Angel Falls

The world's tallest waterfall — 979 metres

Angel Falls is the tallest waterfall in the world: the water drops 979 metres — like a 300-storey building! It is so high that the water turns to mist before reaching the ground. The falls pour off a huge flat-topped mountain, Auyán-tepui ('Devil's Mountain'). Pilot Jimmie Angel spotted it from his plane in 1933 — hence the name. The film 'Up' was inspired by this place!

Angel Falls (Kerepakupai Merú — 'waterfall of the deepest place' in Pemon) has a total height of 979 m with an 807 m uninterrupted drop; it lies in Venezuela's Canaima National Park (UNESCO, 1994) on the Guiana Highlands. Auyán-tepui is a tepui ('house of the gods'): a plateau of 2-billion-year-old Precambrian sandstone, a 'table mountain' left after the surroundings eroded away; its walls rise 1,000 m; the summit hosts endemic plants (carnivorous species) — Conan Doyle's 'Lost World'. Rain on the plateau feeds it; in the dry season (December–March) the flow shrinks dramatically. In 1933 Jimmie Angel flew over it hunting for gold, and in 1937 he landed his plane on top (an 11-day walk down). Reachable only by river boat or plane. 'Paradise Falls' in Pixar's 'Up' (2009) is Angel Falls.

Fun facts

• Angel Falls drops 979 m — three times the height of the Eiffel Tower.
• The water falls so far that it turns to mist before reaching the ground.
• Pilot Jimmie Angel landed his plane on top in 1937 and walked down for 11 days.