Big Water

I'm breaking my blogging fast with an especially tasty treat for the eyes. Emilia had the great fortune to be able to attend a conference last week in the city of Foz do Iguaçu, Paraná, located at the confluence of the Iguaçu and Paraná rivers, site of the triple frontier between Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay. From this picturesque spot, she brought back some stunning images of the Iguaçu Falls, considered by many to be one of the wonders of the natural world. Taken from the native Tupi language, y-guazú means, literally, "big water." Iguaçu (or Iguazu in Spanish) is made up of over 275 individual waterfalls, dropping approximately 270 feet in elevation (compared to Niagara's 165). The central section of the falls is a great horseshoe bend known as Garganta do Diabo (the Devil's Throat), where one can be surrounded on three sides by a volume of rushing water more than twice that of North America's most famous counterpart. The Falls of Iguaçu have occasionally been featured on the big screen, most memorably in the 1986 De Niro film, The Mission.

Also located in the city Foz do Iguaçu is the world's largest hydroelectric plant, Itaipu. Built in the late 1970s and early '80s, this single structure provides 93% of Paraguay's electric power and 20% of Brazil's. Unfortunately, its massive reservoir has buried forever what many considered a more impressive site than Iguaçu, the cataracts known as Sete Quedas (Seven Falls), where the world's seventh largest river (the Paraná) plunged through a series of breaks and canyons. During the unprecedented 2001 drought, parts of these historic falls were briefly resurrected as the Itaipu reservoir fell to record low levels, but today, even their highest point is more than 40 feet below the waterline.

Check the Flickr link for some fantastic views of "Big Water."