One of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World

Today's lengthy journey took us to one of the 7 natural wonders of the world. It was quite an extensive trip but well worth it. We left the ship in Buenas Aires at 6:30AM and took 4 buses and a plane one-way to arrive at the National Iguazu Park.

Iguazu Falls, located on the border of Argentina and Brazil, is a breathtaking natural wonder. It is one of the most extensive waterfall systems in the world, with more than 275 separate cascades, spread over approximately 1 and a half miles, which make it the largest broken waterfall in the world. The falls are two times taller than Niagara Falls and technically wider than Victoria Falls. The name "Iguazu" is derived from a Guaraní word meaning "great water."

The national park has two trails that are on the Argentinian side of the falls, an upper and a lower, as can be seen on this map:

We hiked both, first the upper followed by the lower. Depending on the time of the year, the rate of water flow can be as much as 3,434,236 gallons per second. In October 2023, the falls recorded the highest flow in years, with over 24 million liters of water per second. The challenge of the day was to try and determine which of our 100 photos I should put on the blog. Here's but a few:

We were in the heart of the jungle and the temperatures ranged upward of 88 degrees with a percent humidity even higher, so for we "dry-air, high mountain dessert dwellers" today was quite the challenge. We were dripping wet by the end of our 7.5-mile hike but couldn't get over the incredible day at Iguazu. The still photos don't do it justice, so for a truly unbelievable glimpse of this amazing wonder - just click here:
https://youtu.be/MtCBSx7TX_M?si=hvSHa-U0nRbj289H

Not only did we see the unfathomable spectacle of mammoth amounts of plunging water, but we also caught sight of the wildlife in the jungle, including:

• The South American coati (a member of the racoon family} - females nursing their young and one searching in the ground for its next meal;
• A Caiman - closely related to an alligator (sunbathing on a rock behind the branches);
• A Monkey, an Iguana, A catfish; and
• A lot of birds and butterflies!

Everything typically found in this area except the Jaguar ... thank heavens!

Although the day was exhausting .. it was well worth it, as I'm sure you'd agree!