Tugela Falls
Template:Short description Template:Use South African English Template:Infobox waterfall
Tugela Falls (uThukela in ZuluTemplate:Citation needed) is a complex of seasonal waterfalls located in the Drakensberg (Dragon's Mountains) of Royal Natal National Park in KwaZulu-Natal Province, Republic of South Africa. According to some measurements, it is the world's tallest waterfall. A revisited validation of waterfall measurements is not available and there is still uncertainty whether Tugela or Venezuela's Angel Falls is the tallest (both measurements were taken at considerable distance from the two waterfalls).<ref name=worldwaterfalldatabase>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The combined total drop of its five distinct free-leaping falls is officially Template:Convert. In 2016, however, a Czech scientific expedition took new measurements, making the falls Template:Convert tall. The data were sent to the World Waterfall Database for confirmation.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The source of the Tugela River (Zulu for 'sudden') is the Mont-Aux-Sources plateau, which extends several kilometres beyond the Amphitheatre escarpment from which the falls drop.<ref name=worldwaterfalldatabase/>
Height controversyEdit
There is an argument that Tugela Falls is the tallest waterfall in the world, rather than the more commonly cited Angel Falls.<ref name="pyramidbeach.com">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> This argument is based on two possible inaccuracies regarding the presumed heights of the respective falls.<ref name="pyramidbeach.com"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
First, manyTemplate:Who now believe that Angel Falls is not as tall as was claimed in the initial survey carried out by American journalist Ruth Robertson in 1949. The quoted figure of Template:Convert corresponds almost precisely with the difference in altitude between the top of the falls and the confluence of the Rio Gauja and the Río Churún, which is roughly Template:Convert away from the base of the Auyan Tepui escarpment and Template:Convert downstream from the last segment of the Rio Gauja that could possibly be considered a ‘waterfall’.<ref name="pyramidbeach.com"/>
The starting altitude of Angel Falls is often given as Template:Convert, from which the falls plunge a vertical Template:Convert, then proceed to cascade for approximately Template:Convert with relatively little altitude loss, before a final drop of Template:Convert below the Talus Rapids, near the famous viewpoint known as Mirador Laime. After this the Rio Gauja flows with very little altitude loss, with nothing approaching a waterfall or even cascade before it empties into the Río Churún. However, the altitude of Mirador Laime is usually given as approximately Template:Convert, which would suggest that Angel Falls is only about Template:Convert in total height (roughly the height of the first drop).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Better source needed
Angel Falls, however, is almost universally regarded as having the tallest single uninterrupted drop of any waterfall in the world (the total height of Tugela Falls, even though possibly the tallest on Earth, is divided into five smaller tiers, and its tallest individual tier is Template:Convert).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
AccessEdit
At the right time of year, the falls are easily visible from the main road into the park, especially after a heavy rain. There is an undeveloped camp site and mountain hut immediately above the falls.
There are two trails to Tugela Falls. The most spectacular trail is to the top of Mont-Aux-Sources, which starts at "The Sentinel" car park (through Phuthaditjhaba on the R57, approximately two hours drive from Royal Natal National Park via the R74, 90 minutes from Harrismith via the R712, or 80 minutes from Golden Gate Highlands National Park).
Follow the path from Sentinal Car Park, up to the right of the Witches, toward Sentinel, where the zig-zags take their toll, skirting around the base of Sentinel, along the contour path to the chain ladder. Along the way, one passes the Sentinel Cave (tucked 20 metres above the path) and also the Gully, which presents an alternative route up, for those too nervous of the ladder.
From the Car Park to the base of the ladder usually takes the average walker about an hour to an hour and a half. From the top of the ladder there is a well-defined path leading to the “Hut” and to the top of Tugela Falls.
There are two sections of chain ladder, each of approximately 50 rungs apiece. There is also a choice of ladder; one without large “grabbing handles” (the left-hand one) and one with (on the right).<ref>Chain Ladder Pass</ref>
Another trail to the foot of Tugela Falls starts at Royal Natal National Park. The easy Template:Convert gradient up the Tugela Gorge winds through indigenous forests. The last part of the hike to Tugela Falls is a boulder hop. A little chain ladder leads over the final stretch for a view of the falls rushing down the amphitheatre in a series of five cascades.<ref>Tugela Falls, Drakensberg Tourism. Archived.</ref>
See alsoEdit
- List of waterfalls
- List of waterfalls by height
- List of waterfalls in South Africa
- Tugela River
- Royal Natal National Park
- Drakensberg
- Geography of South Africa