"Some Very, Very Big Waterfalls"

This picture is kind of how I always figured heaven would look like. You're looking at the view facing the falls of Iguazu, just in front of the headliner waterfall El Garganta del Diablo-- The Throat of the Devil. It's a semicircular drop with water pouring down into white mist oblivion covered by rainbows.

Most waterfalls I've seen have been streams running off a ledge, maybe the occasional river running off a cliff. Iguazu looks like a sea running off a twisting, curving, canyon wall. Waterfall follows waterfall after waterfall all around you, surrounded by butterflies and rainbows. I'm not making this up. You half expect a unicorn to wander out of the subtropical rainforest instead of the spiders, coatil, and occasional monkey.

I was there on a very hot, very pretty day. At the hottest part of the day, I hopped onto a boat and decided to take a closer look. If I hadn't been warned a few minutes beforehand, I wouldn't have realized how just close a look it would be.

We pulled away from the dock, took pictures, video cameras rolling on all sides. Then we took a peek up to el Garganta, then back around to the other side. This is when I put my camera away in the provided waterproof sack. Also, after thinking a sec, my shoes and socks. We found one of the bigger waterfalls and started getting closer. And closer. Spray started flying everywhere. We didn't stop. White mist reared up twenty feet dead ahead. We didn't stop. We went straight into the waterfall.

Everything was white. Everything was very very loud. And everything was very, very, very wet. It was halfway between a shower and swimming in midair. On that 90+ degree day, that was exactly what I wanted.

The story for this post really is in the pictures. So, a shorter entry that normal this time, but that's because where I'm going next is my last stop in South America, and if lives up to its reputation, it's going to be the ultimate sendoff:

Carnival in Rio de Janeiro.

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Check out this entry's Photos.