Angel Falls (Salto Ángel)
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Angel Falls is also called Salto Ángel or indigenously Kerepakupai-merú. The indigenous name derived from the Pemón natives means "falls from the deepest place". Ironically, the more famous name of the falls has nothing to do with the connotation that water falls from the heavens. In fact, it just so happened to be the name of aviator Jimmy Angel who in 1937 landed his plane above Auyantepui near the falls in an effort to prove to the world of the existence of the falls (and to search for gold). Given the soggy terrain atop the tepuy, he, his wife, and two friends landed the plane but couldn't take off again. They had no choice but to make the difficult trek down from the vertical cliffs of the tepui towards civilization (taking around 11 days). Only after successfully performing that feat did the falls become known to the rest of the world, and eventually the falls were named after Jimmy Angel. His plane has since been moved, restored, and we saw it on display at the airport in Ciudad Bolívar.
Sitting deep in the equatorial rainforest of Canaima National Park in Venezuela's southeast, Salto Ángel was definitely remote as far as we were concerned. Getting to the falls required for us a lengthy journey by air, river, and jungle so we definitely had to earn it. And I'd argue that with this attraction it was more about the journey than the destination. Adding to the allure of this mystical waterfall was the fact that the we got to experience other waterfalls as part of this excursion. These waterfalls included Salto Ucaima, Salto Golondrina, Salto Wadaima, Salto Hacha, and Sapo Falls as well as a few others. Check out the photos below to see more photos of the graceful Angel Falls... [Back to top] NEARBY WATERFALLSHave you been to Angel Falls?
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Jungle Rudy's
Angel Falls - Paradise on earth !
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Angel Falls
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Over, Around, and Beside Angel Falls
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Frequent Guest (Angel Falls)
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Memorable Angel Falls
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We saw Angel Falls take on many forms from thick multi-segmented horsetail plumes to a thinner horsetail that disappeared into mist on its way down before reappearing as lower cascades for the remainder of its drop. Often the falls and the tepui were shrouded in swirling mist and clouds giving a mystical and mysterious (some say a Jurassic "Lost World") feel to the place. Regardless of how it has been romanticized, the place is indeed magical and unique, and quite different from say other wonders of the world like 
On the boat ride heading up Rio Carrao
A couple of hours into the boat ride and the clouds were shrouding the tepuys now towering over us
Well into the 4-hour upstream boat ride, we went into a different river called Rio Churun, and the water here looked blood red like sangre. Our guide said it was Coca-Cola.
The weather briefly lightened up as we could see more shapely tepuys in the distance
It was becoming quite the long river ride at this point and our bums were getting sore
Long 4-hour river ride over and now the 90-minute uphill hike; starting with this river crossing (I don't recall if we brought change of shoes for this or if I risked the snakes and wore 
the whole way)
It was definitely NOT an easy hike. As you can see, there were lots of roots, it was steep, and we had to accept the sticky, muggy conditions.
Finally, we made it to el mirador! Unfortunately, it was a bit crowded
Finally, the crowds started dispersing and we were able to get this view of Salto Ángel from Mirador Laime in light to average flow
We turned around and saw this waterfall way in the distance
Yep, we had to sleep in hammocks with mosquito nets
After a nonstop thunderstorm last night, it looked like we weren't going to see any of the now-swollen falls that morning
Then, miraculously, the skies cleared up. And we were able to get this closeup of Salto Ángel in full flow
Aerial profile view of Salto Ángel
Nearly direct aerial look at Salto Ángel
More angled aerial look at Salto Ángel
