July 15, 2013 at 9:47 pm

Picture of the Day: Kukenan-tepui at Sunset

by twistedsifter

 

KUKENAN-TEPUI AT SUNSET

 

Kukenan Tepui in Gran Sabana National Park Venezuela

Photograph by Paolo Costa Baldi | GFDL/CC-BY-SA 3.0

 

In this photograph we see Kukenán, a tepui in Guayana Region, Venezuela. It is 2,680 metres (8,790 ft) high and about 3 km (1.9 mi) long. Kukenan Falls, which is 674 m (2,211 ft) high, is located at the south end of the tepui.

A tepui or tepuy, is a table-top mountain or mesa found in the Guiana Highlands of South America, especially in Venezuela. The word tepui means “house of the gods” in the native tongue of the Pemon, the indigenous people who inhabit the Gran Sabana. Tepuis tend to be found as isolated entities rather than in connected ranges, which makes them the host of a unique array of endemic plant and animal species.

Kukenán is located in Canaima National Park. Next to Kukenán, to the south-east, is Mount Roraima, a better known tepui. Scenery on top of Kukenán provided inspiration for the 2009 film Up. [Source]

Canaima National Park is a 30,000 km2 (12,000 sq mi) park in south-eastern Venezuela that borders Brazil and Guyana. The park was established on 12 June 1962. It is the second largest park in the country, after Parima-Tapirapecó, and sixth biggest national park in the world. It is the size of Belgium or Maryland. About 65% of the park is occupied by tepuis. [Source]

 

 

picture of the day button Picture of the Day: Kukenan tepui at Sunset