Visiting Kaieteur Falls Guyana: The Highest Waterfall in the World

Guyana may not be high on your hit list (be honest with yourself – you prefer the appeal of Brazil or even Peru, as I once did). But please forget all that and head to the three Guyanas. Honestly honestly honestly – you will love it!! This hat-trick of countries in South America I guarantee will give you a better travel experience than the others – less travellers, more surprises and moments of awe all to yourself/ves.
The Guyanas – French Guyana, Suriname, Guyana.

That said, Guyana was still my last port of call on the continent, as we crossed the border from Suriname and suddenly I was able to speak English and explore a country I knew little about except the British colonialisation. The good news is, it’s good news. Guyana houses the highest waterfall in the world and a whole lot more…as I found out.

Booking Your Kaieteur Falls Tour With Dagron Tours
To book your tour of Kaieteur, I’d recommend using Dagron Tours, the best tour company Guyana has to offer. Their office is also very handily situated on Middle Street in Georgetown, directly opposite Rima Guesthouse, where we stayed. They have a few different options for touring the Amazon part of Guyana and indeed the Kaieteur Falls, which you can check out on their website, their Dagron Tours Facebook page or indeed just pop into the office when you arrive in Georgetown.

Have a look at the options and choose which one suits you best, budget wise and for what you want to see. We had our mind set on only doing the Kaieteur Falls tour so we went in and booked it. The price does vary depending on season and they do want to make sure the plane is filled so there are only really flights when they have enough tourists. Prices are around $200 US for the Kaieteur Falls tour. You can pay in local currency, US Dollars and Visa (probably Euros too). Dagron is an excellent tour operator – great customer service, expert knowledge and fun, friendly guides.

What Does the Kaieteur Falls Tour with Dagron Tours Include?
Our Kaieteur Falls tour lasted around 6 hours (it can be done in less time probably). The tour includes:
– Pick up from your hostel/hotel and lift to the airport
– Return flights from Ogle Airport in Georgetown to and from Kaieteur National Park
– National Park entrance fee/permit
– Bottle of water
– Lunch
– Tour guide through 4 viewing points of the Kaieteur Falls
– A memory of a lifetime

When to book your Kaieteur Falls Tour with Dagron Tours?
It gets busier on weekends so try and book in advance. We were actually quite lucky with our tour as we got the last 2 seats on the plane due to a cancellation. We booked on the Friday and did the tour on the Saturday. This doesn’t always happen, so try and book in advance:

Dagron Tours 
91 Middle Street 
Georgetown , Guyana 
Tel: 592-223-7921/227-1174 
Fax: 592-227-1166 
Email: [email protected]
Payment is in advance upfront and can be done via:
– Guyana Dollars
– US Dollars
– Visa Card

An Overview of the Epic Kaieteur Falls Tour with Dagron Tours

OK this is a full overview of our Kaieteur Falls tour.

Hostel Pick Up
It started with a hostel pick up just before mid-day. However as we were staying at Rima’s Guesthouse which is directly opposite Dagron Tours office, we simply headed to the office. Ann organised our tour and Christina accompanied us in the mini-bus which took us to the airport. Both really cool local ladies that will look after you. Our driver was Paul – a chilled out local guy with lots of information to share.

Arrival and Check in at Ogle International Airport
I was quite surprised to learn that Ogle is an international airport. It’s a very small airport, which appears to have just one main runway. It’s not the main airport in Georgetown but it is the one closest to the city centre and the one that is used for Kaieteur flights, which usually occur daily, as long as there are enough tourists/locals to board the flight.

Our flight was full. We arrive at the airport and check in. I had a small shoulder bag with me, my girlfriend our hand bag.

You need your passports for check in and the bags will be weighed but that’s it. You are not issued with an actual physical ticket. The planes are tiny and they know who is on them – you have your booking ticket from the tour company so carry this if you are asked.

Leaving Ogle International Airport by Plane
It had been a while since I was on a plane this small. It could even have been the smallest plane I was in since I skydived in New Zealand in 2007.

The Flight from Ogle to Kaieteur Landing Strip
The internal flight takes approximately one hour and was smooth and scenic. Out the windows you can see fantastic views of the endless Amazon rainforest – trees everywhere and rivers flowing. Then as you fly over Kaieteur Falls, the pilot will fly down near the falls so you can get your first glimpses of it. He will fly on both sides so those on the left and those on the right can enjoy the views of the spectacular waterfalls.

Have your cameras ready for photos and videos as the view of Kaieteur Falls is just magnificent.

Arrival at Kaieteur National Park
The small landing strip in the middle of Kaieteur National Park is next to a big hut, which acts as a souvenir shop, place to stay and washrooms. It’s a wooden base in the middle of the jungle.

We have our lunch here – bottle of water, spicy sandwich and a jam sandwich and soon we are off on the walk to explore this part of the Amazon and more importantly the Kaieteur Falls! Our guide is called Max and he’s a world of knowledge.

Nature at Kaieteur National Park
Our guide Max tells us a lot of things during the tour. We are told that the terrain we walk on is all natural, apart from the custom built steps.

We are told that there isn’t really a threat of insect bites here and that insect repellent is completely unnecessary!

We are also shown the point where the overland walk arrives at the Kaieteur Airfield – we met one German guy who walked it there and got the flight back.

We are shown a tree which contains frogs inside water within it. These trees help deter mosquitos. We are told a bit about birds – on the day we only saw white necked swifts. We see some centipedes.

We enjoy a pleasant walk through the Amazon rainforest on route to the first viewing point. We hear Kaieteur Falls before we see it.

Johnson’s Viewing Point
The first of our four viewing points for the Kaieteur Falls is Johnson’s viewing point. It’s a short walk over to the left, up and down but nothing tricky at all. These are all really easy walks by the way.

On arrival at Johnson’s Viewing Point we catch our first proper glimpse of Kaieteur Falls and it is memorable. Everybody in our group grabs the photo opportunity naturally, unaware there are three more even better view points to come! As you can see there was a rainbow, and great views back into the forest and valley.

Boy Scouts Viewing Point
We are then told a quick tale about how in the 1930s the boy scouts once built a shelter or hut here just by the viewing point, with some kind of challenge of hiking needed to earn yourself an honour.

The walk from the remains of the shelter down the the viewing point is just a few minutes. Then we are feasted with the Boy Scouts viewing point, which is closer and bigger than Johnsons.

Rainbow Viewing Point
The third viewing point is the one we spend most time at, as we think it’s the final one and it is the best so far.

We are completely wrong of course as the best is yet to come.

We are lucky on the day as the sun is shining and a rainbow is clear for most of the walk, and we grab plenty of rainbow photos. Oddly the view of the rainbow was better from the Johnsons and Boy Scouts lookout points than the actual Rainbow named one!

The Top of Kaieteur Falls
This is epic. This is the moment of awe. We walk to the top of Kaieteur Falls, where the river just drops and the falls begins. The endless gushing waters we see here are a sight to behold. You can do your poses, touch the water, go right to the edge etc.

“We are standing on the edge” – Radiohead

I will let the photos do the talking for once…

How High is Kaieteur Falls?
The burning question is how high is it? Obviously depending on the amount of water, the climate at that time etc. the exact height varies. Most sources site it as 226 metres in height.

It also has just one single drop – it is a standalone waterfall and for this reason it is believed to be the highest standalone waterfall in the world.

What does the name Kaieteur Falls mean?
Again this one is not entirely clear and many have tried to work it out. There is an ancient story about a family who pushed one of their members on a boat over the edge of the waterfall, in local dialect “Kaieteur” means “old man falls”. It is also possibly named after a chief called Kai.

The Hut in Kaieteur National Park
When you arrive and leave Kaieteur National Park, you will probably visit the hut by the airstrip. Inside is a souvenir shop and they also sell drinks and snacks. There is also an option to stay here.

Staying Overnight at Kaieteur Falls
On our tour we just chose the day tour option. Some people go overland which takes a few days, and some pencil in the luxury of spending a night here, within a few hundred metres of the Kaieteur Falls. The price of a bed for the night in the lodge is 3,000 Guyana Dollars, which is $15 US.

Flying out of Kaieteur National Park and back to Ogle International Airport
It’s been a few hours since we arrived but we’ve seen all 4 viewing points now and it’s time to return to Ogle Airport in Georgetown.

Earlier I had asked the pilot if either myself or my girlfriend could sit in the seat beside him on the way back and he said yes!

So I got to sit beside the pilot for the return journey. This was the first ever time I had done this and was an unforgettable experience.

The pilot was great, the flight was so smooth and the views were tremendous all the way back.

We arrived back just before 6pm and got a lift back to our hostel, Rima’s Guesthouse.

All in all it was a truly memorable experience and an epic day. So what are you waiting for? Hit up Guyana, head to Georgetown and book your Kaieteur Falls tour with Dagron Tours. Visiting Kaieteur Falls Guyana ‘s best attraction has to be on your list!

Here are some videos I took on the day visiting Kaieteur Falls Guyana: