Mystery Wonders
Kerepakupai Meru (Angel Falls)

Home | Last Added

Angel Falls, the tallest waterfall in the world, drops nearly a kilometer (about 979m total drop with 807m freefall) from a table-top mountain (tepuy or tepui in the indigenous Pemón language). Of all the famous waterfalls that Julie and I have been to, this one seemed to invoke a sense of mystery and adventure. This was probably due to the fact that its remote location meant we needed to endure long transits plus a pretty strenuous and muggy hike to the overlook pictured at the top of this page. On top of that, the elusive falls was frequently shrouded in clouds. Only Mother Nature revealed this gem on her terms and we were relegated to hope she would be kind to us on the limited amount of time we were there. Plus, we had heard about legends regarding its discovery by the Western world, and we were intrigued by the lost world atop the falls where I'm certain not many people have been. The tepuy from which Angel Falls makes its dramatic plunge is known as Auyantepuy (or Auyantepui) meaning "Mountain of the God of Evil" as well as "Devil's Mountain". The waterfall's existence seemed to us like a paradox as it didn't appear to be fed by conventional drainage sources such as snow/glacier melt, lakes, nor a major river system. Instead, the abundance of water responsible for the falls was practically all rainfall from equatorial tropical clouds condensing onto the cloud forest atop the tepuy's plateau. It was almost as if the clouds wrung its water onto the tepuy like a soaked rag. Angel Falls is also called Salto Ángel or indigenously Kerepakupai-merú. The indigenous name derived from the Pemón natives means "falls from the deepest place". Ironically, the more famous name of the falls had nothing to do with the connotation that its water fell from the heavens. On the contrary, it just so happened to be the name of aviator Jimmy Angel who in 1937 landed his plane above Auyantepui near the falls in an effort to prove to the world of the existence of the falls (and apparently to search for gold). According to the literature that we've been exposed to, given the soggy terrain atop the tepuy, Angel, his wife, and two friends landed the plane but couldn't take off again. They had no choice but to make the difficult trek down from the vertical cliffs of the tepui towards civilization (taking around 11 days). Only after successfully performing that feat did the falls become known to the rest of the world, and so eventually the falls were named after Jimmy Angel himself. His plane has since been moved, restored, and we saw it (or at least a replica of it) on display at the airport in Ciudad Bolívar. To give you an idea of what it took for us to see the falls, we first had to endure sore bums riding a small motorized boat against the current of two different rivers (i.e. El Rio Carrao and the almost blood-colored Rio Churun) for four hours. Once the boat ride was done, we then had to cross a stream (the same one responsible for the falls) before embarking on a steep and uphill 90-minute hike. I recalled we brought Keens to handle both the water and the hiking, but if we were to bring hiking boots, then we probably would've carried an extra pair of water shoes or sandals so as to not ruin the boots on that stream crossing.


Story continues below !













The uphill hike involved stepping onto exposed roots (i.e. it can be slippery) plus the constant humidity meant the trail was typically muddy where there was dirt. We were warned about the possibility of snakes prior to the trip so that did weight on our mind about whether to bring hiking boots versus just relying on Keens. Anyways, once we were at the overlook (mirador), there was limited space so at first there was a crowd, but it did eventually lighten up as we lingered there waiting for the clouds to part and reveal the falls itself. Our arrival was pretty late in the day so we didn't continue hiking towards the pool by the base of the cascades below the base of the main falls. When the day was done, we slept on hammocks with mosquito nets in an open-air camp covered with a corrugated tin roof. Given the adventure it took to get here, you could argue that this type of excursion was more about the journey than the destination. Yet it was probably because of the uncertainties surrounding our excursion that the reward and exhilaration factor was amplified when the falls was revealed to us. In the short time we were able to witness Angel Falls, we saw it take on many forms - from thick multi-segmented horsetail plumes to a thinner horsetail that disappeared into mist on its way down before reappearing as lower cascades for the remainder of its drop. We tried to time our trip to ensure the highest likelihood of seeing the falls flow while trading that with the likelihood of clouds obscuring our view of the falls (as well as trying to take advantage of holidays).

The Natives in Venezuela had known about the "Salto Angel" since the beginning of time. Then United States pilot Jimmie Angel was flying over the area in 1935 when he landed on the top of a lone mountain in search of gold. His plane got stuck in the boggy jungle on top of the mountain and he noticed a pretty impressive waterfall plunging thousands of feet down. He wasn't too happy about the 11 mile hike back to civilization, and his plane remained stuck and rusting upon the mountain as a monument to his discovery. Soon the whole world would know about the falls, which came to be known as Angel Falls, after the pilot who "discovered" them. Angel Falls plunges 3,212 feet, with the longest single drop of 2,648 feet (979m/807m) from the top of a mesa, or what the natives call a Tepuyi. Named "Auyantepui", the Angel Falls mesa is one of over a hundred of its kind which are scattered about the Guiana Highlands of southeast Venezuela. Like so many slumbering giants, what characterizes these mesas (Tepuys) is their massive heights soaring up towards the sky, each with a flat top and totally vertical sides (check out the picture at left). Also called "table mountains" (which accurately describes their shapes) these Tepuys were formed out of sandstone billions of years ago. Their vertical sides are continually being eroded by the action of water from the heavy rainfall the Guiana Highlands gets. (Photo used with permission from Berrucomons). Take a flying tour over the worlds' highest waterfall




you might be interested


Mount Nemrut

Spontaneous combustion

Fly Geyser

Stonehenge Stones

Lencois Mranhenses Brasil

Lost Kingdom Of Cleopatra

Banaue Rice Terraces

Pamukkale

Crystal Underwater Pyramid Cuba

Santorini

Nasca Lines

Taj Mahal

Bagan Myanmar

Grand Canyon

Pompeii After Eruption

Underwater Pyramids of Cuba

Largest Crab Ever

Pillars of weathering

Sailing Stones

Angel Falls

Acropolis of Athens

Hitler fled to Argentina ?

Antarctica

Easter Island Secrets

Statue of Zeus at Olympia

Stone Forest

Door to Hell

Everglades Park

Arizona Wave

Aurora

Leaning Tower of Pisa

Black Hole

3,800 year old mummy Xiahoe

Blue Belize Hole

El Chupacabra

Mount Rushmore

Kittiwake Shipwreck

Iron Pillar Delhi

Timbuktu

Leshan Giant Buddha China

Bermuda Triangle

Kukulkan Pyramid Chichen Itza

Memnon Colossi

GREAT SPHINX OF GIZA

Angkor Wat

Reed Flute Cave

Katmai Crater Lake

Ark of the Covenant

Shroud of Turin

Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

Natural Zhangjiaje

Ancient Atomic Bomb India

The Ancient City of Mes Aynak

Yellowstone Park

Parícutin Vulcan

Vimana Flying Machine

K2 Pakistan

Colossus of Rhodes

Zhangye Danxia

Blue Neon Waves

Borobudur Temple

Tunguska Explosion Russia

Plitvice Lakes

Area 51

Giant Stone Balls

The Wonder Cave

200 yo mummy not dead

Terracotta Army

Twin Town

KAMPUNG KUANTAN FIREFLIES

Mausoleum at Halicarnassus

Valley of Love Ireland

The Matterhorn

Rio de Janeiro

Colosseum Rome Italy

Waterfalls Rio Tulija

Victoria Falls

Red Rain

Two Headed Snake

Alien Skulls ?

Underwater Museum Cancún Mexico

Famous Petra

Columnar Basalt

Ayers Rock

The Great Wall of China

Wonder Rock

Underwater Cancun

Hanging Gardens of Babylon

Machu Picchu

Sigiriya Sri Lanka

The Sahara Desert

Lighthouse of Alexandria

Lost Heracleion City

Tutankhamun Mummy

Valley of the Kings

Great Pyramid of Giza



Parícutin
Twin Town
Colossus of Rhodes
Lost Kingdom Of Cleopatra
Ancient Atomic Bomb India
Leaning Tower of Pisa
Pompeii After Eruption
Wonder Rock
Lighthouse of Alexandria
200 yo mummy not dead
Underwater Cancun
Terracotta Army
Natural Zhangjiaje
Tunguska Explosion Russia
Blue Belize Hole
Red Rain
Valley of the Kings
Tutankhamun Mummy
Pillars of weathering
K2 Pakistan
Everglades Park
Taj Mahal
Shroud of Turin
Angkor Wat
Katmai Crater Lake
Antarctica
Famous Petra
Grand Canyon
Plitvice Lakes
Memnon Colossi
Pamukkale
Giant Stone Balls
Spontaneous combustion
Leshan Giant Buddha China
Door to Hell
Black Hole
Timbuktu
Hitler fled to Argentina
Two Headed Snake
Crystal Underwater Pyramid Cuba
The Great Wall of China
3,800 year old mummy Xiahoe
Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
Acropolis of Athens
Columnar Basalt
Largest Crab Ever
Paracas Skulls
Mount Nemrut
Stonehenge
Mount Rushmore
Colosseum Rome Italy
Kukulkan Pyramid Chichen Itza
Arizona Wave
Easter Island Secrets
Santorini
The Wonder Cave
Nasca Lines
Bermuda Triangle
Bagan Myanmar
Ayers Rock
Valley of Love Ireland
Lost Heracleion City
Machu Picchu
Borobudur Temple
The Ancient City of Mes Aynak
KAMPUNG KUANTAN FIREFLIES
Underwater Museum Cancún Mexico
Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
Area 51
Fly Geyser
Sigiriya Sri Lanka
Victoria Falls
Waterfalls Rio Tulija
Hanging Gardens of Babylon
Rio de Janeiro
Stone Forest
Statue of Zeus at Olympia
Great Pyramid of Giza
Sahara Desert
Reed Flute Cave
Kittiwake Shipwreck
Lencois Mranhenses Brasil
El Chupacabra
Angel Falls
Banaue Rice Terraces
Yellowstone
Vimana Flying Machine
GREAT SPHINX OF GIZA
Blue Neon Waves
Ark of the Covenant
Zhangye Danxia
Iron Pillar Delhi
Matterhorn Mountain
Underwater Pyramids of Cuba
Aurora
Sailing Stones










back to top


About Us | Privacy Policy