Angel Falls

Location

Canaima National Park
Venezuela
5° 58' 3" N, 62° 32' 8.016" W
VE
General info: 

The water pouring down from a flat-topped plateau Auyán-Tepuí creates a sight that is best described as completely epic. The huge waterfall in middle of rainforest looks like a scenery from a sci-fi movie.

Angel Falls is the world’s highest waterfall at 979 m (3,212 ft), with the height of the longest drop 807m (2,647 ft). As a comparison, the Angel Falls are more than 19 times higher than the Niagara Falls and more than twice as high as the Empire State Building.

The original indigenous name for the falls is private://Kerepakupai Venáprivate://, meaning private://waterfall of the deepest placeprivate://. Today however, they are named after US aviator Jimmie Angel, who was the first person to fly over the falls.

Getting there: 

Nice thing about Angel Falls is that getting to the falls is not easy by any stretch of the imagination. Getting to the falls is an adventure itself which keeps the experience pure and the tourist masses away.

The easiest way to see the falls is from plane. The second easiest is to book a guided tour where the guides will take care of all the details. Here is brief info about how to get there (one of many options).

First, get to Canaima, Venezuela. This is usually a connecting flight from Caracas. In Canaima get to Puerto Ucaima and boat upstream for 4 hours to reach the Angel Falls trail. Hike 90 minutes along a steeply uphill soggy and slippery jungle trail that also includes crossing a stream. You are about there. Take the same track back.

Costs: 

The price for a 2 day trip from Canaima is somewhere around 230€ ($290) to 330€ ($420) per person depending on the operator and the package.

You might be interested in

Out of crazy walkways, this has got to be one of the craziest. Near the top of the Tianmen Mountain, on a sheer rock face goes this 60m long walkway.

The aptly named Half Dome is possibly Yosemite's most familiar rock formation. The granite crest rises more than 4,737 ft (1,444 m) above the valley floor and the drop from the top is nearly vertical.

The White Cliffs of Dover are one of England’s most recognizable landmarks. The sheer cliffs of white chalk mark the closest part of England and reach up to 350 feet (110 m).

Devils Tower is the most improbable rock formation rising dramatically 1,267 feet (386 m) above the surrounding terrain with summit 5,114 feet (1,559 m) above sea level.

Europe's largest high alpine meadow, Alpe di Siusi, separates two of the most famous Dolomite ski-resort valleys (Val di Fassa and Val Gardena).

Is it serious when a glacier bleeds? Not necessarily. It might be the Blood Falls in East Antarctica. This five-story high, blood-red waterfall pours slowly out of the Taylor Glacier.