Iguazú

Victoria and Niagara may be more famous, but don’t think that just because you haven’t heard as much about Iguazu Falls that they are any less spectacular. A UNESCO World Heritage site, Iguazu Falls is a great natural wonder and sits near the borders of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. Visitors can access the falls from one of three near-by cities: Foz de Iguaçu in Brazil, a large, bustling place; Puerto Iguazu in Argentina, which is small and pretty; or the hectic and exciting town of Ciudad del Este in Paraguay.

The local people named the Falls ‘big water’ and told the tale of how they came to be. A God, it seems, fell in love with a beautiful young woman, but she loved another man. The couple fled, angering the god, who, in his rage, ripped the land in two, creating the waterfall and separating the unlucky couple for eternity. The Argentine’s took a different approach and named their section of the falls after the Spanish Conquistador, Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, who was the first European to lay eyes on Iguazu in 1541.