Nacunday Falls

The Nacunday river drops around forty metres over a wide rock lip in a national park of some two thousand hectares south of Ciudad del Este, one of the last patches of Atlantic Forest left in a department otherwise given over almost entirely to soya. The fall spreads across the full width in the wet season and narrows in the dry. A path runs to a viewpoint and down toward the base, and the forest around holds birds and the remnant vegetation the park exists to protect. Facilities are minimal and the park sees few visitors. The surrounding drive shows the scale of the agricultural conversion in this part of the country.

What you actually see

• The curtain fall - the water spreading over the wide lip.
• Atlantic Forest remnant - the protected patch of original vegetation.
• The viewpoint and path - the route to and below the fall.
• The soya country - the converted landscape around the park.

When to go

October to March in the wet season for the fullest curtain; by August and September the flow narrows considerably. Mornings are cooler. The access road is rough after rain.

Honest expectations

Flow reduces markedly in the dry months. Facilities are minimal with no visitor centre. The access road is unsurfaced in parts. The park is small and surrounded by farmland.

Nearby

Ciudad del Este lies north; the Paraná river is east.