Three Falls To See

I love waterfalls.  Doesn’t everyone?  Rating the three grand falls we’ve seen, I have to say Iguazu is the most impressive.

Super powerful.  Of course it might depend on the season.  In a heavy rain year, flooding of the lower area can cause the falls to be less impressive.

Walkways on both the Brazil side and the Argentina side get one real close to the action, from every angle.This is how we experienced it in March of 2018.  From the Brazil side: up close and personal at the top, and where we got wet.

ends with this view.

Most surprising?  Oodles and oodles of gentle butterflies in the surrounding area––a peaceful contrast to the force of the falls. This is the same butterfly, open and closed.

 

Puddles provided drink to the lovelies, and clouds of yellow butterflies took to the air as our jeep drove down a dirt road––what a joyful feeling.

Victoria Falls has to be included as a beautiful “must-see.”

The Zambezi River forms a curtain of water falling into a narrow gorge.  We visited in the dry season (September, 2013), and did not experience the large quantities of water from what natives call Mosi-oa-Tunya.

A nice long path lines the rim on the Zimbabwe side, 

In the dry season, a natural rock lip allows crazy people to swim in “Devil’s Pool” on the Zambia side.

Our guide told us it is illegal but apparently there are licensed outfitters that will lead you there.  Still crazy, in my book.

Our own Niagara Falls rates right up there with the best.  In July of this year we had a chance to see the Canadian side of the falls with its beautiful “Coke-bottle green” water.

The adjacent park, the parking areas, and the visitors center are all well-planned.

 

If you go, avoid the summertime crowds and all the commercialization––drive out a bit to get a good meal, and take a road trip through the uncrowded and scenic rural areas of the Niagara Peninsula.  We were lucky to have a tour of the area by relatives who live near Toronto, one of whom grew up on a vegetable farm near St Catharines.  It felt peaceful.

I grew up not too far from Lake Erie, but I had never heard of the Welland Canal with its seven locks, the shipping route that connects Lakes Ontario and Erie.  You can take a tour.

 

Iguassu travel date:  March 2018.   Tour: OAT’s  The Wilderness Beyond: Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego & the Chilean Fjords,  Pre-trip to Iguassu Falls

 

Victoria Falls travel date:  September 2013.  Tour: OAT’s Ultimate Africa: Botswana, Zimbabwe, & Zambia Safari

Niagara Falls travel date:  July 2018.  Road trip from Toronto suburbs.