Iguazu Falls in Iguazu National Park, Argentina
Iguazú Falls or Iguaçu Falls are waterfalls of the Iguazu River on the border of the Argentine province of Misiones and the Brazilian state of Paraná.
Together, they make up the largest waterfall in the world.
The falls divide the river into the upper and lower Iguazu.
The Iguazu River rises near the heart of the city of Curitiba.
For most of its course, the river flows through Brazil; however, most of the falls are on the Argentine side.
Below its confluence with the San Antonio River, the Iguazu River forms the border between Argentina and Brazil.
The name "Iguazú" comes from the Guarani or Tupi words "y" [?], meaning "water", and "ûasú "[wa'su], meaning "big".
Legend has it that a deity planned to marry a beautiful woman named Naipí, who fled with her mortal lover Tarobá in a canoe.
In a rage, the deity sliced the river, creating the waterfalls and condemning the lovers to an eternal fall.
The first European to record the existence of the falls was the Spanish Conquistador Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca in 1541.
The Iguazu National Park, shared between Brazil and Argentina, is one of the main attraction, not only touristically, but also ecological and natural.
Millions of people enjoy this impressive natural wonder, supported by UNESCO.
But before this place was what we know nowadays, it had a curious story.
The origin of the name Iguazu comes from the Mbyá-Guaraní indigenous people, who in the translation into our Spanish, would remain as “Agua Grande” (big water).
The reason for the name is self-explanatory.
The first person who found Iguazu Falls was a Spanish explorer named Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca, who during a journey from what we now know as Asunción (Paraguay) would encounter the falls, which he would call “Saltos del Santa Mary”.
Later, the first Jesuit missions arrived (today its ruins are an interesting tourist attraction), which made up more than 30 towns distributed in southern Paraguay, Brazil, and the entire province of Misiones.
After this, by 1768, the Jesuits would be expelled by the Crown of Spain, and the place would be forgotten.
Some time later, Gregorio Lezama, an Argentine businessman and politician, would sell the land because he considered it of low value.
In the auction it appeared as “a block of jungle that borders several waterfalls”.
These lands would be acquired by Domingo Ayarragaray in 1907, who would discover the tourist potential of the place, setting up the first hotel and setting up some roads for people to get to know the falls.
It is interesting to mention that, in 1901, the first tourist excursion to the area arrived, but without positive results since it was difficult to cross the place.
One of the participants in this group was Victoria Aguirre, who thanks to their donation together with Gibaja and Nuñez, allowed them to build the first highway from Puerto Iguazu (Misiones, Argentina) to Iguazu Falls.
In 1984, UNESCO declared the Iguazu National Park as “World Heritage”.
In 2011, the New Seven Wonders Foundation declared it “New Wonder of the World”.
And finally, in 2013, UNESCO again declared the Iguazu National Park as “Exceptional Universal Value”, due to the cultural and natural importance of this area.
Location of Iguazu Falls
Iguazu Falls are in the continent of South America, and as we mentioned, it is shared by two countries: Argentina and Brazil.
Although Paraguay is nearby, it only shares the river that Iguazu Falls feeds, but it is quite far from the falls and cannot even be seen from there.
The city in Argentina where the Iguazu Falls are located is called Puerto Iguazu, and in Brazil it is called Foz de Iguazu.
Both cities are very close to each other: only 16km from center to center.
Iguazu Falls on the Argentine side are located 18km from Puerto Iguazu and 29km from the center of Foz de Iguazu.
Iguazu Falls on the Brazilian side are 27km from Puerto Iguazu, and 29km from downtown Foz de Iguazu
Both cities are very close to each national park, that is why all the excursions that we offer on both sides of the falls can pick up from any hotel in both destinations (except in hotels far from the center such as Recanto Cataratas).
Iguazu Falls in Argentina
Iguazu Falls on the Argentine side has the largest tourist portion of the national park, as it offers several trails and roads to get to know the place.
However, in size it is still much smaller than the Brazilian side, since there are 67,720 hectares here (while in Brazil there are 185,262 hectares).
Iguazu Falls in Brazil
Iguazu Falls on the Brazilian side, as a national park, was created in 1939, and unlike on the Argentine side, this national park has approximately 180,000 hectares (three times more than the Argentine one).
Combined with the Argentine side, the Parque Nacional do Iguazu completes the visit with a beautiful panoramic view of the Iguazu Falls.
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