Kaieteur Falls is a waterfall on the Potaro River in central Guyana. It is located in the Kaieteur National Park. It is 226 m when measured from its plunge over a sandstone cliff to the first break. It then flows over a series of steep cascades that, when included in the measurements, bring the total height to 251 m. Kaieteur Falls is about five times higher than Niagara Falls. Kaieteur Falls is a magnificent, high-volume waterfall on the Potaro River in central Guyana. It is located in Kaieteur National Park. It is 226 meters (741 ft) when measured from its plunge over a sandstone cliff to the first break. It then flows over a series of steep cascades that, when included in the measurements, bring the total height to 251 meters (822 ft). While many falls have greater height, few have the combination of height and water volume. This has given Kaieteur Falls the misleading label of "largest single drop" waterfall in the world which is often misinterpreted as "tallest single drop." However, it is likely one of the most powerful waterfalls in the world Kaieteur Falls is about five times higher than the more well known Niagara Falls, located on the border between Canada and the United States and about two times the height of the Victoria Falls located on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe in Africa. It is a single drop waterfall which is the 123rd tallest (single and multi-drop waterfall) in the world, according to the World Waterfalls Database. The same web site lists it as 19th largest waterfall in terms of volume , and in their estimation, Kaieteur is the 26th most scenic waterfall in the world [3]. Its distinction lies in the unique combination of great height and large volume, averaging 663 cubic meters per second (23,400 cubic feet per second). Thus it is one of the most powerful waterfalls in the world, rivaling even the Jog Falls of India's Karnataka state during the monsoon season. Kaieteur Falls. The world's largest single drop water falls measuring 741 feet. For comparison, Kaieteur is about five times taller than Niagara falls. The above picture is from the farthest lookout point that we stopped at on the hike through the jungle. These falls were awe-inspiring to say the least. I only wish these pictures could convey a fraction of the experience of actually being there.
cataract on the Potaro River, west-central Guyana. After a sheer drop of 741 feet (226 m) over the edge of a sandstone plateau, the falls have eroded a gorge, 5 miles (8 km) long, that descends another 81 feet (25 m). The falls are 300 to 350 feet (90 to 105 m) wide at the top and are the central feature of the Kaieteur National Park (established 1930). Tourists usually visit the site by chartered aircraft from Georgetown, but a road and river expedition is also possible. The falls were sighted by C. Barrington Brown, a British geologist, in 1870. Kaieteur Falls, easily one of the most powerful falls on the planet, has the rare combination of great height and great volume. Only India's Jog Falls can rival this combination. The falls consist of a sheer plunge of 741 feet, followed by a short series of steep cascades, which is often included in some measurements of the falls (which brings the total up to 822 feet). On 24 April 1870, Charles Barrington Brown, one of two British geologists appointed government surveyors to the colony of British Guiana (Guyana), became the first European to see Kaieteur Falls. The other surveyor was James Sawkins. Brown and James Sawkins arrived in Georgetown in 1867 and did some of their mapping and preparation of geological reports together, some in separate expeditions, but Sawkins had taken a break from his work when Brown came upon Kaieteur. After completing their surveys of thousands of miles of interior rivers during the heady days of gold discoveries, the surveyors left British Guiana in 1871. Brown’s book Canoe and Camp life in British Guiana was published in 1876. Two years later, in 1878, he published Fifteen Thousand Miles on the Amazon and its tributaries. According to a Patamona Indian legend, Kaieteur Falls was named for Kai, a chief, or Toshao who acted to save his people by paddling over the falls in an act of self-sacrifice to Makonaima, the great spirit.
Werner Herzog's 2004 documentary film The White Diamond focuses on Graham Dorrington, a British aeronautical engineer, who builds a teardrop-shaped airship in order to study the canopies of the rainforest. The film depicts both Dorrington's craft's first flights as well as the falls themselves and the swifts that nest behind it. In May 2006, Ben Fogle trekked to the falls with five English novice explorers for his Extreme Dreams series. The programme was aired in September 2006 on the BBC. The programme was criticised for trivialising local culture and over-playing the difficulty of the trek. It did help raise Guyana's international profile. Each programme was prefaced with the statement that Kaieteur is the highest single-drop waterfall in the world, although the Angel Falls in Venezuela claim to be nearly four times higher. There are about 40,000 tourists a year.
