The Potaro River flows across a wide, flat tabletop of rock and then suddenly disappears over the edge. The water free-falls for about 226 metres, crashing into a pool at the bottom and sending up a huge cloud of spray. Because the river is so wide, the sheer amount of water going over makes Kaieteur one of the most powerful single-drop waterfalls anywhere in the world.
To get to Kaieteur you usually fly in a small propeller plane over miles and miles of green rainforest — it looks like a endless broccoli carpet below you. Then the falls appear out of nowhere: a silver line in all that green, with mist rising like smoke. Many visitors say seeing it for the first time takes their breath away.
Tiny golden poison-dart frogs — so small they can sit on your thumbnail — live among the plants that grow along the cliff edge. The spray keeps the plants permanently damp, creating a special mini-habitat unlike anywhere else on the planet. The whole area is protected inside Kaieteur National Park.
The name 'Kaieteur' comes from a Patamona Indigenous word. Local stories say the falls were created by a great chief called Kai, which is why they bear his name. Indigenous Patamona communities have called this part of Guyana home for thousands of years.