The third day of our tour we didn't have to start out too early, as Soldier informed us the Falls can be quite obscured in the mornings by mist. Despite that we were still awake by around 6 as the sun had come up, setting of a chorus of jungle creatures.

We had some scrambled eggs and flying saucers (fried bread that we really enjoyed!) for breakfast and watched some birds in the trees before setting off up the "Oh My God" hill. Soldier told us there were 5 "Oh My God's" on this climb. 3 smaller ones and 2 big ones on a walk that would take between 2 to 4 hours to reach the top. We were expecting the worst on the hike from the Kaieteur Gorge to the Kaieteur Plateau.

We wound our way up the mountain, sweating uncontrollably in the disgustingly humid jungle. We passed streams and small waterfalls and passed beautiful rocky escarpment. While it was quite the climb, the preceding hoo-ha had prepared us for much worse, and after each "Oh My God" section we were pleasantly surprised.

We reached the top in an hour and a half, and from there it was a short flat walk to the first viewing point of Kaieteur along the plateau of sedimentary conglomerate, rock that has been aged at 2.2 billion years, which also suggests Kaieteur plateau was once under water.

To say Kaieteur Falls, as we learned, is like saying ATM Machine. Kai, as Amerindian Legend foretells, was the chief of the native Patamona Tribe. He sacrificed himself to appease Makonaima, the Great Spirit, to bring peace and to save his tribe from being destroyed by a raiding party of Caribs, by paddling his canoe over the falls. Teur, in Amerindian tongue, means falls, forming the name Kaieteur.

The first viewing point was a lookout called Johnson's View. After walking a short way along a trail through some jungle, we found ourselves on a rocky ledge, looking through the gorge at the mighty Kaieteur. This was a true "Oh my god" moment. The enormous cascade that is Kaieteur plummets over a sheer ledge at the top of the plateau, 251m straight down into the gorge below.

Almost as impressive as the falls themselves is the ledge from which they fall. As rock has fallen away from the plateau into the gorge, a huge cave has opened up underneath. The bridge type formation left behind appears to have bent under the weight of the water and in the absence of any rock underneath to support it.

While at this lookout point we spotted our first c*** of the Rock, and no, we don't mean Fergus. c*** of the Rock is a bizarre looking bird, bright orange almost all over, with a crest on its head. We silently watched it through a small gap in the trees until it flew away, then moving to the next vantage point.

Boyscout's View, so called as it was visited by some British Guiana Boyscouts in the 30's who carved their troop name into the rock. This viewpoint provided a closer look at the falls, just as spectacular as the first.

Next we moved closer again to Rainbow View, so called as when peering into the gorge below, a rainbow appears in the mist created by the falls. As long as the sun is shining, the rainbow is there, adding another aspect to the beauty of this natural spectacle.

Finally, we were standing literally at the top of the falls. The river approaches the edge showing no sign that the dark waters are about to drop away 251 metres into the valley, turning to a white wash the moment they hit the precipice. You can actually see the velocity of the water increase as it falls, like thrown powder.

When standing at the top of the falls, there is a rock ledge that juts out over the gorge. From above it appears just a part of the cliff edge, but if you are looking on from the other vantage points you can see how precarious this position is to stand! The cliff underneath this rock has called away, seemingly leaving very little to prevent it from crashing into the valley below.

At none of the viewing points here will you find a guard rail or any real safety measure in place, aside from a few signs asking you to stay 8 feet from the edges of cliffs (though no one does). Having grown up in Australia where you are overwhelmingly protected from anything even remotely dangerous, this was quite unnerving, and possibly created an exaggerated sense of precaution for us.

After spending quite some time with our jaws agape looking over the falls, we were shown to the guesthouse, only about 200m from the top of the falls. The simple guesthouse had a couple of bedrooms (one for us, one for the manager), plus plenty of hammock space, bathroom and kitchen. We had some lunch and a rest for a while, then ventured out in the afternoon for more waterfall-staring.

We made our way back to the top of the falls in the early evening to catch the spectacle of the swifts making their way back into their nesting site in the cave behind the falls for the night. We had read about and heard about this so were quite excited to see it. Perched on a cliff with a view of the gap between the waterfall and the cliff, we peered into the sky until we could see swifts gathering overhead.

Soon, in groups, they started to make their way into the cave. A group would gather above us, as if waiting for a critical mass, then suddenly make a rapid descent and swoop into the cave through the gap, before the next group would do the same. While it was amazing to watch, we couldn't help but feel the display hadn't lived up to our expectations.

Regardless, we had reached one of the most breath-taking places we have witnessed on this planet, and we still had more time to explore after a well deserved nights rest.

LAPFWT