, is known for its extreme habitat and species diversity, as well as its high degree of endemism. Around 2000 plant species, including some 80 tree species have been suggested to occur in the property along with around 400 bird species, including the elusive Harpy Eagle. The parks are also home to some several wild cat species and rare species such as the broad-snouted Caiman.

The hiking trail and start of biking trail as well below

While there I rented a helicopter and flew and drove over the falls

and the views were awesome below

We visited the falls and we hiked along the trail that follows the river below

and walked out to the falls from Argentina below

 

 

 

The place is filled with activities so I would highly recommend this place

See tabs on left for more detail