Location: Potaro- Siparuni Map
Plunge: 741 feet (226 meters)
Area: 224 sq mi (580 sq km)
Length: 5 mi (8 km)
Height: 741 ft (226 m) www.kaieteurpark.gov.gy
Kaieteur Falls is a beautiful geologic formation on Potaro river in Potaro- Siparuni region of Guyana. Total height of Kaieteur Waterfall is measured at 741 feet or 226 meters. It is protected by Kaieteur National Park that covers a total area of 224 sq mi (580 sq km).
Kaieteur Falls has a free fall of up to 226 meters
from the exit of the water until the first time it touches rocks,
but then it flows towards a series of steep water falls, which being
included in the height of the waterfall make it reach up to 256
meters.
Kaieteur Falls are up to 5 times higher than Niagara
Falls, located between the USA and Canada but much less known,
and about 2 times the height of Victoria Falls (located between the
Zambian and Zimbabwean Border in South Africa), is the nineteenth
waterfall by volume and according to some estimates is the
twenty-sixth waterfall Scenic of the world.
The British geologist and topographer Charles B. Brown
traveled from 1868 to 1871 through the largely unexplored hinterland of
British Guiana. Brown was commissioned with the exact surveying of the
river courses and geological investigations. On April 24, 1870,
accompanied by local guides from the nearby settlement of Cara-Cara, he
was the first European to see the waterfall and made a drawing. The name
of the waterfall was taken from the associated river Kaieteur, at the
mouth of which there was already a Dutch military post, but whose
administration had no knowledge of the upper reaches of the river.
According to a legend of the Patamona Indians, their chief Kai found
his death in the waterfall: his tribe was attacked by the warlike
Caribs, and in his distress Kai turned to the spirit Makunaima. This
demanded a sacrifice. Then Kai climbed into a canoe, with which he
plunged into the depths with the masses of water. Thus he was able to
bring peace to the land of his tribe.
In 1908, the German-US
biologist Carl H. Eigenmann also explored the area.
Near the
Kaieteur Falls lies the type locality of the rare mineral potarite,
named after the Potaro River.
The waterfall is one of the most
important sights in the country and the subject of the documentary film
The White Diamond by Werner Herzog. He is also shown in the film Green
Mansions.
The area surrounding the waterfall in Kaieteur National Park is home to exotic animals and plants. Rare species can also be observed there, e.g. the gold frogs who hide in bromeliads along the trails. In sunny weather one has the opportunity to spot lizards sunbathing on warm stones. bird species such as B. Macaws, swallows or the Guyana rock cock build their nests here.
Kaieteur Falls is a major tourist attraction in Guyana and visitors also take photographs of the landscape around the falls when they visit. It is one of the most visited tourist spots in Guyana Essequibo, the area claimed by Venezuela. Although this place is not well known, every year many people come to admire this natural beauty.