Angel Falls

by Manuela Santana (subscribe)

Almost like you're discovering a lost world, this adventure is a must if you are visiting South America.

Angel Falls (or its proper name in Spanish, El Salto Ángel) is one of Venezuela's top tourist attractions, as it is the world's highest uninterrupted waterfall, with a height of 979 m (3,212 ft) and a plunge of 807 m (2,648 ft) - which means it is 15 times higher than Niagara Falls. Believe me, you will feel like an ant.

A lost island filled with exotic plants and animals, deep in the Guyana Highlands of south-eastern Venezuela. A beautiful place that inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to write "The Lost World", a novel about a South American mountain populated by dinosaurs.

The waterfall drops over the edge of the Auyantepuy mountain (Auyantepuy means "Mountain of the God of Evil" or "Devil's Mountain") in the Canaima National Park, an Unesco world heritage site in the Gran Sabana region of the Bolivar state.

You can breath in and out and almost instantly your lungs will be like new. All the green forest vegetation is often surrounded by swirling misty clouds, giving a mystical and mysterious feel to the place. The Angel Falls is indeed magical and unique, and quite different from other wonders of the world.

Up's movie director did visit this South American location to model their fictional waterfall. The production team was on a ten-day adventure to the luxuriant rainforest of Venezuela.

Director Pete Docter was amazed by what he saw - "It's one of the last pristine unexplored areas of the world, in fact the plants and the animals are known no-where else. It's a real living laboratory as far as natural history is concerned." (www.telegraph.co.uk)

A day trip to Camp Canaima from Ciudad Guayana by the Orinoco River means rising before dawn, but this breathtaking experience is totally worth it.

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Why? Amazing adventure

Where: Venezuela