About 900 m (2,950 ft) of the 2.7 km (1.7 mi) length does not have water flowing over it. The water of the lower Iguazu collects in a canyon that drains into the Paraná River, a short distance downstream from the Itaipu Dam. The junction of the water flows marks the border between Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay. Some points in the cities of Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, Puerto Iguazú, Argentina, and Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, have access to the Iguazu River, where the borders of all three nations may be seen, a popular tourist attraction for visitors to the three cities.

THE GEOGRAPHIC OF THE IGUAZU FALLS

You can’t tell how huge it is from the photo, but the capybara weighs 140 pounds and can be over 4 feet tall. Think black bear-sized guinea pig. This one was scavenging near Garganta del Diablo (the Devil’s Throat), one of the biggest waterfalls in the park.

This caiman — complete with a butterfly on his head — was lounging on a rock not far from the capybara.

It may look cute and innocent, but there were signs throughout the park warning visitors to hide food in the presence of coati, this raccoon relative, because they’ve been known to attack for food. So unlike the folks in this photo, I kept my distance from coatis and their sloth-like claws.

Not the best shot of a toucan, but they don’t stay still for long! You can see its beak pointing toward the bottom of the photo. This isn’t a toco toucan (think Toucan Sam), though we did see a few of those fly by as well. But they were too fast to snap a picture.

I have to admit I was a little bit afraid this very large ant would somehow leap off the ground and bite my hand. But it didn’t and now you can see how huge these ants are. I figure if a normal ant can carry a large leaf on its back, this one can probably carry a small child.

I’d never seen so many butterflies in my life. They were everywhere — in blue, pink, green, solids, patterns — swarming around us as we stepped onto new paths. One even landed on my head and stayed there for a full minute before moving on.

I used a super-zoom lens for this shot of a plumbeous kite, part of the hawk family.

There was a gigantic colony of vultures hanging out on a nearby rock, with dozens more circling in the sky. Eerie. Even scarier is the fact that this photo was captured without the help of a zoom lens.

These 3 foot long reptiles proved they weren’t afraid of people as they sunned themselves near hiking paths. They looked intimidating, though, and we captured this shot with the zoom.

I’m not sure what this is called, but it was about the size of a guinea pig and didn’t seem to be afraid of people.

The second I learned is an agouti and was the size of a small beagle and was much more skittish. It ran across the trail far ahead of us.