DIDYA
Did you know . . .
NIAGARA Falls vs. VICTORIA Falls vs. IGUAZU Falls.
It is hard to compare these three waterfalls. Each is worthy of the bucket list.
Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls is made up of three areas: American Falls, Bridal Veil Falls and Canadian Falls. The largest waterfalls within this group are the Horseshoe Falls in Canada. It is 2,600 feet wide and 167 feet high. The American and Bridal Veil are in the USA. Together they are 1,060 feet wide and 176 feet high (due to the giant rocks at the base, you only see a drop of 70 feet.). The falls are in a “U” shape. Niagara is the most visited of the three falls in part due to its easy accessibility.
Victoria Falls
Victoria Falls is in Africa on the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia. This is called the largest waterfalls even though it is not the tallest. Yet, with a combined width of 5,604 feet and a height of 355 feet, it is referred to as the largest. It is twice the height of Niagara. The biggest drawback to this incredible falls is that there is not much infrastructure set up for viewing the falls. We saw it by helicopter. It is probably the best way. This picture came from a helicopter company’s website. This falls is fairly straight. It looks like a giant crack in the earth. The falls cascade into a deep gorge. The deep river gorge than zig-zags through the earth.
Iguazu Falls
Iguazu Falls is on the border between Argentina and Brazil. It too is taller than Niagara at 269 feet high. And twice as wide as Niagara at 1.7 miles wide. I’m not really sure why that does not make it the largest. Perhaps it has to do with the volume of water that flows over the falls. Iguazu is made up of 275 waterfalls. Like Niagara, Iguazu’s main falls are in a “U” shape.The best part about seeing Iguazu is that you can really see it. The park has a series of well thought out viewing walkways. When you visit Iguazu Falls it is easy to understand why Eleanor Roosevelt said “Poor Niagara.”
Each of these falls looks quite different when the water flow is high. More water may seem more impressive, but the increased mist limits visibility. Keep that in mind if you are planning to visit one of them.
I thought it was interesting to realize that all three are situated on the border between two countries. I guess that way two different countries get to say they have this incredible formation in their backyard.