Missions and Waterfalls

Our final stop in South America took us to Misiones Province, an odd appendage of Argentina that reaches through the jungle between Paraguay, Brazil and Uruguay in the far north of the country. The main attraction of the region is another star of Argentina’s national park system: the Iguazu Falls.

This UNESCO World Heritage site has been declared one of the new Seven Wonders of the Natural World by popular vote and comprises the biggest waterfall system in the world. The entire feature is made up of 275 individual falls extending for 2.7 kilometers (~1.6 miles) across the Iguazu River with drops of up to 82 meters (almost 300 feet). Iguazu comes from the local native word for “Big Water” which pretty much sums it up!

Since the Iguazu River is the border between Brazil and Argentina, the falls can be visited from both sides. The Argentina side is more extensive and gets you closer to the falls, while the Brazil side has excellent panoramic views. Both sides have an extensive network of catwalks and trails that take you right out over the river and tops of the waterfalls, getting visitors close enough to get wet from the spray and experience the deafening the roar of the water. In particular, the Devils Throat (Garganta del Diablo), the highest flowing waterfall, both overwhelmed and delighted us. We visited both sides (had to put that Brazilian visa to work!) and both were pretty spectacular!

Aside from the falls, we enjoyed being in an environment unlike any other we’ve experienced so far. The region lies within the last remaining 15% of the Atlantic Forest, the rest having been logged or slashed for other agricultural and mining purposes. The forest is truly a jungle, with bright brick-red soil and gnarled vines and giant spiders and tones of beautiful butterflies and tropical birds everywhere. We finally saw a wild toucan (actually, a whole flock of them!) and also spotted some caymans and the ever present coati, a raccoon-like mammal that, much like our raccoons, are basically scavengers wrapped up in a cuddly costume. We also got caught in ever present rain showers – they don’t call it a rainforest for nothing!

We also visited the Jesuit Missions of the Guaranis, another World Heritage Site in the region. The Jesuits established 30 missions in the vicinity in an effort to colonize and “civilize” the Guarani people back in the 17^th & 18^th centuries. Fifteen sites are in present day Argentina, while the others are just across the borders of Brazil and Paraguay. Those sites open to the public provide a unique glimpse into the way the Christians tried to settle the native people. For example, each complex contains a similar set up of Guarani long houses around a central square dominated on one side by a massive stone church.

Most of the interpretation at the sites we visited seemed lacking to our anthropologically trained eye, focusing on the success of the missions and not addressing activities such as forced labor or other stories common to the colonization process. However, the remains themselves were haunting and fascinating. Most of the missions are still just mounds of ruins covered in jungle vegetation. A few have been cleaned up and are in various states of restoration or stabilization. Visiting these places is the only time as archaeologists we’ve really felt like being in an Indiana Jones movie! (Side note: the Iguazu Falls actually do feature in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, so we weren’t that far off!).

The ruins were our last stop on this epic South American journey. We had a bittersweet moment of realization that it was coming to an end as we flew back to Buenos Aires for a final spin through town before hopping a plane back to the U.S. It will take time to process the immensity of our amazing adventure. All we can say for now is…

Adios Sudamerica! Te encantamos!