Angel Falls drops 979 metres off the cliff of Auyán-tepui in a single uninterrupted plunge — the highest waterfall in the world by a margin that is hard to overstate. The water is wind-blown into vapour long before it reaches the rocks at the bottom, and on a bright morning the spray catches the sun in a permanent rainbow across the bowl of the canyon. The Pemón name, Kerepakupai Vená, means "fall of the deepest place".
The classic visit is a long, satisfying day. From Canaima village, a motorised wooden curiara takes six to eight hours up the Río Carrao and Río Churún through tepui country to a basic camp at Isla Ratoncito. From there a hot one-hour walk through forest leads to the Mirador Laime viewpoint directly opposite the cliff. Travellers usually swim in the cold pool below the falls, sleep in hammocks at camp, and return the next morning. The trip only runs reliably from June to November when the rivers are high; outside the wet season the falls themselves thin to a streamer and the boats often cannot get up the river at all.