Kaieteur Falls, Guyana

http://exploreguyana.org/kaieteur-falls/

https://national-parks.org/guyana/kaieteur#

Kaieteur Falls is Guyana's premier tourist destination and a wonder to behold. As the world's tallest single-drop waterfall at 471 feet or 226 metres, the falls crash down through beautiful forest scenery into the waters below that dance with shimmering rainbows.

A quote from Lonely Planet sums this place up beautifully. "Watching 1140 metric tons of water shooting over a 250m cliff... in the middle of an ancient jungle with few tourists in sight is a once-in-a-lifetime experience." (www.lonelyplanet.com/guyana/kaieteur-national-park/attractions/kaieteur-falls/a/poi-sig/363581/1329606).

I loved this place. It's a fun day out to a fantastic destination and a totally unique experience.

Watch the video

Short of time? Watch the short video

Why go?

http://www.guyanapnc.org/kaieteur-national-park/

Kaieteur National Park is Guyana's only national park, protecting 242 square miles or (630 sq km) of largely unexplored rainforest. The trees, shrubs and flowers here are beautiful and the trails between the viewpoints take you through lovely forests and heathland. The guides know a lot about the vegetation here and will be able to answer your questions and give you more info.

https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/55052/120128244

See the amazing wildlife. A very special animal is the endangered golden rocket frog who can only be found in Guyana, mainly in Kaieteur National Park. This beautiful little amphibian lives on bromeliads and guides are very good at finding them. We saw one when we were there.

Easy-to-see birds include the cliff flycatcher and various swallows, swifts and martins, all of whom forage around the falls. The Guianan cock-of-the-rock also lives there. We did not see this bird here but many visitors do.

Here's a bird list from Guyana Tourism in pdf format.

See the golden rocket frog and cliff flycatcher in our video.

Our guide at Kaieteur explained that many other animals and birds could be seen early in the morning and in the evening after tourists went home, including various monkey species, tayra, macaws and agoutis. See point 5 for information about staying at Kaieteur.

Getting there is half the fun. There is a direct short 50 minute flight from Georgetown to the falls. Planes are small, holding only 12 passengers, so everyone sees the views. The landscape of endless rainforest broken up by the odd mine is lovely but the views of Kaieteur are spectacular. The plane flies over the falls on one side, then circles and flies over on the other side so everyone gets an aerial view of this stunningly gorgeous place.

Get some exercise in a gorgeous setting. Guides lead you on a network of trails to between 3 and 5 viewpoints of the falls. Trails are designed to wind through rainforest, forest and heathland so you can walk through Kaieteur's different landscapes.

Guyana does not get many tourists so you will not be battling the crowds to see the views. There are no barriers at the viewpoints so you can get right to the edge but be very careful, especially after rain when surfaces can be slippery.

Most trips to Kaieteur are between 2 and 3 hours with the flight at either side. However, you can spend longer here. You can organise a walk to the base of the falls which takes between 3 and 4 hours, or go on more of the trails.

There is also a 5-day trek through the national park to the falls with the last night spent at a basic lodge near the visitors centre.

You can organise to fly in, spend the night at the lodge, then fly out the next day. This would give you a chance to see more of Kaieteur's spectacular wildlife. Note you are not permitted to wander the trails without a guide.

Watch the video

Short of time? Watch the short video

Getting there and around

http://exploreguyana.org/tour-operators/

To get to Kaieteur, you need to organise the trip through a tour operator in your home country or in Guyana. A list of Guyana tour operators is beneath the heading.

Browse the tour operator sites to find the trip best suited to your wishes. Most operators will combine a visit to Kaieteur with a trip to Orinduik Falls which are apparently also lovely. We sadly did not have time to do this.

The best time to organise a trip is at the weekend when planes have more chance of flying. They will only go to Kaieteur if most of the plane is booked up. We had a full plane (of 12 people) when we flew on a Sunday.

Do you have questions or comments about this article?

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