Angel Falls in the Guayana Highlands are the tallest water fall in the world. Most of these, being long and flimsy in appearance, amount to nothing more than giant streams of water falling over a higher place. Some falls are unpretentious and appear to water poured straight down over a simple rock from above without any other geographic fanfare to ooh and awe onlookers; others appear to meander downward, zigzagging lazily or gushing according to the steepness of the terrain. To get a picture of these varying views of the Angel Falls in Venezuela; Tugela Falls in South Africa; Tres Hermanas in Peru; Olo’upena Falls in Hawaii; Yumbilla Catavata Falls in Peru go to zmescience.com. (See url below)
The largest trickle of water of the ten tallest are Angel Falls in the Guayana highlands. It’s as if a giant water spill runs off table-top mountain – Tepuy – and falls to the floor below. Impressively 2,937 feet high, it was named after Jimmy Angel, a bush pilot from Missouri who was daringly in the area on some “legendary Gold Ore” search. According to Karen Oesterby, an online author writing about Angel Falls, the discovery of the falls is a tall tale in itself.
On his second trip he landed on top of the tabletop mountain and his plane, mired in the mud, stayed there for 33 years. It was finally removed and is now in a nearby museum. An overturned teapot on a table if one brings the legend down to a manageable size in retrospect; and why not? What are legends if not a bit of truth stretched to enormous heights by writers of tall tales? Karen’s article is interesting, read it.
The place of the falls is now National Park Canaima and has been since June 22, 1962. The author of the article also tells us that close by is also a second first, the tallest non-permanent water fall in the world.
Tugela Falls in South Africa is 3,110 feet high, it is the second tallest; next to that we have as the third highest Tres Hermanas Cataratas in Peru at 3,000 feet; fourth is Olo’upena falls in Hawaii at 2,953; five is up next with Yumbilla Catarata in Peru at 2,938 feet.
The next two are in Norway: The six tallest at 2,822 is Vinnufossen; the seventh, Balaifossen, measures in at 2,788 feet. The eight Pu’uka’oku Falls is in the US at 2,755 feet; ninth is in Canada, the James Bruce Falls at 2,755 feet, and the tenth is in New Zealand, the Browne Falls, at 2,744 feet.
Speaking of tall falls and tall tales, the United States boasts of a pretty fair bunch of those. Yosemite falls is the leader of the pack. The other taller ones are in Hawaii and that makes Yosemite still the tallest waterfall of the lower forty eight states. Or is it? Colonial Creek Falls in the state of Washington argues it was inaccurately measured and it is 150 feet tallest. Which is right does not take away from the delight of the visitors who gaze in wonder at the upside down water spout at Yosemite.
Shorter but mightier could be descriptive of Yosemite falls; mightier meaning more popular and more well known.
With all that, this frisky waterfall is still not content to be the most popular waterfall in the world; it must prove its worth to those who want a good show. At first it plunges down1430 feet then for the next 675 feet it cascades; the finale is a 320 foot horsetail.
Source:
http://www.worldwaterfalldatabase.com
http://www.worldwidefalls.com
http://www.salto-angel.com/
http://www.zmescience.com/the-5-tallest-waterfalls-in-the-world
