Guyana: Kaieteur Falls Extension

Kaieteur Falls are without question the scenic highlight of Guyana. Plunging a heart-stopping 741 feet into a deep gorge, Kaieteur Falls is the world’s largest single-drop waterfall by volume. It’s far taller than Niagara Falls and remains one of the least commercialized major waterfalls on Earth. Kaieteur National Park, in which the falls are the centerpiece, is remarkably pristine and little visited; no roads link it to the outside world. Perhaps this is part of the lure of this magnificent region. The falls are situated where the Potaro River drops off the eastern edge of an ancient uplifted plateau, which forms the Pan-Tepui or Guianan Highlands region of western Guyana, southern Venezuela and northern Brazil.

The spectacular mesas (tepuis) carved by millions of years of erosion of this plateau are the home of many endemic plants and animals. The vertical cliffs and inaccessible tops of these tepuis inspired the famous novel The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle.

At about 1,320 ft. (400 meters), Kaieteur is the only region on the trip where we are high enough to encounter a few of the higher elevation species including Bluecheeked Parrot, White-chinned Swift, White-tipped Swift, Black-eared Fairy, Cliff Flycatcher, Orangebellied Manakin, and possibly Roraiman Antbird.

In the afternoon we will reboard our aircraft and return to Georgetown. We will gather this evening for a field checklist session and dinner.

At about 1,320 ft. (400 meters), Kaieteur is the only region on the trip where we are high enough to encounter a few of the higher elevation species.