When approaching the falls „Garganta del Diablo“, one feels with every meter more and more with which power the waterfall thunders over many meters into the depth. Already from some distance we get an impression of what would still expect us at the Iguaçu waterfalls. At the Iguaçu waterfalls one has the possibility to feel the power of the waterfalls very close. Garganta del Diablo (or in Portuguese: Garganta do Diabo) means Devil’s Throat. The name is well chosen.
Garganta del Diablo is the undisputed jewel and one of the main attractions of Iguazu Falls. The Devil’s Gulch is an imposing series of waterfalls up to 80 meters high, which, together with the incessant mist and the rainbow created by the fall, offer a true spectacle.
Access is through the ecological jungle train that takes visitors through Iguazu National Park to the station “Garganta del Diablo” (Devil’s Mouth), from where a footpath of about 2 km leads across the Arroyo Cataratas to a few meters in front of the horseshoe-shaped structure of the impressive waterfalls, from where you can best enjoy the attractions.
For me, it is a very impressive day. Next to the waterfalls one feels somehow very small. At Garganta del Diablo, I wondered what the power of the falls feels like in October when the flow is at its greatest at about 2.5 m3/s. I visit the Iguaçu Falls in June. This is a time of year when the flow is almost at its lowest.
Unlike perhaps other national parks in Brazil or Argentina, one should not expect so many different species of birds at Iguaçu Falls. This has to do with the fact that you usually walk the waterfall path to Garganta del Diablo at the busiest times. In addition, it is always better to start as early as possible to observe birds. But the national park opens only at 9 o’clock.
Nevertheless, despite the tourist hype, I saw a few bird species in the well-developed areas of Iguaçu National Park, such as the Plush-crested Jay (Cyanocorax chrysops), the Toco Toucan (Ramphastos toco) and the Chestnut-eared Aracari (Pteroglossus castanotis), which is the beautiful bird of the blog.
The Chestnut-eared Aracari belongs to the toucan family (Ramphastidae). Although the bird has a wide distribution area, this beautiful, large bird is not common.
I am always happy to meet birds that I have seen somewhere before like the Green-headed Tanager (Tangara seledon). I had already observed the Green-headed Tanager in the Itatiaia National Park.
In the same tree I observe another tanager – a Sayaca Tanager (Thraupis sayaca). I met a Sayaca Tanager already in Ubatuba.
At the bus stop where we waited for the bus to take us back to the entrance area, we saw another Southern Lapwing (Vanellus chilensis). Southern Lapwing I met among other things already frequently in Argentina.
If you walk through the Iguaçu National Park, you will surely notice the large number of butterflies. You can only catch a very small “glimpse” of the world of butterflies in Iguaçu National Park. But walking through the National Park, the sheer number, the bright colors, the variety of shapes and movements of the butterflies will take your breath away. You can really find them everywhere. On the railing, in the grass, on a leg or a hand, but also on your backpack or on a bag.
Iguazú National Park is located near the city of Puerto Iguazú on the Brazilian border in the northwesternmost tip of Argentina. The Iguazú River, whose name means “Great Water” in Guaraní, flows into the Rio Paraná. For tourists from Brazil, Foz do Iguaçu is the starting point to Iguaçu National Park. Foz do Iguaçu is fairly easy to reach by bus from São Paulo. The route goes via Barra Funda to Foz do Iguaçu. The distances are great, of course. So I left São Paulo in the evening and arrived in Foz do Iguaçu the next morning. The trip took about 18 hours. If you prefer to fly, you can also fly into the airport near Foz do Iguaçu (Foz do Iguaçu/Cataratas International Airport). This is anyway very close to the Iguaçu National Park.
To cope with the growing demand for top shots of the rarer species of the Palearctic Bird-Lens is keen to enrich the range of pictures of birds you can find in the western palearctic and beyond. Trips to remote places like this one to capture images not only of rare birds of western palearctic were very successful. The nice image of the blog is only a first impression, what you will find in the gallery in the “Picture Shop” very soon. Just give bird-lens.com a message, if bird-lens.com could serve you with an image needed before the new pictures are online.