Angel Falls (Salto Ángel) is the world's highest uninterrupted waterfall at 979 metres (3,212 feet), with a free-falling drop of 807 metres. It plunges off the sheer face of Auyán-tepui, one of the flat-topped table mountains of Canaima National Park. The falls are so high that during the dry season the water partially evaporates into mist before reaching the bottom.
Getting here requires effort and money. The standard route is a small-plane flight from Ciudad Bolívar to the village of Canaima, followed by a motorized canoe trip up the Río Churún and a hike through jungle to the base of the falls. Budget tour operators in Ciudad Bolívar offer 2–3 day packages; going independently is possible but complicated. Chartering a light aircraft gives a spectacular aerial view, especially in the rainy season when the falls are at full force.
The falls were named for American bush pilot Jimmy Angel, who landed his plane on top of Auyán-tepui in 1937 (crash-landing is closer to the truth). Indigenous Pemón people knew them as Kerepakupai Merú long before that.
Canaima National Park, which surrounds the falls, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the largest national parks in the world. The tepui landscape — ancient sandstone plateaus rising abruptly from jungle — is found nowhere else on earth.