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A monumental single-drop waterfall on the Potaro River, Kaieteur Falls plunges 226 metres from a sandstone escarpment into a 32-kilometre gorge in the heart of Guyana’s Kaieteur National Park. Its volume sets it apart. With an estimated peak flow of 663 cubic metres per second, it is often cited as the most powerful single-drop fall on earth, and it stands roughly five times taller than Niagara.

Reaching it is part of the ceremony. Most visitors fly by light aircraft from Georgetown, watching the coastal plain give way to an unbroken canopy of forest. Short jungle trails then lead to a series of rock-edge viewpoints with no glass and few barriers.

The mood is hushed and elemental. Tea-coloured water turns to mist, swifts dart behind the curtain at dusk, and with luck you may spot the tiny golden frog that lives in giant tank bromeliads. The falls lie within a protected park and hold deep significance for the Indigenous Patamona communities. They remain one of Guyana’s defining landmarks.