April 25, 2013
“Mocona Falls is nothing like Iguazu. It is small but unique. The falls split the river down the middle, so the water flows not only down river, but from one side to the other. The boat ride would have been better without the bratty kid.”
We arrived at the designated spot and followed the row of bright orange life vests to the water’s edge. After strapping the vest on we were led to the orange inflatable.
That is me in the purple shirt – can you tell it is VERY humid! Never knew my hair was so curly.
Mocona Falls is not as well known as Iguazu; therefore it does not have the hordes of people. But the falls are definitely worth seeing. Mocona Falls are unusual. Instead of water falling from up river to down river, at Mocona it “falls” from one side of the river down to the other. When the earth fractured, one side dropped. As we go upriver, we see the water flowing down from the left side (the high side). The falls are 3 km (almost 2 miles) long. It is hard to capture in a picture at water level. This will give you an idea of what we saw.
Shortly after leaving the dock, we come out to the main river. The water is cloudy and the current is strong. On our left, we can see water pouring over the bank as water fell from Argentina to Brazil . . . yup, another falls along the border.
glancing back
As we went up river, the difference in height between the left and right side grew.
You can see all the white water created from the water flowing from on side to the other. The current continues to get stronger. Our captain has to work hard to keep the boat aimed the way he wants. Eventually, the difference in height starts to diminish – the two sides are coming closer together.
Finally, the height of the upper part lowers until it is level with the lower part. The last few rocks disappear into the river.
What makes this even more amazing is that you can only see Mocona Falls part of the year. It is not visible for half the year when the water level is high.
Even now, taking a boat ride is the only way to see it unless you fly over it.
Someone else took this picture. This aerial picture of Mocona Falls shows you what a fascinating place this is. With most falls, the greater the amount of water flowing = a more dramatic waterfall. With Mocona, greater water actually covers up the waterfall. The water was not quite this low when we were here. The boat landing was at the top of the picture; we traveled towards the bottom. You can not see in this picture where the two halves meet again.
Picture courtesy of the amusingplanet’s website