Iguazu Falls

I am not one waterfall, but hundreds, a giant watery stage stretching for nearly two miles. My voice is a constant roar that shakes the earth, and my breath is a cool mist that creates rainbows in the sun. I am draped in a green jungle, alive with colorful birds and curious animals. Before I tell you my name, imagine a river so wide it decides to leap off a cliff in 275 different places at once. Can you picture that? That amazing, thundering, beautiful roar? That's me. I live on the border of Argentina and Brazil. I am Iguazu Falls.

My story began a very long time ago, around 135 million years ago, when the ground here was shaped by fiery volcanoes. But the river that gives me life, the Iguazu River, took thousands of years to carve the path I follow today. For centuries, the only people who knew my song were the Guaraní people. They lived in my forest home and gave me my name, which means 'Big Water' in their language. They tell a beautiful legend about my creation, involving a brave warrior, a beautiful maiden, and a giant serpent god who split the river in anger, creating my many waterfalls. It's a powerful story that shows how much I meant to them as a sacred and mighty place.

For a long, long time, my life was peaceful, shared only with the jungle and the Guaraní. Then, one day in the year 1541, a Spanish explorer named Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca was traveling through the forest and heard my roar. When he saw me, he was speechless. He had never seen so much water falling with such power and beauty. He was the first European to ever lay eyes on me. He gave me a new name, but my old Guaraní name is the one that stuck. After he left, I was mostly forgotten by the outside world for over 300 years, and I continued to flow, a hidden wonder in the heart of South America.

In the early 1900s, people began to realize how special I was. They knew my jungle home and all its creatures needed to be kept safe. So, the countries I live in, Argentina and Brazil, made a wonderful promise. In 1934, Argentina created the Iguazú National Park on its side of the river. Then, in 1939, Brazil created Iguaçu National Park on its side. Together, these parks became my guardians. My importance grew even more when, in 1984 and 1986, I was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a title for the most precious places on Earth. As if that weren't enough, on November 11th, 2011, people all over the world voted for me to be one of the New7Wonders of Nature!

Today, my song is heard by people from every corner of the globe. They walk on pathways through my mist, ride boats to feel my spray, and stand in awe of my power. I am a home to toucans with rainbow beaks, playful coatis, and even shy jaguars. I remind everyone of the incredible strength and beauty of our planet. My waters tell a story that is millions of years old, and my greatest hope is to keep singing my thundering song for millions of years to come, inspiring everyone to protect the wild, wonderful places of the world.