There are quite a few places on this Earth that we can go to when we
feel like we need to recharge batteries, aren't there? Let's see, you can
go…downtown, of course, or where everybody knows your name for a
stiff drink or two or seven (come to think of it, that wouldn't be
advisable if you wanna recharge…). In the case of us Miamians, we
simply can drive or walk to the beach.
But where's the fun – the adventure – in that, right?
If you are looking for som'in' special, then you should think about going
south.
Way south.
To South America.
The Iguaçu National Park – a World Heritage Site, as designated by the
UNESCO, and one of the New7Wonders of Nature named in 2011 – is
located near the Triple Frontier, the tri-border area along Brazil,
Argentina, and Paraguay, where the Iguazú and Paraná rivers converge,
which is a somewhat must-y stop to include in your schedule. The park's
waterfalls (275 drops in all) draw in thousands of visitors from all around
the world on the daily, and as you can see in the photos here, they are a
breathtaking surrounded-by-subtropical-rainforest natural wonder to
behold.
Something that, trust me, you will not be seeing at any like, Disney
theme park. Just to give you one (amazing) example, the semicircular
waterfall at the heart of the lush greenery is about 263 feet tall and
approximately 1.7 miles in diameter. And it. Is. Some drama. By which I
definitely mean it is a spectacular sight.
A little history
The falls were discovered in 1542 by the Spaniard Alvar Núñez Cabeza
de Vaca. The conquistador was on a journey between the Atlantic coast
and Asunción, the Paraguayan capital city, and, upon encountering
them, he promptly dubbed 'em the Saltos de Santa María.
ChasingWaterfalls
Senior writer Martin Haro took a late-summer trip to the "breathtaking"
Iguaçu National Park, which separates Brazil and Argentina. In this chronicle,
he details how and why you should follow suit
Words by Martin Haro
MIAMI LIVING 121
The view of the falls, from the Brazilian side.
