Angel Falls

Angel Falls

The Angel Falls (after the re-discoverer Jimmie Angel) is a waterfall in southeastern Venezuela. It is 979 m ( largest single level 805 m) drop height of the tallest free- falling waterfall on earth. In the language of the indigenous Pemon he called Kerepakupai Meru which means about jump of the deepest place. Sometimes it is confused with the nearby waterfall Churún - Merú.

Geography

The belonging to the Gran Sabana waterfall is part of the National Park Canaima. Its water, the Río Churún, forms a tributary of the Río Carrao. It falls from a projection of the Auyán - Tepui, a mesa with 700 sq km in depth. Halfway the water atomized especially in the dry season to a cloud of tiny water droplets; these accumulate at the foot of the cliff to a raging river. Shortly thereafter, the water falls again 200 m in depth. The waterfall is fed by often violent thunderstorm rains that fall on the great plateau of Table Mountain. From rock holes 40 m below the escarpment where the water crashes into the depths.

Discovery

Although the Venezuelan Ernesto Sanchez la Cruz discovered the falls in 1910, he was only in 1933 after the re- discovery by the American bush pilot Jimmie Angel known ( hence the name Angel Falls ).

In 1923, Jimmie Angel was persuaded in Panama from an alleged mining engineer him to fly for $ 5,000 on a certain mountain in the Venezuelan rainforest. He managed to land a plane on the rugged plateau of a mountain. The two men dug within a few days, a large amount of gold from a river. Only swooping over the cliff edge he could leave the plane take off again. From now on the search for gold, discovered Jimmie Angel, as he gave the canyon along the Río Churún flew on November 16, 1933, the massive waterfall. When he ventured two years later with his wife and a scientist to land on the plateau, his machine was broken. Today this aircraft is in Ciudad Bolívar (Venezuela ) issued outside the airport. Only after eleven days, the group managed via a steep step, which is now called the Second Wall, the descent into the jungle. In the novel by Alberto Vázquez -Figueroa Icarus the story of Jimmie Angel, in search of gold and diamonds, and the discovery of the waterfall is described in detail.

The U.S. photojournalist Ruth Robertson McCall (1905-1998) reached on 12 May 1949 after an overland expedition initiated by it, the first foot of the waterfall, and measured him.

Tourism

Although the Angel Falls is only accessible by at least one-day boat tour of Canaima out, he has become one of the biggest tourist attractions in Venezuela. Since the waterfall is situated in the Venezuelan jungle, visitors, however, are still dependent on the aircraft to reach the lagoon of Canaima. During the dry season the waterfall is less impressive and because of the low water level on the Rio Churún, a tributary of the Rio Carrao, only partially accessible by canoe. Therefore, the probability of being able to enjoy an unobstructed view of clouds on the mountain and waterfall, much larger.

Planned renaming

The then president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, has decided on 21 December 2009 for the Angel Falls back to its original name, Kerepakupai Merú return.

" How could we accept the idea that the waterfall was discovered by a boy who came flying from the U.S.? If we do that, then we will do so as if no one lived there. No one should speak of Angel Falls more. This is our waterfall and it was there before Angel ever flew over it. "

For this purpose, said Carlos Dávila by the tourism department of the Venezuelan Embassy in Berlin a day later:

" Long before the U.S. pilot Jimmy Angel discovered the falls in 1937, lived in the region Indians. They had a special name for the waterfall, but almost lost. All call him today after the American Angel. You have to know that the waterfall and the tepuis are sacred to the Pemon Indians. It could be a sign of respect to give him back the original name. So far it 's just a suggestion, nothing 's official. "

Trivia

• Without being named, the waterfall plays an important role in the animated film Up in 2009 In the film, he is called "Paradise case ."; the shape is so characteristic given that it is clearly visible.
• In the documentary Our earth the waterfall is impressive staged.
• 1998 jumped the former German artistic gymnastics world champion Eberhard Gienger with the parachute of the Angel Falls.