We're going to paint a mental picture here and we'll need some ingredients. First, get a good image of Niagara Falls. If you haven't been there, I'm sure Google can help you find a few photos.

Second, did you see the latest Star Wars movie? You know the scene where Anakin and the princess are having a picnic in front of an enormously wide series of waterfalls (which strangely made hardly any noise)? Unless you're really good, Google will be less of a help with this one.

"Now warp that into the shape of a horseshoe."
Ok, now take the image of Niagara Falls and triple the width. Got it? Now warp that into the shape of a horseshoe. Good. We're ready to assemble our image.

Take the horseshoe and place it next to a series of waterfalls double the size of what was in Star Wars. There it is. See it? It's a reasonable representation of Iguazu Falls... or Foz de Iguazu... on the border between Argentina and Brazil.

"This thing, though, is simply stunning."
I've been to Niagara. It's big and tall and somewhat wide... and also a bit of a yawner. You can't exactly stare at it for an hour. This thing, though, is simply stunning. You can't even see the whole falls at one time.

The most amazing part is what they call the "Devil's Throat." This is the Niagara times three warped into a half circle. You walk across these metal catwalks until you're right on the precipice of the falls and completely surrounded by torrents of water crashing over. I think I stood there for half an hour just looking.

"So perfect that it seemed almost fake."
Then there are catwalks letting you see every possible angle of the other falls... something like 20 individual waterfalls one after the other for a distance of like a mile. I stood there looking at this trying to dissuade myself of the notion that what I was seeing had been generated on a computer at Industrial Light and Magic. It looked so perfectly made and lit that it seemed almost fake. If you sat down with a 3d animator and said you wanted giant beautiful waterfalls, this is what he'd come up with.

The bus trip here was easy and uneventful. The bus was great. One of those with only three seats across rather than four. Quite roomy and comfy. Unfortunately it appears I'll be on a normal Greyhound-like bus for the 20 hour trip to Rio. That could be interesting.