During our stay in Foz it rained 3 days straight. My clothes began to rot. It was so wet water ran down the indoor hotel walls. A musty damp smell pervaded the entire city.
Thousands of tourists arrive in Foz every day to see Iguassu Falls. The falls are mind-boggling in scale and ferocity. For me, more impressive than Niagara. Surrounded by the sound of them and blown by the wind they create, they feel more like a bush-fire than a waterfall. We took a rubber-duck boat ride and faced the beast. The heaviest shower of my life. Being in there I was blown away by the strength, the raw and untamed power that we cannot control or tame. Water and gravity. Sitting in the downpour, you can't see anything. It stings your face and it comes in waves, like smoke, straining the lungs.
Iguassu has Niagara beat in two key waterfall categories:
• Iguassu is 82 metres high, Niagara is 51.
• Iguassu is 2700 metres wide, Niagara is 1200.
However, the Iguassu river is more susceptible to variable water volume. In this regard we got lucky. With all the rain during our visit the river was on the verge of flooding.
The falls lie on the border of Brazil and Argentina. The parks around Iguassu offer a direct and up close experience of the falls. There are elaborate walkways on both the Argentinean side and the Brazilian side. I recommend spending a day in each country. The Argentinean side offers an up close view of several segments of the falls as well as the fantastic walkway to the top of Devil's Throat (the most impressive section). From the Brazilian side you get an overview of the falls and you can better take in the sheer size and scale of the natural wonder.
A word of warning, along the tracks that weave around the falls, Coatis (vermin of Foz!) hunt in packs. They squeak and shriek and raid rubbish bins and tables. They rip plastic bags out of unassuming tourists' hands.
The nightwatchman at our hotel in Foz was an uncanny Basil Fawlty look alike. He stood upright and tall. A chubby-faced Brazilian John Cleese. He spoke rapid English. There were too many words, too much to say, no time for full-stops.
'You-have-very-good-time-very-good-time-here-ohplease-please-let-me-explain-the-tours-for-you...'
He meant well. He tried his best to look after us. And he tried hard to hide the fact that his hotel - this was blatantly obvious - could wash away in the rain at any minute. Forget about Foz du Iguassu, there was a waterfall in the hotel hallway. An incessant annoying flow, down the walls, down the corridor, out into the street and then down the drain to march with all the other water in the grand Parana river - the lifeblood of South America.
This lifeblood, this raging torrent of water, generates energy. The Brazilian and Paraguayan governments have created one of the largest hydro electric stations in the world: the Itaipu Dam. In 2013 Itaipu generated 75% of the electricity consumed by Paraguay and 17% of that consumed by Brazil. The dam took around ten years to construct - between 1972 and 1982.
Fun Facts: The dam is one of the most expensive objects ever built and it contains enough iron to make 380 Eiffel towers.
But a tragedy surrounds Itaipu. The dam's reservoir submerged the world's largest waterfall by volume, Guaira Falls. Some of those who were lucky enough to see the falls say they were more impressive than their brother down the road. Guaira had more than four times the water flow of Iguassu, 12 times the flow of Victoria falls. They say the clamour of the falls could be heard up to 32km away.
In 1982, before the reservoir filled, tourists flocked to seek one last glimpse of Guaira. 80 people died when an overcrowded bridge overlooking the falls collapsed. Another tragedy... And the march of industry rolls on and a little more of this earth is swallowed up by our unquenchable thirst for energy.
Thousands of tourists arrive in Foz every day to see Iguassu Falls. The falls are mind-boggling in scale and ferocity. For me, more impressive than Niagara. Surrounded by the sound of them and blown by the wind they create, they feel more like a bush-fire than a waterfall. We took a rubber-duck boat ride and faced the beast. The heaviest shower of my life. Being in there I was blown away by the strength, the raw and untamed power that we cannot control or tame. Water and gravity. Sitting in the downpour, you can't see anything. It stings your face and it comes in waves, like smoke, straining the lungs.
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| Up close and personal - Argentinian side |
• Iguassu is 82 metres high, Niagara is 51.
• Iguassu is 2700 metres wide, Niagara is 1200.
However, the Iguassu river is more susceptible to variable water volume. In this regard we got lucky. With all the rain during our visit the river was on the verge of flooding.
The falls lie on the border of Brazil and Argentina. The parks around Iguassu offer a direct and up close experience of the falls. There are elaborate walkways on both the Argentinean side and the Brazilian side. I recommend spending a day in each country. The Argentinean side offers an up close view of several segments of the falls as well as the fantastic walkway to the top of Devil's Throat (the most impressive section). From the Brazilian side you get an overview of the falls and you can better take in the sheer size and scale of the natural wonder.
 |
| Pictures don't do it justice. The overview - Brazilian side |
 |
| Don't let his looks deceive you. This little bugger will steal your lunch! |
'You-have-very-good-time-very-good-time-here-ohplease-please-let-me-explain-the-tours-for-you...'
He meant well. He tried his best to look after us. And he tried hard to hide the fact that his hotel - this was blatantly obvious - could wash away in the rain at any minute. Forget about Foz du Iguassu, there was a waterfall in the hotel hallway. An incessant annoying flow, down the walls, down the corridor, out into the street and then down the drain to march with all the other water in the grand Parana river - the lifeblood of South America.
This lifeblood, this raging torrent of water, generates energy. The Brazilian and Paraguayan governments have created one of the largest hydro electric stations in the world: the Itaipu Dam. In 2013 Itaipu generated 75% of the electricity consumed by Paraguay and 17% of that consumed by Brazil. The dam took around ten years to construct - between 1972 and 1982.
Fun Facts: The dam is one of the most expensive objects ever built and it contains enough iron to make 380 Eiffel towers.
 |
| Itaipu Dam shrouded in early morning fog |
In 1982, before the reservoir filled, tourists flocked to seek one last glimpse of Guaira. 80 people died when an overcrowded bridge overlooking the falls collapsed. Another tragedy... And the march of industry rolls on and a little more of this earth is swallowed up by our unquenchable thirst for energy.
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