The World’s Highest Waterfall :Angel Falls

If you’ve been thrilled (despite suspension of disbelief) by indestructible Indiana Jones hurtling down three spectacular CG waterfalls in a row, you might have wondered if our planet has REAL places with similarly enormous waterfalls in a jungle setting. Well, here is a place with a full 800 meter vertical drop - this should appear lethal even to Indiana Jones screenwriters.

Angel Falls, Venezuela (also called Salto Angel) is the Earth’s highest uninterrupted waterfall. It is 979 metres (3,230 feet) tall - think of it as 2.5 times as tall as the Empire State Building and full 15 times higher than Niagara Falls!Angel Falls (indigenous name: Kerepakupai merú) is the world’s highest free-falling waterfall at 979 m (3,212 ft), with a clear drop of 807 m (2,468 ft). It is located in the Canaima National Park, in the Gran Sabana region of Bolivar State, Venezuela at 5°58′03″N, 62°32′08″WCoordinates: 5°58′03″N, 62°32′08″W . The height of the falls is so great that before getting anywhere near the ground, the water is buffeted by the strong winds and turned into mist.

In a season of highest water, the single waterfall stream splits into three - sometimes more, which become a gigantic veil of water.

How to get to the Angel Falls? Not so easy. You would need to hook up with a a flight from Caracas or Ciudad Bolivar to get to the Canaima camp, from where you’d start your trip along the river to the base of the falls. This page lists the complete directions. The travel guide even says that on cloudy days you can not see the falls (real let-downer) -

This is the most accessible viewpoint to photograph the falls:

(image credit: Mauricio Marques)

Aerial Fly-by of Angel Falls - an entirely different aspect:

(image credit: Brennan Mulrooney)

In the morning the rocks are colored pink from a rising sun:

(image credit: Mike Ernst)

Rainbows seem to dwell at the foot of it (a boon to photographers). Some people are making breathtaking BASE jumps from its top. See the incredible video of Eric Jones’s base jump here.

Stranded with wife and a gardener, looking for gold

Angel Falls were named after Jimmy Angel, a larger-than-life character, an experienced bush pilot and gold prospector, who accidentally discovered it in 1933.

Ironically, he also ended up stranded on top of this waterfall - on the enormous and isolated mesa mountain Auyan-tepui (which means “Devil Mountain”). He and his wife Marie (and their gardener) were on reconnaissance flight to look for gold - but damaged the plane at the landing and had to find the way down the mountain on foot. It took them eleven days - but they survived the ordeal (proving that cooperating - not arguing - with your wife can be beneficial in extreme circumstances)

The full story of Jimmy Angel adventures on top and around Auyan-tepui can be found on this excellent page - would make for a great adventure movie script.

Interestingly, there are some other mysterious wrecks in a savanna fields nearby (DC-3, no less):

(image credit: Rowan Castle)

The mountains in Venezuela (including the Canaima National Park) are equally magnificent:

(image credit: Hubert)

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To whet your appetite for the next installment of the series, here is a small compilation of really neat waterfalls:

Iguazu Falls in Argentina and Brazil:

(image credit: Reinhard Jahn)

 Here more about waterfulls: Top 10: 10 Highest Waterfalls In The World

World Waterfall Database is a good site to discover the exact facts about your favorite waterfalls, and perhaps plan your next exploration trip.

The base of the falls feeds into the Kerep river (alternately known as the Rio Gauya) which flows into the Churun River, a tributary of the Carrao River. In the indigenous Pemon language Angel Falls is called Kerepakupai merú meaning “waterfall of the deepest place”.

The falls are sometimes referred to as Churun-meru, an error, since that name corresponds to another waterfall in the Canaima National Park. Churun in the Pemon language means “thunder”.

Sir Walter Raleigh is sometimes said to have discovered Angel Falls, but these claims are considered “far-fetched” [1]. They were sighted in 1912 by the Venezuelan explorer Ernesto Sanchez La Cruz, but he did not publicize his discovery. They were not known to the outside world until the American aviator James “Jimmie” Crawford Angel flew over them on 16 November 1933 on a flight while he was searching for a valuable ore bed.

Returning on 9 October 1937, Angel tried to land his Flamingo monoplane “El Rio Caroni” atop Auyan-tepui but the plane was damaged when the wheels sunk into the marshy ground and he and his three companions, including his wife Marie, were forced to descend the tepui on foot. It took them 11 days to make their way back to civilization but news of their adventure spread and the waterfall was named “Angel Falls” in his honour.

Angel’s plane remained on top of the tepuy for 33 years before being lifted out by helicopter. It was restored at the Aviation Museum in Maracay and now sits outdoors on the green in front of the airport at Ciudad Bolivar exposed to the elements. It is the original. The one visible on the top of the tepui is a replica.

The first recorded human to reach the river that feeds the falls was the Latvian explorer Aleksandrs Laime, also known as Alejandro Laime to the native Pemon tribe. He made the ascent of Auyan-tepui in 1955. He also reached Angel’s plane on the same trip, 18 years after the crash landing. He gave the name of the river after one of the most beautiful rivers in Latvia, the river Gauja. While the indigenous name of the falls is rarely used anymore, the Pemon given name of the river, Kerep, is still widely used.

Laime also was the the first to clear a trail that leads from the Churun river to the base of the falls. On the way, there is a viewpoint commonly used to capture the falls in photographs. It is named “Mirador Laime” (”Laime’s Viewpoint” in Spanish) in his honor. This trail is used now mostly for tourists, to lead them from the Isla Raton camp to the small clearing.

The official height of the falls was determined by a National Geographic Society survey carried out by American journalist Ruth Robertson in 1949^[2].

A book by Luke Dickinson, Angels Four, chronicles the first successful climb up the face of Auyantepui to the top of the falls.

Angel Falls is one of Venezuela’s top tourist attractions but even today a trip to the falls is not a simple affair.

The falls are located in an isolated jungle region of Venezuela and a flight from Caracas or Ciudad Bolivar is required to reach Canaima camp, the starting point for river trips to the base of the falls.

It is also possible to purchase a package that includes an aerial flyby of the falls. The falls cannot be seen on cloudy days, and there is no guarantee visitors will see them.

River trips generally take place from June to December when the rivers are deep enough for the wooden curiaras used by the Pemon Indian guides. During the dry season (December to March) there is less water than is seen in some photos, but it is also more likely that the top will not be clouded.

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