Kaieteur Falls

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Coordinates: 5 ° 10 ′ 41 ″  N , 59 ° 28 ′ 56 ″  W.

Kaieteur Falls (Guyana)
Kaieteur waterfalls
Kaieteur waterfalls
View of the waterfall taken on April 24, 1870 by the discoverer Charles B. Brown
Kaieteur Falls

The Kaieteur waterfalls of the Potaro River are located at the entrance to the Potaro Gorge , in the Potaro-Siparuni region of Guyana ( South America ).

The Kaieteur Falls are among the tallest waterfalls in America. Here, the Kaieteur river falls in a single stage over a width of almost 100 meters over a 247 m high sandstone - cliff from Highland French Guiana in the lying approximately at sea level lowland.

history

The British geologist and topographer Charles B. Brown toured the mostly unexplored hinterland of British Guiana from 1868 to 1871 . Brown was commissioned with the exact measurement of the river courses and geological investigations. On April 24, 1870, accompanied by local guides from the nearby settlement of Cara-Cara, he was the first European to see the waterfall and made the drawing opposite. The name of the waterfall was taken from the associated river Kaieteur, at the mouth of which there was already a Dutch military post, but whose administration had no knowledge of the upper reaches of the river.

According to a legend of the Patamona Indians, their chief Kai found death in the waterfall: his tribe was attacked by warlike Caribs, and in his distress Kai turned to the spirit Makunaima. This claimed a victim. Then Kai got into a canoe, with which he fell with the masses of water into the depths. Thus he could bring peace to the land of his tribe.

In 1908 , the German-American biologist Carl H. Eigenmann also researched the area.

Near the Kaieteur Falls is the type locality of the rare mineral Potarit , which is named after the Potaro River.

The waterfall is one of the most important sights in the country and the subject of the documentary The White Diamond by Werner Herzog . He is also featured in the film Green Mansions .

Animals

Away from the waterfall, it is the habitat for a number of exotic animals and plants as well as for many rare species that can be observed there. There live u. a. the rare golden frogs that hide in bromeliads along the hiking trails. In sunny weather, you have the opportunity to spot lizards basking on warm stones. Bird species such as B. Macaws, swallows or the Guyana rock cock build their nests here.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Charles B. Brown: Canoe and Camp Life in British Guiana. London 1876. pp. 188-223.
  2. Kaietur Falls at mindat.org

Web links

Commons : Kaieteur Falls  - collection of images, videos and audio files