As the trail meanders through the lush Brazilian forest, you marvel at the rich collection of bird life.  The verdant vegetation.  The assortment of mysterious sounds.  Then you become aware of a low, throaty rumble, far in the distance.  With each step it becomes more prominent.  More powerful.  Through a break in the dark, jungle cover, you think that you spy something brilliantly white.  It seems out of context.  The wrong color in this sea of greens.  And it seems to be shimmering.  Then the trail takes a turn to the right, and suddenly you see.  And you are assaulted by an incredible roar!. 

 

For you have just gotten your first glimpse of the Cataratas de Yguazú.  The Yguazú Falls.  This is the biggest and most powerful set of waterfalls in South America with the Rio Yguazú supplying at least 5000 cubic meters (150,000 cubic feet) of water every second to take the 70 meter (220 foot) plunge.  And as incredible as the sound is, and as incredible as the flow of water is, and as incredible as the height is, the width of these falls is even more incredible.  Immediately above the falls, a series of islands broadens the river to a width of 4 kilometers (2.5 miles).  That creates a set of waterfalls 2500 meters (1.5 miles) wide!

 

The falls are located in the Tres Fronteras (Three Borders) region, where Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay meet.  The view of the falls from the Brazilian side is a grand overview.  And from the Argentine side it is a intimate, close up view.

 

The name of the falls comes from the Guaraní language.   ‘Y’ translates to water and ‘Guazú’ translated is big.  And it is definitely Big Water!  Guaraní Indian legend tells the story of two young lovers, Naipi and Tarobá, escaping from the jealous forest god, Mbói.  As they paddled their canoe down river in their effort to escape, Mbói caused the riverbed to collapse in front of them, producing these spectacular falls.  The legend says that Tarobá survived as a tree at the head of the falls while his lover, Naipi, was swept over the falls.   She survived as a rock at the foot of the falls.

 

Geologically, the falls are at the edge of a flow of volcanic basalt rock.  When the basalt flow formed about 100,000 years ago, it covered soft sedimentary rock.  Then the river began flowing, forming its bed in the hard basalt.  But when the river reached the sedimentary rock, it eroded this softer rock much more quickly, thus forming the falls.  Originally the waterfall was 23 kilometers (15 miles) downstream.  However, in the 100,000 years since the basalt flow, the river has eroded the rock and moved slowly upstream.

 

The most spectacular part of the falls is the Garganta del Diablo (Devil’s Throat).  This semi circular fall near the center of the river is an absolutely deafening and drenching experience.  A meandering catwalk takes you from the shore on the Argentine side out to the center of the river for an incredibly intimate view.  And as you hike out the catwalk, you are constantly reminded of the power of this river by the parts and pieces of the old catwalk system, destroyed and partially swept away by the Rio Yguazú!

 

Another highlight of a trip to Yguazú Falls is a motorized raft trip below the falls to see them from the river.  As you watch the boat operator putting on his complete rain gear, you realize you are in for a soaking.  From the raging foam on the river at the foot of the falls you look up through a 30 meter (100 foot) cloud of mist.  Even in the middle of such an incredible adrenaline rush, you feel a deep, peaceful awe at the power of nature spread before you. 

 

However, very nearby, on the Rio Paraná, the power of nature has been tamed.  At least for now!

 

Here, one can visit the largest hydroelectric dam in the world.  Itaipú Dam is a $25 billion project developed jointly by Paraguay and Brazil.   For now, it is an economic boom for Paraguay because Paraguay sells the majority of its electricity from the project to other countries.  But in many ways it has been an ecological disaster.  The dam created a 1350 square kilometer (500 square mile) reservoir, destroying the native habitat of the area.  And now it supplies the stagnant waters in which the anopheles mosquito breeds.  And brings malaria to this part of South America.  And somewhere, buried deep beneath this reservoir, is Sete Quedas.  Sete Quedas?  Never heard of it!  Well, it was an even larger, more powerful and more incredible waterfall than Yguazú Falls.  Gone.  Covered by the dam.