Foz do Iguaçu

Foz do Iguaçu lies in the border triangle of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. Elemental powers are round the rivers Rio Iguaçu and Rio Paraná enormously the unbelievable. Who wanted always to hear once the roaring of the biggest and most beautiful waterfalls of the world interminably is exactly right here.

 

The town:

She is into due to the confluence the Rio Iguaçú the Rio Paraná exactly in the border triangle Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, removes 639 kilometres from the capital Curitiba in the west of the federal state Paraná. Country connection between the two towns is the federation eating marked-out route BR 277, but most visitors come by air in the direct flight from Rio de Janeiro or São Paulo here. Entrance is the biggest tourist attractions of Brazil, the Cataratas do Iguaçú, the town to one, meant much to those world-famous waterfalls 28 kilometres southeast of the town at the border between Brazil and Argentina within the Parque Nacional do Iguaçú.




"Presidente Tancredo Neves"

The bridge connects Foz do Iguaçú with Puerto Iguazú in Argentina - she was opened of the presidents José Sarney (Brazil) and Raul Alfonsín (Argentina) on November 29th, 1985 (after almost 3 years construction time). The bridge got her name in honor of the Brazilian president from Minas Gerais which voted, at short notice already died without having taken up his office. The bridge has a length of 489 m, a breadth of 16.50 m and 220 m distance between the middle pillars - with the BR 469 in Brazil she connects the RN 12 on an Argentine side.


 

"Internacional da Amizade" (bridge of the friendship)

Ciudad del Estonian in Paraguay - she was opened by the presidents Castello Branco (Brazil) and Alfredo Stroessner (Paraguay) in 1965 (after 9 years construction time). So that the navigation would not be impaired during the high water period one has extensive - with a self-supporting arch between the two middle pillars, of 303 m (that one of till now biggest, self-supporting arch of the world) - breadth of 13.50 m, the height of the river bed measured is 78 m and 32 m over the normal water-level to do her length on altogether 552.40 m. The bridge is at the western corner of the town and the end of the BR 277 -- the street Ruta 01 connects her to Ascuncion (305 km).


Marco das Três Fronteiras

Where the limits of all three countries together, have decided on Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay already in the year 1903 to mark this authority from all three sides. So every country built an obelisk - everybody paints with the colours of his country. The Brazilian has the form of a pyramid and a view platform which offers a good panorama view in to the three countries. From here one also can the confluence the overlook Rio Iguaçú with the Rio Paraná. A memorial stone also is at the same place in honor of the Alvaro Nuñes Cabeza de Vaca who has discovered the Iguaçu waterfalls in the year 1542.
 


The national park of  Iguaçu

The waterfalls of Iguaçú are the biggest attraction for many Brazil visitors at all: Discovers you be boarded by the river of same name - the spanisch Alvaro Nuñes, in the year 1542, who has gone down in history as Cabeça de Vaca (cow head) has her. He mentioned the cases to Saltos de Santa Maria - this name lost itself, however, in the course of the history and one took on the name Iguaçú of the local Tupi-Guaraní Indians who sank her dead bodies in the "great water" as a sacred funeral place.

The Rio Iguaçú arises, on a relatively modest height of 1,300 metres and fliesst about a length of 1,320 km of east after the west the Rio Paraná not far from Curitiba in the coastal mountains Serra do Mar. He takes the water of several dozens of tributaries away and 15 km from his confluence he brings down in the midst of a 250,000 hectares jungle area with a great crash about a horseshoe-shaped one rock around from 2,700 metres of extension. The river shares smaller cases into 20 great and over 250 which transport for the rock climbing aces on an average approx. 1750 cubic metres per second to water volumes about. The Iguaçu cases are more highly than that one of the Niagara and more beautifully than both broader than the Victoria cases in your extension. Become neither words nor photos just - one must have seen and heard her for them.

The jungle area got round the cases, altogether 250,000 hectares most beautiful tropical rain forest, one of the biggest woods reserves of South America, as Parque Nacional de Iguaçú (185,000 hectares) on the Brazilian side and as Parque Nacional Iguazu (65,000 hectares) at the Argentine, put under conservation already 1939. The area of UNESCO was declared the Heritage of Mankind together with the Pantanal in 1986. The unique natural spectacle is admired by over 1.5 millions visitors every year from all the world.


The Iguaçu cases form a natural border between Brazil and Argentina. The greatest piece of the cases is allotted to Argentina, though - therefore one should have been on two sides to have seen the waterfalls also in hers completely. One gets a better general impression from the Brazilian side while one is approaching her more nearly on the Argentine side. The best time to look at the cases is from August until November. From May until July they are enormous, by her high water, one comes but for the same reason does not approach to her enough.

This one is the Brazilian side of the waterfalls as said in her overall picture more imposing: One has a view from here the foaming lower Rio Iguaçú and 800 metres here falling away to this one up spread waterfall front. Park all round is with 1850 square kilometres, opposite the Argentine with only 650 square kilometres, to be more precise the biggest is the Argentine in a better condition, however, the Brazilian. If you have courage, then you allow yourself a helicopter sightseeing flight over the cases: You expect overwhelming impressions during this 8 minute pleasure in the air.

The Argentine side of the waterfalls is known that one can not look at the cases only from the next proximity but go for a walk also between them here. The complete extension of the horseshoe-shaped waterfall front on an Argentine side is 1900 metres so that a waterfall front of 2700 metres altogether gives up on a Brazilian and Argentine side! There are three walks one himself in the Argentine park, of which this one on-economizing should to the Garganta del Diablo, the devil abyss, because of the dramatic effect until the end: one reaches a system of wood footbridges, into which 14 enormous cases water in 90 metres depth of down slings to a boiler. One stands thick over this precipice -- the end or look is hypnotizing: the thunder haze, an enorm play, soaking everything in the ear, gigantic rainbows in front of eyes.

Flora and Fauna

In principle, the flora in the national park of Iguaçú consists of two vegetation groups: the stationary tropical rain forest and the Araukarien woods. The fauna is of a representative character: more than 200 bird ways, falcons, hummingbirds, represent Jabiru storks types as rare as the Arara-Canindé or the Papagaio-de peito-roxo, the Gavião-pega macaco or the diving duck by parrots, toucans - under them. One has alone 257 species of butterfly identified, 18 species of fish, 12 species of amphibian, 41 species of snake, 8 species of lizard, 3 species of iguana and 45 kinds of mammal here. There are endangered types like the spotted jaguar (Panthera onca) and the puma (puma concolor), beasts of prey which use a relatively big day room and which have found the last refuge of this region in this park, under the mammals also so. In the year 2000 a completely new visit structure of the Parque Nacional do Iguaçú which guarantees the visitor more safety and quality of the service and intends simultaneously to motivate and to bring up the visitor for the environmental protection became effective.

Parque das Aves (bird park)

This is a bird park within the national park area which was founded in 1994. An experience of the special type, that one should leave out as a visitor in no case because one has put here on 16.5 hectares of area of inside native forest land about 900 copies from 180 different bird ways in a very sensitive way and primarily, much place. You put in her majority Brazilian ways but also species from Africa, Asia and Australia in day rooms which are major part speedy, separate by wire netting and established between the native vegetation which the visitor enters respectively and leaves again on an altogether 1,000 metres long path. Furthermore it enters a butterfly house, in this-umpteen kinds of butterfly the visitor a hummingbird house in which one can watch the little nectar teats, and a reptile house with snakes and caymans.

Itaipú dam

Length of about eight kilometres is with a height of 200 metre and one the Itaipú dam at the Rio grandee between Paraguay and Brazil, the biggest dam of the world. 30,000 workers were engaged in the construction of the mega-dam for seven years - from 1975 to 1982. He swallowed the stately sum of 18 billion dollars. Shooting up to six million litre of water by the sluices every second. 18 turbines convert these enormous water masses to energy, in almost 90,000 giga-watt-hours per annum. A town like Berlin could get by on that six years. Brazil and Paraguay divide the current up between themselves. The dam accumulates a water mass of 29 million cubic metres. If he would break, this would have disastrous consequences for the two South American countries. And a little mussel actually could be triggers of such a catastrophe. These mussels form gigantic colonies at the dam wall and eat there little microorganisms. This weakens the concrete, the dam wall could break sometime if nothing is done against this. Magic world knowledge explains how the biggest hydroelectric power station of the world works and what his operators do against the destructive mussel.