South & Central America

Kaieteur Falls

The Kaiteur Falls were first protected within a National park back in 1929 by the British Colonial Administration. Over the years the land endured many pressures from loggers and miners, but has now been further protected by an Act of Parliament in 1999 that has expanded the Kaiteur Falls National Park to over 220 square miles (approx. 62,700 hectares).

The Kaiteur Falls are without question the principal highlight of the country's interior. It reaches a height of 822 feet and has a spectacular sheer single drop of 741 feet, which makes it one of the highest in the world as well as twice the height of the Victoria Falls and five times the height of  the Niagra Falls.

Various indigenous Indian myths and legends have grown up around the falls, partly on account of its remote location as it is only possible to access the falls by light aircraft, but what is far from mythical is the staggering wealth of biodiversity that exists around the falls. Many rare breeds of animals and birds such as the Cock-of-the-Rock and the endangered Golden Frog live here as do an extraordinary number of plant species. This is a botanists paradise and it is thought there are still many species that are still waiting to be discovered.