The Iguazu Falls are on the border between Brazil and Argentina. The name comes from Gurani and Tupi (native languages of South America) words meaning big water.

Considered to be one of the great wonders of the world, a picture of the falls is also used as the front cover of a new collection of poems from Denny Bradbury. A Denagerie of Poems depicts the falls from a low view point, displaying their striking magnificence.

They consist of a series of 275 waterfalls along a 1.7 mile stretch of the Iguazu River. Most of the Falls are 200 ft in height. The most famous is known as the Devil’s Throat, which is almost 2000 feet by 500 feet and is a U shape.

A yearly drought can leave the Falls short of the life blood that makes it spectacular. It generally only lasts for a few weeks in the summer. But erosion is not a fear for the Falls, as it is many other geological wonders, especially waterfalls. Iguazu’s basalt cliffs have been measured only to recede 3 millimetres a year.

When compared with other Great waterfalls, Niagara and Victoria, the Igazu Falls are actually much wider than both of them. The Niagara Falls, on the border of the United States of America and Canada, is much smaller in terms of size and water volume. At peak time, the Iguazu Falls can have a surface area of 1.3 million square feet of water. Niagara has a comparable area of about 600,000 feet.

The Victoria Falls, situated on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe in Southern Africa, has a massive surface area of 1.8 million square feet of water. They are considered to be the largest continuous waterfall, but the Igazu Falls are actually wider in total. The Victoria Falls are 5,604 feet wide, compared with Igazu’s width of 8,858 ft.

The Falls have been featured in many famous films over the years including the 1979 James Bond film Moonraker. The latest Indian Jones film, The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull also features the Iguazu Falls.

A short story at the end of Denny Bradbury’s Denagerie of Poems is described as a mystical journey to the spirit of nature. It came to the author as a silent ballet with the characters  moving to the music in their soul. The Iguazu falls are such a strong symbol of the spirit and power of nature that it forms the perfect cover for the collection.

Sarah Hogan