Iguazu Falls - World's most spectacular waterfalls!

Below is a panoramic view of the waterfalls as you walk along a path on the Brazilian side - (we linked together 4 pictures) 

 
In the middle of the shoe horn is the "garganta del diablo" (in English, the devil's throat) on a normal day. This picture was taken from a postcard. Note the nice viewing platform they built for getting a great panoramic view of the falls as they wrap around you. We had no such opportunity thanks to El Nino.
 
See ...... this is what the effects of El Nino look like. This is the exact same viewing platform as above. It was the third highest water period in history at Iguazu. Much of northern Argentina was also underwater. The majority of the paths - just like this one - along the Iguazu trails were shut down since water was flowing over them. 
 
This picture shows how majestic the views were -- absolutley captivating. We became caught up in its fantastic splendor - which we called the Iguazu Syndrome. This syndrome occurs when you shoot hundreds of pictures and video of essentially the same thing without realizing there is no way that film could capture the essence of the falls. You have to be there to feel the thundering pounding of the water as it falls hundreds of feet to a swirling pool of ethereal mist. You have to hear the roaring of the rushing water as it crashes against the rocks and trees. You have to watch the butterflies float effortlessly in the moist balmy air and hold them in your hands to really get in touch with the beautiful natural surrounding. .
 
 

But let's rewind to how we got to Iguazu. We drove from Florianopolis - mistake number one. Without a map - big mistake number two. It took almost two days through some rough hilly country in the rain. We overnighted in some very back country town. We drove back in one day - fourteen hours that ended late at night with Tiffany nausiously mumbling, "get me out of this car." It was some of the windiest roads in all of Brazil


The round trip was over 2500 kilometers.
 

 
On the way we passed Blumenau - sounds German, heh? Just look at that building - something straight out of Bavaria. This is the capital of the state of Santa Catarina which has a very large German population. The rain makes it look even more authentic.
 
 
We stayed in the Iguazu Falls Hotel - a luxury hotel. I had to con our way in past a guard after park closing hours since the hotel is in Iguazu national park. I used the old trick of, "reservation?, oh yes officer of course I have a reservation.... my secretary made them last week.... it seems you've lost them... well, do you have a room? yes, good - HOW MUCH!...." 

check it out on wwww.tropicalhotels.com.br

 
 
 
Well they must have liked us. Not only did we get a great discount they gave us a honeymoon suite. They must have know we were on our way to the alter later this year. It was a great place and within view of the falls. 

One fun fact was that we saw a Japanese starlet with a camera crew filming a TV special of her on vacation here.

 
See we weren't exagerating- well not too much :-) 

This isn't quite the view out our window but it is within a minute walk from the hotel's front doors. 

The second day was sunny and we reshot many of the first days photos. It heard that it rained again thereafter for weeks. It's as if we got a one day sunshine window to take our pictures - lucky us.

 
We even found some inspiration in this tucked away plaque along the viewing path. Interesting thing is that we saw a very similar plaque at Victoria Falls, another majestic waterfall located in Africa, several months later.

 
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