Rainbows and Waterfalls- Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, September 2004 and July 2008

Devil's Throat

On my first trip to South America I arrived into Lima airport without having looked at a map, let alone a Lonely Planet.  I knew I wanted to see Machu Picchu and I also knew the Amazon rainforest was too far away.  Other than those two thoughts I hadn’t given any attention to what I was going to do, so when someone suggested in Rio that there were some waterfalls on the border with Argentina I was only too happy to book myself a ticket and tag along.  Bus travel in Brazil is on an epic scale, the United Kingdom would fit into Brazil a whopping 35 times and little to my knowledge the border was 24 hours away.  These waterfalls better be worth it I thought as I curled up in my seat…36 hours later on the way back to Rio my mind was focussed on one thing- I’m coming back and next time I’ll be prepared!

The sky was only just brightening as I walked into the national park, dark clouds lay ominously on the horizon and a light breeze caused me to shiver involuntarily.  The damp bark chippings on the path bounced underfoot soaking up the sound from our footsteps and the murmurs from conversation escaped into the surrounding forest.  As we walked a light hum could be heard, my first thought was machinery; a pump maybe.  The purr increased to a deep growl, thunder, I searched overhead for the clouds that would surely be swirling towards us promising a storm.  To my surprise the clouds were dissipating and rays of pale sunshine breaking through.  Soon the trees thinned and eventually gave way to bubbling expanses of angry grey water.  Traversing rickety iron gangplanks I continued towards the noise unsure what I would find, now completely isolated from terra firma.  Haze rose in a column in the distance, a high pitched chirping of a thousand swallows now accompanied the roaring current; the cause of this immense commotion was abruptly revealed.  

The walkway ended and I found myself staring into a watery abyss.  A great chasm opened its jaws below my feet and gallons of water cascaded over the edge erupting in furious foam on the jagged rocks littering the mouth of the river beneath.  The spray from the torrent soaked through my clothing while each droplet ignited with the now golden beams to cast dancing prisms of colour onto my skin.  The birds swooped millimetres above our heads before diving downwards to cling to the slippery, damp walls of the gorge.  Supposedly waterfalls are scientifically proven to make you happy.  As the ions within the water are crushed against each other the negative charges are stripped away releasing their positive counterparts into the atmosphere.  How could this scene fail to invigorate?  

From the Devil’s Throat I descended into the yawning canyon and spent the day meandering along shady banks lined with leafy foliage, the waterfalls stretched for miles, spectacular from every angle.  I had no time to enjoy the views from the Argentinian side but was more than satisfied with my lot, after all there’s always next time.