Kaieteur Falls: Guyana’s Beautiful Gift to the World
Kaieteur Falls is five times higher than Niagara Falls and double the height of Victoria Falls.
Kaieteur Falls is a beautiful, magnificent and powerful waterfall located in Kaieteur National Park in the South American country of Guyana. Kaieteur Falls is formed where the Potaro River flows over the edge of a sandstone plateau.
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The falls are some 300 to 350 feet wide and after a sheer drop of 741 feet, Kaieteur Falls then flows over a series of steep cascades that, when included in the measurements, bring the total height to 822 ft.
The sheer power of Kaieteur Falls is impressive.
The falls are 5 times higher than Niagara Falls and double the height of Victoria Falls.
Image via Wikipedia
Kaieteur Falls was discovered by the outside world on April 24, 1870, when British geologist and government surveyor Charles Barrington Brown came upon them while surveying the area.
The Patamona Indians lived in the area and the falls are named for one of their chiefs, Kai, who paddled over the falls in his canoe in an act of self-sacrifice to the Patamona great spirit named Makonaima, in order to save his people.
Kaieteur Falls are featured prominently in the Warner Herzog documentary film, The White Diamond, about a teardrop-shaped airship that flies over Guyana.
Image via Wikipedia
An airstrip exists near the Kaieteur Falls to accommodate the 40,000 or so tourists who visit annually though some visitors still choose to take a rugged road and river expedition through Guyana’s rainforest to see the falls.
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11 Responses to “Kaieteur Falls: Guyana’s Beautiful Gift to the World”
On April 23, 2009 at 4:13 am
I like it very much. thank you for the article
On April 23, 2009 at 4:48 am
This is a very impressive article. It is fascinating that these falls are so high. Would love to visit one day. The pictures are breathtaking! Very beautiful.
On April 23, 2009 at 5:24 am
Another wonderful article about nature.
On April 23, 2009 at 7:10 am
Stunning, great article again.
On April 23, 2009 at 9:02 am
Beautiful place to visit!
On April 23, 2009 at 10:37 am
Wow! Great article. Gorgeous pictures. I’m impressed!
On April 23, 2009 at 5:07 pm
Great article – I can’t believe I’d never heard of this before! Thanks for educating me
On April 23, 2009 at 5:18 pm
amazing. And, I thought that Niagra was the tallest. Learned something new.
On April 24, 2009 at 5:16 am
Now that is unbelievably cool
On April 24, 2009 at 4:36 pm
Excellent! That was wonderful and well written article about
Kaieteur Falls..Must read..Well done and thanx for sharing..nice pics too
On April 24, 2009 at 7:29 pm
Breath taking pics. I loved the rainbow at the bottom of the falls.
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