The Potaro River goes over a sandstone lip in the middle of Guyanese rainforest and drops 226 metres in a single plunge, 251 with the cascades below, at an average 663 cubic metres a second. It is the combination that matters: plenty of waterfalls are taller and plenty carry more water, but very few do both, which makes this one of the most powerful single-drop falls on Earth, about four and a half times the height of Niagara and twice Victoria. There is no railing, no crowd and usually no fence. In the giant bromeliads that grow in the spray lives the golden rocket frog, which spends its entire life in the pool of water held by a single plant. Kaieteur International is a 15-minute walk from the top, with regular light aircraft from Georgetown.
Potaro-Siparuni, Guyana
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