April 21st we headed for Foz do Iguaçu (the mouth of the Iguaçu river), 800 km from Pontal do Sul. It rained all the way and we arrived in Foz do Iguaçu late in the evening after 11 hrs of driving.
At the Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina meet. Foz do Iguaçu is a bustling city where trading from the three countries flows through and tourists flock to see the amazing Cataratas (Iguaçu water falls), Itaipu Hydro Power Scheme (the largest hydro power plant in the world) and Parque das Aves (The Birds’ Park).
The area is an enormous environmental experiment trying to manage the existence of large power generation, agriculture industry (Soya and corn), Indigenous lifestyle and world class tourism activities. As far as we could see in our short stay, the experiment seems to be working.
The Itaipu Dam (Guarani: Presa Itaipu, Portuguese: Barragem de Itaipu, Spanish: Represa de Itaipú; ) is a hydroelectric dam on the Paraná River located on the border between Brazil and Paraguay. The name "Itaipu" was taken from an isle that existed near the construction site. In the Guarani language, Itaipu means "the sounding stone".
It is operated by Brazil and Paraguay at the Paraná River on the border section between the two countries, 15 km north of the Friendship Bridge. The construction began in January of 1975 and on May 5, 1984 the first generation unit started running in Itaipu.
Now for the technical minded people:
The installed generation capacity of the plant is 14 GW, with 20 generating units providing 700 MW each with a hydraulic design head of 118 metres . In 2013 the plant generated a record 98.6 TWh, supplying approximately 75% of the electricity consumed by Paraguay and 17% of that consumed by Brazil.
Of the twenty generator units currently installed, ten generate at 50 Hz for Paraguay and ten generate at 60 Hz for Brazil. Since the output capacity of the Paraguayan generators far exceeds the load in Paraguay, most of their production is exported to the Brazilian side. Two 600 kV HVDC lines, each approximately 800 kilometres long, carry the majority of the energy to the São Paulo/Rio de Janeiro region where it is converted to 60 Hz.
On November 10, 2009, transmission from the plant was completely disrupted, due to a storm damaging the high-voltage transmission lines. Itaipu itself was not damaged. This caused massive power outages in Brazil and Paraguay, blacking out the entire country of Paraguay for 15 minutes, and plunging Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo into darkness for more than 2 hours.
The Parque das Aves (Bird Santuary) is a privately owned zoo situated in Foz do Iguaçu, near the Iguaçu Falls. Its exhibits comprise mainly birds as well as other animals and butterflies.
The story of the Parque das Aves begins in South-West Africa, in a coastal town in Namibia, where the Croukamp family were given an African-grey parrot chick, which soon sparked a love of birds in Dennis Croukamp. Years later, the family moved and a friend suggested to Dennis that they should move to Foz do Iguaçu in order to build a crocodile park. Dennis replied: "I like birds. We will create a Bird Park."
Along with his friends, Dennis travelled to Brazil and, after receiving all the necessary licenses, acquired 16.5 hectares of subtropical forest between the Iguaçu River and the highway that leads to Iguaçu falls, next to what is now the Iguaçu National Park. Dennis passed away in 1996
The first birds came from donations or loans from Brazilian zoos; confiscated animals were sent by IBAMA (the Brazilian environment agency). Subtropical species from all continents were imported. The butterfly house was born after the arrival of another Croukamp family friend to Foz do Iguaçu. The Parque das Aves was inaugurated on October 6th, 1994, 11 months after Dennis and Anna landed in Brazil. Ever since, the Park continues to grow thanks to a Brazilian team that is dedicated to carrying on with the dreams of Dennis. Nowadays the Parque das Aves is the largest bird park in Latin America.
Iguazu Falls, Iguazú Falls, Iguassu Falls, or Iguaçu Falls (Spanish: Cataratas del Iguazú ; Guarani: Chororo Yguasu; Portuguese: Cataratas do Iguaçu ) are waterfalls of the Iguaçu River on the border of the Argentine province of Misiones and the Brazilian state of Paraná. The falls divide the river into the upper and lower Iguazu. The Iguazu River rises near the city of Curitiba.
For most of its course, the river flows through Brazil, however, most of the falls are on the Argentine side. Below its confluence with the San Antonio River, the Iguaçu River forms the boundary between Argentina and Brazil.
The name "Iguaçu" comes from the Guarani or Tupi words "y" , meaning "water", and "ûasú ", meaning "big". Legend has it that a deity planned to marry a beautiful woman named Naipí, who fled with her mortal lover Tarobá in a canoe. In a rage, the deity sliced the river, creating the waterfalls and condemning the lovers to an eternal fall. The first European to record the existence of the falls was the Spanish conquistador Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca in 1541.
The Iguaçu Falls are arranged in a way that resembles a reversed letter "J". The border between Brazil and Argentina runs through the Devil's Throat. The right bank is the Brazilian territory and has just over 20% of the falls. The left bank is Argentine and has almost 80% of the falls.
Upon seeing Iguaçu, the United States First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt reportedly exclaimed "Poor Niagara!" . Often Iguazu is compared with Victoria Falls in Southern Africa, which separates Zambia and Zimbabwe. Iguaçu is wider, but because it is split into approximately 275 discrete falls and large islands, Victoria has the largest curtain of water in the world, at more than 1,600 m wide and over 100 m in height. The only wider falls are extremely large rapid-like falls, such as the Boyoma Falls (Stanley Falls).
