Cataratas de
Yguazu
Foz do Iguazu, Brazil 1998
James Patton
Near the border of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina, the Yguazu falls ("big
water" in Guaraní) have the most expansive set of falls in
the world. The face of the falls range for miles as the river falls in
an angular swath across its breadth. With an island in the middle, multiple
falls appear out of the mist in the middle of the valley. Hundreds of
individual falls can be counted, including the massive and thunderous
Garganta del Diablo ("Throat of the Devil"). This was the site
of the opening scene of the movie The Mission, which recounts the trade
of the Guaraní by Spanish and Portuguese slave raiders around these
falls in the 18th century, and the failed effort of the Jesuits to save
them.
© 2002 The
Fletcher School, Tufts University