Where is Angel Falls
The world's highest Angel Falls is located in South America (Venezuela country), on the Guiana Plateau, in the Canaima National Park. It is located on a small river called Churun.
Local Indians knew about its existence and called it Churun-Meru or Apemey, which translates as “maiden's eyebrow”. Europeans discovered it only at the beginning of the 20th century. The total height is 979 m (according to other sources, 1054 m), the free fall height is 807 m. It is named after the pilot James Crawford Angel, who flew over the falls in 1935.
Geographic coordinates of Angel Falls: 5 ° 58′03 ″ north latitude; 62 ° 32'08 ″ west longitude.
Description
The Churun River is one of the many mountain streams that wind through the Guiana Plateau. It begins on the slope of one of the high-mountainous plateaus and flows into an equally small rivulet, the Karoni tributary. The plateau along which the river flows is composed of horizontal layers of light red sandstone cut by many faults and vertical cracks. They are drainage channels for the stormy streams that occur after tropical rainfall that often occurs in these areas.
Churun slowly carries its waters, winding along the faults, and eventually reaches the cliff. There, the speed of the river increases significantly, and its waters rush down from a height of 807 m, run into an obstacle, after which they fall from a height of 172 m and form a huge lake in the forest, at the foot of the rocks. The total height of the waterfall is 979 m.
Promotional video:
It is better to admire Angel Falls from a long distance: in the area of the cliff, you can see a thin white strip, which gradually increases, turning into a huge column of foam and spray and dissolving in the green of the forest. Angel Falls is also beautiful during the rain: it seems that it is surrounded by many silver threads and small streams of water seeping through the rock and escaping to the surface from cracks in the sandstone under the cliff.
• Travelers who admired the waterfall left their descriptions of this grandiose natural phenomenon. But one of the most picturesque descriptions belongs to the chairman of the Soviet Peace Committee Yu. Zhukov, who saw the waterfall from an airplane in 1971. He later wrote:
“The pilot is flying his plane close, close to him. Before us is incredibly high - a kilometer! - an elastic foamy-white water column, a tight stream of a stream rushes down from the plateau into the abyss, at the bottom of which the Churun river revives, whose flow was interrupted by this crazy water jump …
The height of the fall of the water here is so great that the stream, before reaching the bottom of the abyss, turns into water dust that falls on the stones as rain. It was necessary to see this in order to imagine all the uniqueness of the opening spectacle: somewhere below, at a distance of about 300 m from the bottom of the abyss, a powerful, elastic, boiling stream suddenly seemed to melt and break off in the fog. And even lower, as if being born out of nothing, the river raged … How I would like to approach the waterfall not by plane, but on the ground, to stand near it, listen to its roar, inhale the smell of water falling from the skies! But this is impossible….
Discovery history
1910 - Ernesto Sánchez la Cruz described in detail the beauty of the waterfall, but even after that the waterfall did not arouse interest for some time. The waterfall was officially opened only in the 1930s. At that time, the diamond rush began in Venezuela. Many adventurers rushed into the forests in search of diamonds. One of them was James Angel. He bought a small sports plane and went in search of diamonds, which he hoped to find in the Auyan-Tepui massif. Probably, other planes had flown there earlier, but the pilots did not see the waterfall, since it was hidden from them by dense clouds that often occur in these places. Angel was lucky, he flew in clear weather and he managed to make out a giant waterfall. A stunning sight opened before him.
How did the name of the waterfall appear?
Perhaps James Angel, having first seen the waterfall, lost control or, according to one version, the chassis burst when they were looking for a landing site. However, his plane crashed and he landed in the jungle. As soon as he was able to get to the nearest post office, he reported the existence of the waterfall to the US National Geographic Society. The tallest waterfall in the world was named after him - Angel, which translates as "angel". On Latin American maps, the waterfall is designated as Salto Angel, that is, "angel jump".
James Angel (Angel).
Return to the waterfall
Two years later, Angel, together with two experienced climbers, returned to these parts to survey the waterfall. They got to him on an airplane, which they could not land for a long time, since there was only impenetrable jungle around. In the end, the pilot noticed a small flat area and landed, but the plane immediately got bogged down in a swamp.
The researchers were rescued, but all the necessary equipment was lost. The waterfall was studied only in 1949 by a joint Venezuelan-American expedition.
James Angel spent the last years of his life in Venezuela. The discoverer died in 1956. According to his will, his ashes were scattered over the world's highest Angel Falls.
Information for tourists
Its remoteness and inaccessibility have kept the untouched nature of those places and made, the highest waterfall in the world, one of the most inaccessible tourist attractions in Venezuela. Traveling by car is not possible because there are almost no roads in most of the Canaima National Park. Small airstrips for light aircraft connect this amazing area with the outside world.
Most of the tourists visiting the highest waterfall in the world do it from the plane. Almost all flights to Canaima, whether commercial or charter, take place near this falls. However, given that the waterfall falls from the wall of a steep canyon, often shrouded in clouds (especially during the rainy season), it is not always possible to see it. Moreover, even on a clear day, when the plane makes a couple of flights from each side, you can only briefly inspect it. It is recommended to use the plane during the dry season. It's December-March. The downside in this case is that there is little water at this time of the year.
To fully enjoy the splendor of Angel Falls, you should take a trip by canoe with a motor. Almost all hotels and travel agencies in Canaima can offer 1, 2 or 3 day tours. They all go along the same route, the difference is only in the amount of time, which completely depends on the wishes of the visitor.
The highest waterfall in the world, located about 5 hours canoeing upstream of the city of Canaima, then hike through the jungle to its base (about an hour). The path to the waterfall from Canaima is no less interesting part of the trip and allows you to get acquainted with the unique species of Venezuelan flora and fauna, enjoy the beautiful landscapes of the surrounding nature. If the water flow is moderate enough, there is an opportunity to swim in the small body of water at the foot of the waterfall.
For thrill-seekers, you can jump from the edge of the plateau on a hang glider and admire the beauty of the waterfall from a bird's eye view.