Orinduik Falls

Orinduik is nothing like Kaieteur. Instead of one great drop it is a broad staircase of falls and chutes spread across the Ireng river, which forms the border with Brazil here, and the rock the water runs over is jasper, red and hard, polished into terraces and basins. The pools are shallow and safe enough to sit in, which is why almost every Kaieteur charter stops here afterwards: the falls are for swimming rather than for looking down into.

What you actually see

• The jasper terraces - red rock steps the whole river runs across.
• The pools - shallow basins in the rock that visitors swim in.
• The Ireng river - the border river spreading wide over the falls.
• The savannah - open Pakaraima grassland around the river.

When to go

May to August, in the wet season, gives the fullest flow. In the dry months from September to April the water drops and more rock is exposed, which some prefer for swimming. Flights depend entirely on weather.

Honest expectations

There is no road; the only access is by charter aircraft and the cost is substantial. Flights are cancelled for weather regularly and the stop is often only an hour. There are no facilities beyond a shelter.

Nearby

Kaieteur Falls is the usual pairing on the same flight, to the east.