Angel Falls in Venezuela is the tallest waterfall in the world, plummeting 979 metres off the edge of a flat-topped mountain called Auyán-tepui. That’s nearly a kilometre straight down - so far that during the dry season most of the water evaporates into mist before it touches the ground.
The waterfall is named after Jimmie Angel, an American pilot who crash-landed his plane on top of the tepui in 1937. He survived and the falls got his name. The locals had a much older one: Kerepakupai Vená, meaning “waterfall of the deepest place.”
Tepuis like Auyán-tepui are the eroded remains of an ancient sandstone plateau. Their flat tops are isolated islands in the sky where unique plants and animals have evolved. The mountains in the Pixar film “Up” were modelled on them.
