Argentina- Iguazu Falls

ARGENTINA: Las cataratas de Iguazú, or Iguazú Falls, is the largest set of waterfalls in the world. “Iguazú” means “big water” in the Guaraní language. Here is some basic information about them.

It is easy to forget that Argentina is about one third the size of the United States. That said, its climate goes to the extremes. When I was there, half of our group traveled south to see the penguins and snow (cold–Ushuaia), while my group went north to see the waterfalls (hot–Puerto Iguazú). Remember, this is the southern hemisphere, so “north” means closer to the equator.

Anyway, the day we visited Iguazú Falls, it was a balmy 85*F. First, we saw a perfect rainbow over the falls, and later, after a bit of hiking, my friends and I took a speedboat under the falls! We were completely drenched, and it was amazing!

I also saw beautiful butterflies and a baby coatí in almost every direction while there. The latter were running around like squirrels and clearly thought they owned the place. For more information on the coatí, visit THIS LINK.

In class, students made a model of the falls by stacking and painting rocks, and affixing them with a hot-glue-gun. Some year, we will figure out the mechanics of making it with real water, like THIS or THIS.

LINK: Coatí, Animals at Iguazu, Iguazu Falls Coloring Page