Iguaçu National Park (Brazilian Side), Garganta do Diabo and Macuco Safari Guide

When American First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt stood before the 2.7-kilometre-wide basalt amphitheatre of Iguaçu Falls (Cataratas do Iguaçu) in 1944, she famously exclaimed, "Poor Niagara!" Nearly a third taller than Niagara Falls and more than twice as wide, the waterfall system sits inside Brazil's Parque Nacional do Iguaçu, a 185,262.5-hectare UNESCO World Heritage sanctuary that delivers the most dramatic panoramic views and over-water canyon access in South America.

Alberto Santos-Dumont's 1916 Ride and the 1939 UNESCO Park

When Spanish conquistador Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca became the first European to reach the falls on 31 January 1542 while marching to Asunción, the Guarani people had long revered the cataracts through the legend of the lovers Naipi and Tarobá. In April 1916, Brazilian aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont visited the falls and was outraged to discover the property belonged to a single private landowner. Santos-Dumont rode horseback to Curitiba to persuade Paraná State President Afonso Camargo to expropriate the land as public heritage (a bronze statue of Santos-Dumont stands along the waterfall trail today). On 10 January 1939, President Getúlio Vargas created Parque Nacional do Iguaçu under Decree-Law No. 1,035, and UNESCO inscribed the park in 1986 (Ref. 355) for its geological spectacle and Atlantic Forest biodiversity (jaguars, pumas, tapirs, giant otters, and ring-tailed coatis).

Walking the 1.5-Kilometre Trilha das Cataratas and Garganta do Diabo Walkway

From the Park Visitor Centre (where you scan your timed-entry ticket booked online on the official park portal), open-top double-decker buses drive 11 kilometres through shaded Atlantic Forest to three main stops:

1. Stop 1 (Macuco Safari): The trailhead for the electric jungle jeep and canyon speedboat excursion.
2. Stop 2 (Trilha das Cataratas / Hotel das Cataratas): The start of the 1.5-kilometre paved cliffside trail. As you walk south along the basalt canyon rim, tiered viewpoints reveal wider vistas across the river to Argentina's Salto Dos Hermanas, Salto Bozzetti, and the green cliffs of San Martín Island.
3. The Garganta do Diabo Over-Water Walkway and Espaço Naipi: At the end of the trail, a 1,000-metre metal catwalk steps straight out over the lower Iguaçu River to an observation deck suspended in the roaring mist at the foot of the 82-metre Garganta do Diabo (Devil's Throat), right beside Salto Floriano, Salto Deodoro, and Salto Benjamin Constant. From the cliffside, the panoramic elevator of Espaço Naipi lifts you to upper balconies and the riverside restaurant plaza of Porto Canoas.

Macuco Safari, Bike Poço Preto, and Practical Tips

Operated inside the park since 1986, the Macuco Safari combines a 3-kilometre electric wagon ride through orchid-draped forest and a 600-metre boardwalk walk past Salto Macuco with a thrilling 20-minute voyage aboard a twin-engine speedboat that charges up the canyon rapids directly into the curtain of the Três Mosqueteiros falls. Do not feed or touch the curious South American coatis (quatis) along the trails, as they have sharp claws and teeth.