Amazing Angel Falls - Great-grandfather Of All Waterfalls.
Ranked #2,394 in Animals, #52,903 overall
Twenty Times Higher than Niagara
In the 'Lost World' setting of the Venezuela Highlands,Angel Falls plunge over 3000 ft into nearly impenetrable jungle.
Jimmie Angel had no urge to carve his name on the map when he nosed his little Flamingo plane up that weirdly wonderful Venezuelan canyon in 1935. He was just a journeyman pilot, a First World War veteran, looking for a river full of gold in the fantastic chaos of stone and jungle called the Guyana Highlands.
Jimmie Angel had no urge to carve his name on the map when he nosed his little Flamingo plane up that weirdly wonderful Venezuelan canyon in 1935. He was just a journeyman pilot, a First World War veteran, looking for a river full of gold in the fantastic chaos of stone and jungle called the Guyana Highlands.
20 Ib. of Gold Nuggets
In Panama a few years before, a secretive old prospector named Williamson had hired Angel to fly him to Venezuela and inland to Ciudad Bolivar on the Orinoco River. Williamson had pointed out a zigzag course over the Orinoco llanos, a vast grassy basin studded with iron hills that jerked the compass into impotent jitters.
Further south they entered a crazy world of mesas, rearing thousands of feet from the jungle and split by plunging streams. They lurched to a stop in a grassy clearing and the old man went off to the river near by. An hour later he returned-bringing with him about 20 Ib. of gold nuggets.
Jimmie Angel's skill got them safely home again, and he was paid 5000 dollars for that flight into fantasia. A short time later Williamson died.
Further south they entered a crazy world of mesas, rearing thousands of feet from the jungle and split by plunging streams. They lurched to a stop in a grassy clearing and the old man went off to the river near by. An hour later he returned-bringing with him about 20 Ib. of gold nuggets.
Jimmie Angel's skill got them safely home again, and he was paid 5000 dollars for that flight into fantasia. A short time later Williamson died.
Discover Venezuela
Venezuela
Amazon Price: $16.49 (as of 01/01/2010)
Five authors, 187 days of in-country research, 495 arepas, 52 detailed maps, one paragliding accident.
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Expanded focus on sustainable travel helps readers plan environmentally and socially responsible adventures.
Unexpected Kind of Immortality
Angel returned to Venezuela. First he flew from Ciudad Bolivar, scouting from mesa to mesa. But that took too much time and fuel, so he built a camp and cleared a landing strip near Auydn-Tepui -Devil's Mountain-150 miles nearer his goal.
Auyan-Tepui is a giant among mesas. Its flattish top covers 250 square miles and bears apeak nearly 10,000 ft high. Aeons of erosion have cut a crooked, V-shaped canyon into its northern face, and from this surges a stream that stirred Jimmie's curiosity.
He had found a few nuggets and diamonds, but nothing like the rucksack-load that Williamson picked up in an hour. Perhaps he could never locate the golden stream again, but there must be others like it, and this canyon looked inviting. So he poked the Flamingo's nose between its blue-brown walls, and flew into an unexpected kind of immortality.
Auyan-Tepui is a giant among mesas. Its flattish top covers 250 square miles and bears apeak nearly 10,000 ft high. Aeons of erosion have cut a crooked, V-shaped canyon into its northern face, and from this surges a stream that stirred Jimmie's curiosity.
He had found a few nuggets and diamonds, but nothing like the rucksack-load that Williamson picked up in an hour. Perhaps he could never locate the golden stream again, but there must be others like it, and this canyon looked inviting. So he poked the Flamingo's nose between its blue-brown walls, and flew into an unexpected kind of immortality.
Vertical River Plummeting From the Clouds Above Him
From high in the wall on his right, a stream spurted and plunged to the jungle below. From a higher hole beyond it another one dived. Then another; then four side by side. And more beyond, right and left. The pilot soon lost count, for this gallery of spectacular waterfalls went on for miles.
Then, as he rounded a promontory, Angel came upon an unbelievable sight-a vertical river plummeting from the clouds above him, its roar drowning the sound of his engine. He craned to see the white column vanish in a mass of foam where it crashed into the valley.
He went down perilously close to the jungle floor and made a rough calculation of the fall's width. It was perhaps 500 ft. He climbed again, trying to estimate height by his altimeter. Somewhere between half a mile and a mile, he calculated.
Even half a mile would make that sheer drop the great-grandfather of all waterfalls.
Then, as he rounded a promontory, Angel came upon an unbelievable sight-a vertical river plummeting from the clouds above him, its roar drowning the sound of his engine. He craned to see the white column vanish in a mass of foam where it crashed into the valley.
He went down perilously close to the jungle floor and made a rough calculation of the fall's width. It was perhaps 500 ft. He climbed again, trying to estimate height by his altimeter. Somewhere between half a mile and a mile, he calculated.
Even half a mile would make that sheer drop the great-grandfather of all waterfalls.
Nothing Else Like This in the World
Angel made a layman's guess that there was nothing else like this in the world. He was right. When a National Geographic Society expedition measured the august marvel named Angel Falls in 1949, it found that the great cataract was 3212 ft high, 20 times the height of Niagara; almost three times as high as the Empire State Building. The first straight drop is 2648 ft; then the column bounds from a ledge and falls another 564 ft.
This is your guide to Angel Falls
Traveler's Companion Venezuela (Traveler's Companion Series)
Amazon Price: $23.95 (as of 01/01/2010)
From the opening pages, as Dominic Hamilton describes skipping up the rocky path to Venezuela's Angel Falls like an overexcited schoolboy, you know you're in for something different--and good--with this travel guide. Every travel guide series has its niche, and Traveler's Companion's is adventure and romance. Which is to say, this book spends most of its pages getting you enthused about the adventures waiting for you, rather than boring you with dry information and dull history lessons.
The Devil Himself Lived There
For centuries men had skirted and probed the region-a place where geography is so mad that a river flows in two directions. In 1800, Baron von Humboldt followed the Orinoco, which empties into the Caribbean, to a point where the upper river splits and one branch, the Casiquiare, is shunted southwards via the Amazon into the Atlantic. A few years later, Robert Schomburgk climbed Mount Roraima, far to the east, and found a plateau jungle of plant life unlike, and older than, any other known to science. When Conan Doyle wrote of such discoveries in his novel The Lost World, he scarcely exaggerated the realities of this region.
Before the plane came, Auydn-Tepui, 300 miles from Humboldt's trail and half as far from Mount Roraima, was only a piece of mapmakers' guesswork. Moreover, it was shielded by superstition. Its name, Devil's Mountain, had real meaning for the few jungle Indians of the region/The awesome thunderstorms it brewed were adequate proof that the devil himself lived there, and Indians gave it a wide berth.
Before the plane came, Auydn-Tepui, 300 miles from Humboldt's trail and half as far from Mount Roraima, was only a piece of mapmakers' guesswork. Moreover, it was shielded by superstition. Its name, Devil's Mountain, had real meaning for the few jungle Indians of the region/The awesome thunderstorms it brewed were adequate proof that the devil himself lived there, and Indians gave it a wide berth.
Immense Daily Flow
In Caracas, Gustavo Heny, a veteran mountaineer, and Felix Cardona, a Spanish explorer, were the first to become actively interested in Angel's story of his discovery. In 1937, in separate expeditions, they explored the canyon and saw that this was no orthodox waterfall: it was the end of an underground river roaring from an enormous tunnel 200 ft below the mesa top. How could that lost plateau, measuring only 15 by 22| miles, produce the immense daily flow from the great falls and its satellites, of which there were nearly a hundred?
From the nearest point accessible on foot, Heny and Cardona, who had met at Angel's base camp, set out to climb the cliffside. Aided by Angel, who dropped food from his plane, they reached 4000 ft. But horizontal progress from there was impossible. Ages of erosion had cut away the soft surface rock, leaving an insane pattern of fissures, some hundreds of feet deep, between jagged ridges of Cambrian sandstone. These offered an explanation for the streams that burst from the cliff sides.
From the nearest point accessible on foot, Heny and Cardona, who had met at Angel's base camp, set out to climb the cliffside. Aided by Angel, who dropped food from his plane, they reached 4000 ft. But horizontal progress from there was impossible. Ages of erosion had cut away the soft surface rock, leaving an insane pattern of fissures, some hundreds of feet deep, between jagged ridges of Cambrian sandstone. These offered an explanation for the streams that burst from the cliff sides.
Jumping off Angel Falls
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The Mesa is a Colossal Natural Condenser
The mesa is a colossal natural condenser, squarely in the path of the almost ceaseless trade winds from the Caribbean. As these meet the warm air rising from the low forests, they produce a constant mist. Precipitation is estimated to range up to 300 in. a year, and this may be one of the wettest area on earth. The honeycomb of deep fissures serves as a gigantic reservoir, feeding the underground rivers that form the falls. In the far distance Heny and Cardona spotted a level stretch through their field-glasses. If they could land a plane on it, the major falls might be accessible. Angel scouted the spot and decided that a landing might just be possible.
World's Greatest Sights
Wonders of the World: Natural and Man-Made Majesties
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Each "Wonder" is indicated by country and gorgeously photographed. Each has a blurb specifically about it as well as a story of interest regarding either the location or the peoples who created it. Each also has a small illustration which accents part of the story.
Walked Out
It was agreed that Heny and Angel would make the attempt, while Cardona would man the camp radio to keep contact and, if necessary, summon help. But when Jimmie's wife, Marie, who was also in camp, discovered their plan she delivered an ultimatum: 'You are not going up there without me!'The three landed safely, but the grass hid a soggy surface, and the wheels quickly bogged down. Angel found that a take-off was impossible. It was also impossible to reach the falls. They surveyed their chances, then called Cardona by radio, describing the route by which they would try to escape.
In answer to Cardona's radioed appeal, William Phelps, American businessman of Caracas, chartered a plane and started out the next day. The Venezuelan army sent another. But shifting cloud masses and their shadows made spotting three tiny human figures impossible.
Cardona and the rescue flyers had all but lost hope when, after two weeks, the two men and Marie Angel dragged one another into camp. They had rationed the food, and water was no problem, but their boots were shredded by the rocks, their clothes were torn away and their bodies were cut and bruised.
Jimmie Angel died in 1956
Jimmie Angel died in 1956 as the result of an air crash in Panama. As he had requested, his ashes were scattered over the falls.For 33 years, Angel's plane remained at the top of the tepui. Eventually a helicopter airlifted it. Restored, it is displayed outside the airport at Ciudad Bolívar. On top of the tepui itself a replica is placed.
Perfect series
Planet Earth - The Complete BBC Series
Amazon Price: $29.99 (as of 01/01/2010)
This really is the set to buy. It's like a living documentation of the beauty of our earth, some of which was starting to disappear right as the cameras were rolling. Perhaps, that is why BBC and Discovery spared no cost to produce this series and it is a masterpiece.
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- shiwangipeshwani shiwangipeshwani Feb 17, 2009 @ 11:20 am
- hi
a great lens it is.i wish i could be as good as u at writing lenses.i have just started writing today.After seeing this lens i am thrilled and hope to visit canada before dieing as u say
great job
bye
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Reply
- shiwangipeshwani shiwangipeshwani Feb 17, 2009 @ 11:20 am
- hi
a great lens it is.i wish i could be as good as u at writing lenses.i have just started writing today.After seeing this lens i am thrilled and hope to visit canada before dieing as u say
great job
bye
-
Reply
- GHouse GHouse Nov 23, 2008 @ 9:07 pm
- Hi!! Just come to see your nice lens. I did my travel lens too. It's about my hotel in hua hin Thailand. Hua Hin is a charming town of clean white sandy beach. If you come to Thailand, please visit us.
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- Ener-G Ener-G Nov 17, 2008 @ 10:33 pm
- A vicarious thrill!
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- JaguarJulie JaguarJulie Nov 16, 2008 @ 8:07 am
- Well, hello again today! Seeing a lot of you this past weekend. Like the music for this lens.
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