Movie Magic? Who needs it?
By Jennifer Chen, TODAY | Posted: 17 July 2008 1245 hrs

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You may remember the gripping scene in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull where two jeeps race side by side in the jungles of Peru, each scrabbling to cling on to the cliff edge while Indy jumps from car to car.

On the left, death by river plunge. On the right, young Mutt swinging Tarzan-like from the lianas. In the background, a thundering horseshoe-shaped waterfall providing the requisite scenery for our heroes’ daring. Great stuntmen. Wonderful CGI.

Except it’s not. At least not the jaw-dropping waterfalls and jungle backdrop, which was of Iguazu Falls in Argentina and Brazil.

Its seems that every decade or so, Iguazu makes a big splash in cinema. Jeremy Irons climbed it as a Jesuit in The Mission (1986). Tony Leung visited it in Happy Together (1997). This year, it was the setting for the family Jones versus Russians slugfest.

But no movie or movie magic can top the real thing.

Pressed for time during our trip to Argentina last year, my friend and I had to choose between Iguazu Falls and El Calafate, a massive glacier that is also a popular tourist attraction.

Our tour guide in Buenos Aires was clear about her recommendation.

“El Calafate? Why?” she shrugged dismissively. “It’s just a block of ice, you know.”

“Take two days for Iguazu.”

Two days indeed.

The falls, an hour’s flight north of Buenos Aires, straddle the border between Argentina and Brazil. Each side offers a different view of the vast network of water that spans about 3 kilometres of the Iguazu River. Both are Unesco Heritage Sites situated within national parks. Both are stunning in their own ways.

Two-thirds of the falls, which averages about 275 — a mind-boggling number — are in Argentina. That park is well-equipped for the 1.1 million people who visit it annually.

For a start, there’s a Sheraton Iguazu at the entrance. A small train makes it easy to get around and four well-marked routes allow visitors to appreciate the falls from as many angles as they have energy for.

At the time, however, numbers and statistics mattered nought to us. Stepping into Iguazu was like walking into a fantastical out-of-this-world CGI image.

To envision the picture, take a cluster of orange-lit, black butterflies, copy and paste it until your fingers are tired and sprinkle this liberally over the landscape. Do the same with a bunch of waterfalls and another of rainbows. In fact, stack these so there are two tiers.

Animate the butterflies so they flutter about like swirling autumn leaves. Have some rest on your hand.

If this scene were the setting of a musical, it would be where Julie Andrews bursts into song. That is, until she gets drowned by the centrepiece of falls, the massive cataract they call Garganta del Diablo or the Devil’s Throat. If not by what looks like the gargle of hell as a river of water surges into a 80m-deep abyss, then certainly by the Devil’s deafening roar.

Iguazu is the indigenous Guarani word for “Big Water”. It’s an understatement. Standing at the side of the Devil’s Throat, which is accessible by a 500m catwalk from shore, the water is not just “big”, it’s a ferocioustorrent that sprays not mist, like most falls, but rain.

:We embarked on the Great Adventure, a boat ride plunging into two of the falls. The water felt like a yoke. We were drenched to the bone. We couldn’t be happier.

We were afforded a zoomed-out view of the water network the next day from the Brazil side of Iguazu. The falls stretched for as far as the eyes could see, thundering, dynamic, magnificent — and all natural. - TODAY/ra

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