Water leaves the top of Auyán-tepui and falls 979 metres, 807 of that in one uninterrupted plunge, which makes it the tallest uninterrupted waterfall in the world, with an ongoing argument about how it compares to Tugela in South Africa. It falls so far that in the dry season much of it turns to mist before it reaches the bottom. The Pemon call it Körepakupai Vená, waterfall of the deepest place. The name in general use comes from Jimmie Angel, an American pilot who flew over it on 16 November 1933 while prospecting for ore, and who later landed on the tepui and got his plane stuck in the bog; it sat up there for 33 years. Hugo Chávez pushed for the Pemon name in 2009 but did not decree the change. You fly to Canaima and go up the river by boat, June to December, when there is enough water to float.
Canaima National Park, Venezuela
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