Jimmy's Angel Falls
By: Matt Dirr
Background on the famous falls

Plummeting from Auyan-Tepui, or "Devil Mountain," Angel Falls is the world's highest waterfall (so high that during the dry season the cascade can evaporate into mist before it reaches bottom). Angel Falls plunges 3,212 ft/979 m (15 times that of Niagara!). The cascades originate atop a tepui, a great mesa or plateau with its own ecosystem, and ends in an almost impenetrable jungle. Angel Falls is Venezuela's most romantic sight, a must-see for those who enjoy nature in
all her splendid grandeur.

Although the local Indians had known of its existence for thousands of years, and Sir Walter Raleigh had probably heard of it, the earliest recorded sighting by a white man was in 1910, by Venezuelan explorer Ernesto Sánchez La Cruz. However the name comes from the American bush-pilot Jimmy Angel, who first flew over the area in 1921. He flew in from Panama, where he had been hired by an old prospector (for $5,000) to fly to and land on the summit of Auyán-tepui, where they allegedly found a stream, and panned considerable quantities of gold. The prospector, having sold his haul for $27,000, subsequently died, and it was not until 1935 that Angel returned, and found the falls that now bear his name. Two years later, in 1937, he attempted a landing, but despite a successful touchdown the aircraft (the Rio Caroní) nose-dived when it hit soft ground at the end of its landing run and Angel, his wife Marie and his companions (Gustavo Heny and his gardener!) had to walk out. Luckily, Heny had previously climbed the tepui, and so was able to guide the party down the south flank, a trip that took them
11 days. The plane remained there until 1970, when it was taken out by helicopter and can be seen today outside the airport terminal at Ciudad Bolívar.

See the Venezuelan Lost World region for available excursions.