Kaieteur Falls

Kaieteur Falls
Kaieteur Falls, Guyana
Location	Kaieteur National Park, Potaro-Siparuni Region, Guyana
Coordinates	5°10′30″N 59°28′49.8″W
Type	Plunge
Elevation	4380
Total height	741 feet/226 meters
Number of drops	1
Longest drop	741 feet/226 meters
Watercourse	Potaro River
Average flow rate	23,400 cu ft/s (660 m3/s)
World height ranking	123

Kaieteur Falls is a high-volume waterfall on the Potaro River in central Guyana, Potaro-Siparuni region. It is located in Kaieteur National Park. It is 226 meters (741 ft) high when measured from its plunge over a sandstone and conglomerate 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 [1].

Kaieteur Falls is about three 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 Waterfall Database. The same web site lists it as 19th largest waterfall in terms of volume [2], 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.

Upriver from the falls, the Potaro Plateau stretches out to the distant escarpment of the Pakaraima Mountains. The Potaro river empties into the Essequibo River which is one the longest and widest rivers in South America.

Discovery

On 24 April 1870, Charles Barrington Brown, one of two British geologists appointed government surveyors to the colony of British Guiana (now known as 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.

At the time of discovery Brown did not have time to investigate Kaieteur Falls closer and he returned here one year later when measurements of the waterfall were made.

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.

Another legend though was told to Brown by Amerindians in the night of discovery of falls: Kaieteur has been named after an unpleasant old man who was placed in a boat and shoved in the fall by his relatives. Thus the fall was named "Kaieteur" what means - "old-man-fall".

Tourism

Kaieteur Falls is a major tourist attraction in Guyana. The falls is located in Kaieteur National Park and is in the centre of Guyana's rainforest. There are frequent flights between the falls' airstrip and Ogle Airport and Cheddi Jagan International Airport in Georgetown.

Services

Kaieteur International Airport is located on the left bank of the Potaro river and is 6 kilometers from Kaieteur falls. The Kaieteur International Airport serves the Potaro-Siparuni regions.

Popular culture

Kaieteur Falls is featured in the documentary film The White Diamond by Werner Herzog and Animal Planet's River Monsters with Jeremy Wade.

Kaiteur Falls is featured in the science fiction animation television series G Gundam. The lead character trains and bathes under the falls before his final fight.

Gallery

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  Kaieteur Falls September 2007

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  Kaietur Falls in the Dry Season, Feb 2007

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  Kaietur Falls in rainy season 2004

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External links

• Kaieteur National Park home to the Kaieteur Falls.
• Geographia.com - Places of interest in Guyana.
• Kaieteur Falls