The Niagara Falls, renowned attraction on the Niagara River, empties its waters into the section of the river that separates the city called Niagara Falls in Ontario and its namesake in the State of New York. The water eventually flows into Lake Ontario, but not before forming some class 6 rapids and whirlpools a couple of kilometres downstream of the falls.

During our visit, we stayed at a hostel close to the White Water Walk attraction on the Canadian side. Here, one can walk along the gorge and let his imagination run wild, thinking of what it would be like to be thrown into these rapids. Accompanying the sight of the ferocious waters are tablets at the viewing deck recounting to tourists the tragic accidents that have taken place here in the past. You cannot help but to wonder what the person clinging on to a sheet of ice had on his mind during those last hours of his life, when the ice broke off from the falls’ water frozen in the winter chill, moments before the river sent him to meet his end.

Well, we were supposed to be on a holiday. On holidays, one should not harbour such negative thoughts. We were supposed to be there to admire the splendour of the falls. We were supposed to do what tourists do, visit attractions and gawk.

Our visit was really not as bad as how it sounds so far. I still have not decided on the tone in which to write this post, for I was not in awe when I saw the falls and I was, in fact, a little disappointed. On the other hand, it was not as if I did not have any fun at all, and the sights were, as you can tell from some of my photographs, quite nice.

It was probably the touristy Canadian side that irked me. Yes, the Canadian side offered nice views to the front of the falls and that is perhaps the reason why they have so many tourist traps over there – hotels, casinos, Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum, wax museums, haunted houses, Hard Rock Cafe and so on.
 

The Horseshoe Falls

There is an attraction on the Canadian side called “Journey Behind the Falls”. I was at first looking forward to that, thinking that it was some soft of cave behind the falls where you can enter, like what I used to read in Tintin comic books. There, visitors did get to see the Horseshoe Falls from close. It was quite strange to see so much water that kept flowing and flowing and flowing on and on and on. More than once, I had the urge to look for a faucet to turn the water off. Of course, that was not possible and it made me feel kind of helpless in front of this voluminous downpour.

Up close, by the side of the Horseshoe Falls

It turned out that the “Journey Behind the Falls” did really bring us literally behind the falls, but through a man-made tunnel. Decades ago, people already had the idea that it would be cool for tourists to be able to view the falls from behind. So they went ahead to dig a tunnel in the cliff and created two portals opening into the back of the falls so that people can literally stand behind the falls and watch.

The “Maid of the Midst” was a more interesting attraction. It was a boat ride that took tourists to the bottom of the Horseshoe Falls. With the amount of water the falls dump into the river all the time, a big cloud of mist is created at the bottom of the falls. When one gets close enough to the falls, one naturally gets wet. All the attractions at the falls give out ponchos to tourists to keep them dry so that they can admire the falls from close without having to worry about getting drenched.

Watching from “Maid of the Mist”

For some, including me, keeping their cameras dry while trying to snap a few good shots was another challenge. My strategy was to hide both my head and my camera under the poncho. To take a picture, I wrapped the blue poncho round my camera’s body, exposing only the lenses through one of the poncho’s holes for the arms. With my head and body still under the poncho, and also my camera, I would peer through the view finder in search of a perfect composition of the clear and bright view outside. It was like operating a periscope in a submarine. I did not want to wet the periscope.

Drops of water on my poncho

It was on this boat ride that something going on at the American bank caught our eyes. The American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls are the falls on the American side that, together with the Horseshoe Falls, make up the Niagara Falls. Earlier on, we had seen people clad in yellow ponchos walking along a boardwalk near the American Falls. Upon a closer look, we saw that they were walking right by the edge of the falls. This was the “Cave of the Winds” attraction. It would be what we were going to do the following day when we visited the American side.

The American Falls on the left and the smaller Bridal Veil Falls on the right. Tourists in yellow ponchos were walking along the boardwalk by the Bridal Veil Falls to experience its power.

No pictures taken while I was on the boardwalk because there was no way to keep my camera from getting wet. The experience was like walking through a very heavy storm. There was a point where the boardwalk led to a platform right under the Bridal Veil Falls. I stood there to feel the falls tumbling down behind me, hitting me on my back with all its force. I could not even stand straight. I was carrying my haversack, which was absorbing some of the waters’ shock. Yet, I could feel the magnitude of the impact and I wondered if I could have suffered internal injuries had I not have my haversack with me. This reminded me of a kung-fu comic book where the hero would meditate at the bottom of a waterfall and this routine was part of his training regimen. That could not have been this type of falls, could it? Perhaps it takes a top pugilist with deep internal strengths to withstand forces of this magnitude, not a marathoner like me.

From the top of the Bridal Veil Falls. You can see the tourists making their ascent along the boardwalk.

That was the main activity we did on the American side, an easy walk from Canada across the Rainbow Bridge. I found the US side more pleasant. It was a state park belonging to the State of New York and had more grass and trees. There were hotels and a casino too, but they were further away, outside the state park.

View of the falls, with the Canadian skyline as backdrop

If you are planning on visiting, here are a few tips:

- Plan on visiting both the Canadian and American sides
- Think of a strategy on how you can take pictures and keep your camera dry at the same time
- Rehearse that before visiting
- I have not tried this, but if you are thinking of shooting the summer fireworks, consider shooting from Rainbow Bridge. The falls would appear closer together on your frame and I guess the fireworks would fit into the frame as well. This gives you both falls and the fireworks. This is what I will try if I get a chance to go again.

The Rainbow Bridge, which links Ontario and the State of New York

From the top of the American Falls