There's nothing quite like hearing the roaring water breaking over the rocks, feeling the misty spray kiss your face. The surrounding beauty envelops you, and it's as if the chaotic noise of the our everyday world disappears. Nature's bounty offers up some of the most spectacular visions with waterfalls. These are only a few of the beauties.
Jim Jim Falls
Located in the Kakadu National Park in Australia is the 660-foot high Jim Jim Falls. Depending on the time of year, this fall can either rage with a torrent of water, or merely trickle like a faucet.
Bridal Veil Falls
Located in New Zealand is this impressive 180-foot drop-off. Most likely called bridal's veil because it does indeed look like one. The band of hard basalt rock lining the falls, has resisted thousands of years of erosion by the force of the river.
Havasu Falls, Arizona
While it doesn't have a high drop like most falls (a mere 90 feet), the scenery is outstanding. It's hard not to fall in love with the falls while leisurely taking a swim in the turquoise pools. The drop used to be 120 feet before a flash flood knocked out part of the travertine column, thus creating the dual plumes now visible today.
Iguazu Falls
Located on the border of the Brazilian state of Parana and the Argentine province of Misiones lays Iguazu Falls. Legend says that the falls were created when a god wanted to marry a mortal, Naipi. Naipi refused and fled with her lover Taroba in a canoe. Enraged, the god split the river, creating the waterfalls, and condemning the lovers to their eternal fall.
Detian Falls
It is the largest waterfall in Asia, straddling the Chinese-Vietnamese border. It is the second largest trans-national waterfall in the world ( the first being Niagara Falls). Dropping nearly 230 feet, this waterfall is one of the lesser-known beauties of Asia.
Victoria Falls
Known as the Smoke that Thunders, this waterfall drops like a curtain over a wall nearly 360 feet and about a mile wide. It is considered the largest curtain waterfall in the world. The African name is Mosi-oa-Tunya, but it was later dubbed Victoria Falls by Scottish explorer David Livingstone.
Angel Falls
It is the highest free-falling waterfall at 3,200 feet. The water is usually turned into mist, (getting hit by winds), since the drop is so severe. Base jumpers love to jump here, and some have been crushed against the wall of the falls due to the unpredictable winds.
Tugela Falls
Found in the Drakensberg (Dragon's Mountains), Tugela Falls is the second highest fall in the world. It's drop free-falls for 3,110 feet. Water rushes down a total of 5 tiers, making it one of the prettiest falls in the world.
Utigord, Norway
This Norwegian waterfall is cited by several sources as the third highest falls in the world. (Dorling Kindersley Publishers and Russell Ash in Top Ten of Everything) but the World Waterfall Database cites it as number eleven. The total drop is 818 metres or 2685 feet and there are five free leaping cascades. These falls are fed by a glacier so the water flow is seasonal and of insufficient volume to allow it to be used for hydro electric power.
Yosemite, USA
Yosemite Falls is the highest measured falls in North America. It stands at 739 metres, or 2425 feet. The water flow is at its peal in late Spring. This falls is the sixth highest falls in the world although the recent discovered of the Peruvian Gocta Cataracts has pushed it down to seventh.
Gocta Cataracts (Upper Section)
These recently discovered cataracts have two massive drops and they were not known to the outside world until they were discovered in 2005 by German explorer Stefan Ziemandorff and his Peruvian party. The height of the falls was measured at 771 metres, or 2532 feet which puts it at the third highest in the world.
Mutarazi, Zimbabwe
This is a free leaping falls which is 761 metres, or 2499 feet high. It has two separate tiers and was listed as the fifth highest falls in the world. This has changed since the discovery of Gocha Cataracts and is now in sixth place.