Garganta del Diablo

Iguazu Falls, Iguassu Falls or Iguacu Falls are waterfalls of the Iguazu River on the border of the Argentine province of Misiones and the Brazilian... more

by Inge Johnsson

Title

Garganta del Diablo

Artist

Inge Johnsson

Medium

Photograph - Digital Capture, Watermark Not On Actual Print

Description

Iguazu Falls, Iguassu Falls or Iguacu Falls are waterfalls of the Iguazu River on the border of the Argentine province of Misiones and the Brazilian state of Parana. The falls divide the river into the upper and lower Iguazu. The Iguazu River rises near the city of Curitiba. The river flows through Brazil for most of its course, although most of the falls are on the Argentine side. Below its confluence with the San Antonio River, the Iguazu River forms the boundary between Argentina and Brazil.
The name "Iguazu" comes from the Guarani or Tupi words "y", meaning "water", and "uasu ", meaning "big". Legend has it that a god planned to marry a beautiful woman named Naipi, who fled with her mortal lover Taroba in a canoe. In rage, the god sliced the river, creating the waterfalls and condemning the lovers to an eternal fall. The first European to find the falls was the Spanish conquistador Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca in 1541. About half of the river's flow falls into a long and narrow chasm called the Devil's Throat (Garganta del Diablo in Spanish or Garganta do Diabo in Portuguese). The Devil's Throat is U-shaped, 82 metres high, 150 m wide, and 700 m long. Placenames have been given also to many other smaller falls, such as San Martin Falls, Bossetti Falls and many others.

Uploaded

April 12th, 2014