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Bossetti Falls |
The Iguazu Falls – Should I jump? – Panormama and the election. (Map this!)
Throughout this trip, we had been looking forward to visiting Iguazu falls on the Argentina-Brazil border. And not only did they not disappoint, they exceeded our expectations. The Iguazu falls are formed by the immense Parana river thundering over the earth’s surface in the shape of 275 waterfalls. It envelops the San Martin island, flowing over it, around it, through it. It creates the poetically named “Garganta del Diablo” or “Devil’s Throat”, such a churning maelstrom of water, vapor and mist that it sometimes obscures itself. It forms waterfalls of every shape and size, from thin streams intertwining like lace to a wide deluge forming an orangish velvet curtain.
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Iguazu Falls |
For a higher resolution video click here
Everyone likes to visit waterfalls. And both Argentina and Brazil have created incredible walkways to explore the Iguazu falls, from panoramic viewpoints to walkways going close enough to the falls to get totally drenched. What is it of thundering nature that inspires such awe, that keeps you hypnotized? As we stood over one of the numerous walkways over the Devil’s throat, I couldn’t help feeling – wouldn’t it be exhilarating to jump in? (One of the Park Ranger’s said that no one has yet attempted to go over the Iguazu falls in a barrel).
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Panorama of the Iguazu falls as seen from the Brazilian side. Click here for full screen |
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Panorama of the Garganta del Diablo or Devil’s Throat. Click here for full screen |
Use arrow keys to navigate panorama. Use +/- keys to zoom.
In this case, pictures are definitely worth a thousand or more words. And so we decided to experiment with panoramic images, a new hobby suggested by good friend Jan Botoroff. We spent many exhilarating hours experimenting with the panoramic images, while watching the US election drama unfold. And I must say, I am extremely satisfied by the results of both!
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Evening |
Rock |
Garganta |
Butterfly |
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Bossetti Falls |
Caterpillar |
Sign |
Brazil |
Very impressive!
Absolutely stunning!
As to Mr Obama’s victory: congratulations to you! I hope your new inspiring and charismatic president manages to live up to the very high expectations everybody seems to have of his presidency.
Thanks Fred and Abeliine.
Abeline, for the first time on this trip I do not feel apologetic while traveling as an American.
The pictures of Iguazu falls are amazing. These falls make Niagara falls look tiny.
What is next on your agenda?
Aai
Hello Aai,
We are traveling towards the Pantanal, a swamp known for its rich bird life. Luckily we can actually drive to the lodges, so we can do a lot of the trip ourselves (and not go with a tour company).
After that we have to decide whether we want to go North to the Amazon and do a big loop around Brazil or a smaller loop by going east to Brasilia. One problem is that Brazil gave us a 30 day visa which needs to be renewed, so its an additional task.
Brazil is very first world so far. Roadside services like hotels and restaurants are abundant. Food is really good too. I can’t wait to get to the east coast where food in towns like Ouro Preto and Salvador de Bahia is famous. The security situation so far seems no worse than most places we have been to.
BTW: For Mac Safari users we get the message:
“Sorry the HD View Beta is not supported on this platform. Must be Internet Explorer, Firefox, Flock, Netscape, or Safari on Windows XP, Server 2003, or Vista.”
Hi Fred!
Damn!!!
Thanks for the input. HD View is a Microsoft research product that Shreesh found to be the best to pan and zoom panoramic images. It is still beta, so this could be the problem. Sigh! Shreesh tested 3 products too! I guess the search continues….
Neena and Shreesh,
Just yesterday I saw a coverage on the wild life in Pantanal swamp. Apparently, part of the area is covered with water during the rainy season and dry during the rest of the year. There is abundant wild life including very many colorful birds. Reminded me of the the Manu biosphere. Seems like good area to cover.
Aai
Welcome to Brasil!
I’ll ask Ana to advise her tribe that you are on the road! Enjoy a Brahma Chopp and Pao quejo for me.
We saw Milton Nasciemento, (A Brasilian national treasure) perform last week in Berkeley with Tom Jobin Jr. The local music is a whole additional element of a Brasilian exploration. Enjoy the music on the road.
Chris
This looks like a great trip! I wanted to let you know that while HD View is not supported on the Mac, we do offer a version that is missing some features but that does work on the Mac. See
1) http://www.codeplex.com/HDViewSL
2) http://research.microsoft.com/ivm/HDViewSL/
for more details.
And you guys arrive just in time when the river still high. That is amazing and remember me when I was there long time ago.
Now the fun time begins in Brazil. Enjoy a good cahipirinhia, cevezinhia, and all the great fruit that the country will offer you.
Cheers,
Roberto
Thanks Roberto! And we will be back in Argentina soon!
mattu
I installed Microsoft “Silverlight” on the Mac and was able to view the sample panoramas, however, the panoramas on alongdrive.com still display the error message. Possibly because of the features incorporated into these panoramas? All still using Safari Version 3.2 (5525.26.12) on OSX
WHOA … surf’s up dudes!
Hi Fred,
We would need to make our panoramas HDViewSL compatible. Shreesh looked at HDViewSL to replace HDView but it is just not as nice as HDView. The SL version appeared to be little more than a zoom and pan tool. The HDView gives more of what you would expect from a panorama.
So we are still looking for a good tool that will support both platforms. The most important thing that most tools seem to lack is the ability to render the picture while downloading, I doubt that people would want to wait for an entire 12MB picture to download before they can view anything….
All I can say, is WOW! The falls are just incredible.
falls the beautiful! did you take the boat trip like the mist of maids ?
Hello Shanta Auntie,
Yes, we took a boat on the Argentinian side but found it to be touristy and gimmicky. Both sides have done such a wonderful job of creating walkways close to the falls that you can get that experience without going in a boat.
I did like Maid of the Mist, however.
I went to Foz do Iguacu many years ago, and the experience (it’s not just a view) from the catwalk overlooking the Garganta do Diablo was amazing. I heard it washed away one year, but they must have rebuilt it. I said to someone “you get the urge to jump, don’t you?”, and he said he felt the same. You get this feeling that it would be a moment of supreme bliss. I remember hearing there’s a Greek word to describe the urge to jump off a high point into the waves, but I’ve forgotten it.