Niagara Falls Rainbows

Views of the American falls on the right and the Rainbow Bridge in the background, which connects Canada and the United States. The Rainbow bridge was built to replace the Honeymoon Bridge, which collapsed due to an ice jam in the Niagara river during the winter of 1938.

The Maid of the Mist passing the American Falls and on its way to the Bridal Veil Falls. The Maid of the Mist was first started in 1846 as a ferry service, but soon became a boat touring company for tourists.

These poncho’d pedestrians are taking part in the “Cave of the Winds” tourist attraction, where they are allowed to walk up to the smallest of the Niagara falls. Read more about this supposed “cave” below!

Closer looks at the waterfalls on the American side of the famous landmark. The last one offers a better view of the Canadian border.

I seem to be going back in time with my travel posts lately! Today I’m blogging about one of the destinations of our family roadtrip along the East Coast of the USA during the summer of 2008: Niagara Falls. I’m sure you’ve heard of it.

Niagara Falls are actually three waterfalls marking the border between Ontario, Canada and New York, United States. The three falls are called Horseshoe Falls, American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls. Here are a few facts:

• The Horseshoe Falls (shaped like a horseshoe) mostly lie in Canadian territory and is a powerful source of hydroelectric power. Nowadays (after alterations), about 90% of the Niagara river flows over the Horseshoe Falls.
• The Horseshoe Falls are subject to some serious erosion. The incessant passing of such huge amounts of water constantly change the U.S.-Canadian border.
• The American Falls, as you may have already guessed, lies entirely within US borders. Only about 10% of Niagara’s total water flow passes over the American Falls.
• Bridal Veil Falls is the smallest member of the Niagara Falls. The Cave of the Winds is a popular tourist attraction where visitors can walk to the front of the waterfall. There used to be a natural cave behind the Bridal Falls, but it was destroyed by rockfall and dynamiting in 1954.

Take it from me, the falls were pretty impressive! For some reason, I remember expecting them to be a lot taller, but when you realise how much water flows across the breadth of all three falls you start to understand how the Niagara Falls combined have the highest flow rate of any waterfall in the entire world.

Since we didn’t end up crossing the river, I only get to say I saw Canada, but did not actually set foot in the country. Still on my list!

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