Where the forest
meets the roar.

Long before geologists measured this place with their instruments, the original inhabitants of this land — the Guarani people — had already explained its fearsome power through myth. In the Guarani tongue, "I" means water and "Guazú" means great — hence Iguazu.

Bond across the abyss: Legend tells of Naipi, a beautiful maiden chosen as a sacrifice to M'Boi, the serpent-like forest god. To save his beloved, the young warrior Tarobá fled with Naipi downstream in a canoe. Enraged, the serpent god tore the earth apart; the riverbed collapsed in an instant, forming the bottomless chasm we call the Devil's Throat (Garganta do Diabo).

Naipi was turned into a rock at the cliff's edge, forever battered by the waterfall; Tarobá was transformed into a palm tree on the opposite bank, gazing at his beloved in eternal despair. The rainbow that arcs across the gorge in sunlight is said to be the sigh that still connects them.

In 1541, the Spanish explorer Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, lost in the jungle, heard a thunderous roar and became the first European to record the falls. But that is not the most important chapter in its modern history. You may not know that this UNESCO World Heritage site — the patrimony of all humanity — was, just over a century ago, a private backyard.

The 300-kilometre ride: In 1916, Brazil's celebrated "Father of Aviation", the inventor Alberto Santos-Dumont, visited Iguaçu. The widely-travelled aviation pioneer was awestruck by nature's masterpiece — but was horrified to learn that this land belonged to a private Uruguayan landowner named Jesus Val.

Determined that this natural wonder should never become an instrument of private profit, Santos-Dumont sprang into action. He rode on horseback nearly 300 kilometres through pristine jungle, travelling day and night to reach Curitiba, the capital of Paraná state. There, wielding his immense prestige, he implored the governor: "A natural wonder of this magnitude must belong to the public domain — to all of humanity!"

Driven by his advocacy, within just a few months the state government expropriated the falls area. This directly led to the official establishment of Iguaçu National Park in 1939. Today, when you see the bronze statue of Santos-Dumont near the trail's endpoint, pause for a moment and pay tribute to the pioneer who rode 300 kilometres to save this wonder for the world.