The Waterfalls of Iguazú

The waterfalls of Iguazú
Localization: The waterfalls of Iguazú are situated in the north or Argentina, in the cities of the Port of
Iguazú. It's one of the most beautiful zones of Argentina, and it limits with Brazil. Too we can to find a big
forest next to the waterfalls, two nationals parks: the “National Park Iguazú”, in the northeast of Argentina,
and the “National Park do Iguaçu”, in the south of Brazil. The waterfalls are in the province of Missions, to
17 km of the city, and 1350 km to the north of Buenos Aires, the capital.
Climate: In the waterfalls there is good climate all the year ( 15 ºC in winter and 30 ºC in summer). Also,
the park has a very rainy climate (a 80% of humidity), but it doesn't have wind, by the density of the forest.
With this information, we can to say that there is a tropical climate. In the waterfalls there is always foggy,
and when the sun shines, it appears a big rainbow.
Park: The National Park Iguazú, created in 1934, has around 67620 hectares, that were declared Natural
Patrimony of the Humanity in 1984 by their beauty and the great biological diversity of the forest.
River: The Iguazú river measures 1320 km, but only there is 23 km after of the waterfalls even its mouth in
the Paraná. The wide of the river is between the 500 and 1000 metres. In the National Park there is 1500m of
wide. In this zone the river goes to the south and next it distorts to the north, forming one “U”. There are the
marvellous waterfalls. The waterfalls have 80m high and there are between 160 and 260 jumps. Too there is
numerous islands before to arrive at the ravine.
Fauna and flora: In the park there is around 2000 species different from flora: palms, giant trees, bracken,
trepadoras plants... These plants give food to monkeys, toucans, deer, etc. In the park there are 450 species of
birds (toucans, magpies, parrots), 80 species of mammals (feline, monkeys), herons and aquatic birds, and
numerous insects (there are spectacular butterflies). In this park live a lot of protected species.
History: In 1542, when he was travelling by the Atlantic Ocean, Alvar Nuñez Head of Cow saw the
waterfalls of the Iguazú river, and he called “Iguazú” to the waterfalls by its meaning: “I”, water, and
“guazú”, great. In this zone live the guaranÃ−es. The guaranÃ−es were warriors and all the guaranÃ−es
obeyed to a commander-in-chief.
Legend: Many years ago, in the Iguazú river lived an enormous snake. Its name was Boi. The guaranÃ−es
had the custom to sacrifice a girl to the year, for to give the girl to the snake. A year, a young called Taroba
knew a woman called Naipi. Taroba loved Naipi, but she was chose to be sacrificed. For this reason, the day
before the sacrifice, Taroba and Naipi took a canoe and they escaped by the river. Boi was very furious, and it
doubled the river forming the waterfalls. As punishment, Boi transformed to Taroba in the trees of the forest,
and to Naipi, in the water jumps. Later it created the Ravine of the Devil so that the lovers can't to meet, but
when there is rainbow, they are united again.
Activities: The waterfalls are perfect for adventure sports: trekking, canoe, safaries, byking, rafting... If we
want to see the waterfalls, there are four different ways: the “Green Path”, the “Inferior Circuit”, the “Superior
Circuit” and the “Ravine of the Devil”.
Places to relax: Near of the waterfalls, there are many places to relax. If we don't want to spend a lot of
money, there are many cheap hotels and houses of field, but if we want true luxury, there are many hotels to
be.
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