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Orinduik Falls

Orinduik Falls, Guyana
Orinduik Falls / Ian Mazkenzie, Flickr / CC BY 2.0

WorldBlue  In short

There have formed several beautiful waterfalls on Ireng River. The best known are Orinduik Falls. This 25 m tall and more than 150 m wide waterfall falls over a semiprecious gemstone – red jasper.

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GPS coordinates
4.7252 N 60.0374 W
Location, address
South America, Guyana, Potaro-Siparuni and Brazil, Roraima, on Ireng River, some 20 km north-east from Uiramutã, next to the waterfall in Guyana is built Orinduik airstrip
Name in Portuguese
Cataratas de Orinduik
Height
Approximately 25 m
Width
Very roughly: 150 – 230 m

Map of the site

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WorldYellow In detail

Northernmost river in Amazon basin

Ireng River (also Maú River) is the northernmost large river in the Amazon basin. This basin extends just some 70 km to the north of Orinduik Falls, while the giant Amazon itself is flowing some 700 km south from the falls.

Ireng flows through vast savannas and has formed a wide, picturesque valley in Pakaraima Mountains not far from the famous Roraima Plateau. There have formed numerous waterfalls and smaller steps in this river – thus, a beautiful waterfall is located near Uiramutã some 20 km further down the stream but some 40 km to the north is located the magnificent, approximately 100 m tall Kurutuik Falls.

Jasper falls

Orinduik waterfall has formed on sturdy rocks of pure, red jasper – a beautiful ornamental stone. This is not unique – rather many waterfalls in this part of South America have formed on this stone.

Orinduik Falls, Guiana
Orinduik Falls / Wikimedia Commons, Merlinthewizard. CC BY-SA 3.0

The true size of falls can be appreciated from the air. River has many steps before and after the falls. Falls themselves have three major steps and numerous smaller ones. Steps have complex configuration, with an island in the middle.

Name of waterfall originates from a local Carib (possibly – Patamona) name ("orin" or similar word) – which in turn is a name to a plant which grows in the rocks in the stream.

Tourist attractions

The visit to Orinduik Falls often is bundled with a visit to the much more impressive Kaieteur. After the visit to this unforgettable but unaccessible waterfall tourists come to the much smaller Orinduik Falls. Here they are allowed to walk on the steps and bathe in the warm, refreshing water. Water is dark colored by dissolved tannin.

Visitors though should be very careful – rocks are very slippery.

References

  1. Johnny T. Cheng, World of Waterfalls, Orinduik Falls Accessed on 1 April 2012

Orinduik Falls are included in the following articles:

WorldYellow Linked articles

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Kaieteur Falls, Guyana / , Flickr / CC BY 2.0

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Virginia Falls / Paul Gierszewski, Wikimedia Commons / public domain

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