Visit the Kaieteur Falls in Guyana
Fly deep into Guyana’s interior and watch the Potaro River suddenly disappear over the edge of a vast sandstone escarpment. Kaieteur Falls plunges about 226 metres in a single major drop, surrounded by dense rainforest rather than roads, hotels or a built-up viewing complex. Its remoteness is a major part of the experience: even arriving usually means crossing hundreds of kilometres of forest in a small aircraft before landing inside Kaieteur National Park. Once on the ground, guided trails lead towards several viewpoints around the falls. The national park is also home to species including the Guianan cock-of-the-rock and tiny golden frogs, while Kaieteur swifts nest around the waterfall itself. There are relatively few barriers between visitors and the surrounding landscape, so this feels much less engineered than many famous waterfall attractions. Most visitors take a same-day flight from Georgetown, with the journey taking roughly an hour each way and around two hours spent exploring the national park. Flights are highly dependent on weather and may be cancelled or delayed, so avoid building an inflexible itinerary around a single opportunity if Kaieteur is one of the main reasons for your trip. Add this to your list and see one of South America’s great waterfalls in the rainforest setting that makes it exceptional.