When the former United States First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt first stood at the edge of this canyon, she was so completely stunned by its immense scale that she reportedly uttered just two words: "Poor Niagara!", a testament to how much Iguazu completely dwarfs its famous North American counterpart.
The name of the falls has deep indigenous roots, originating from the ancient Tupi-Guarani words y, meaning water, and guasu, meaning big, which literally translates to the wonderfully understated "Big Water." Depending on the time of year and the recent rainfall, the system doesn't just consist of one singular waterfall, but fluctuates anywhere between 150 and 300 individual cascades stretching across nearly three kilometres of the jagged cliff edge
The unique geography has also caught the eye of Hollywood location scouts over the decades, serving as the dramatic, mythical backdrop for Marvel's Black Panther as the royal warrior testing grounds of Wakanda, as well as featuring prominently in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and the classic James Bond thriller Moonraker.
Finally, if you are lucky enough to time your holiday with a full moon, the Argentine national park opens for exclusive night tours, allowing you to witness a rare, ethereal phenomenon: a shimmering "lunar rainbow" arches across the black abyss of the Devil's Throat, illuminated entirely by the silver light of the moon.