10 Worlds Beautiful Water Falls to be must Visited

1.Iguazu Falls

   Iguazu Falls, in Iguazu River, are one of the world’s largest waterfalls. They extend over 2,700 m (nearly 2 miles)  in a semi-circular shape.  Of the 275 falls that collectively make up Iguassu Falls, “Devil’s Throat” is the tallest at 80 m in height. Iguazu Falls are on the border between the Brazilian state of Paraná and the Argentine province of Misiones, and are surrounded by two National Parks (BR/ARG).

 Both are subtropical rainforests that are host to hundreds of rare and endangered species of flora and fauna.

2.Niagara Falls

   Niagara Falls, Ontario, is a Canadian city at the famous waterfalls of the same name, linked with the U.S. by the Rainbow Bridge. Its site on the Niagara River's western shore overlooks the Horseshoe Falls, the cascades' most expansive section. 

 

Elevators take visitors to a lower, wetter vantage point. The riverbank features a promenade and an observation deck atop 520-ft.-high Skylon Tower.

3.Plitvice Waterfalls

 

  The series of waterfalls that link the 16 lakes of the Plitvice Lakes National Park are what makes this scenic piece of landscape the most popular natural attraction in Croatia. Situated among forested hills near the Bosnian border, the small streams, lakes and waterfalls form an appealing water garden that invites exploration. A series of plank walks, bridges and platforms make it easy to wander the park by foot. Free boat rides take passengers from the upper to the lower lakes where visitors can view Veliki Slap, the country’s tallest waterfall.

4.Gocta Cataracts

 

 Well-known to locals for centuries, this towering waterfall remained a secret from the rest of the world until as recently as 2005, when German explorer Stefan Ziemendorff became the first outsider to witness it. Located in a remote Amazonian province in Peru, the Gocta Cataracts is one of the world's tallest waterfalls. Though accurate measurements of its height have yet to be taken, an initial estimate placed it as the third highest in the world.
Locals kept the location secret because they feared that revealing its whereabouts would release the curse of a beautiful blond mermaid who is rumored to live in the waters.

5.Jog Falls

  Jog Falls are located in the Shimoga district of Karnataka. Four cascades, known as Raja, Rani, Rover and Rocket merge to form the huge waterfall on the Sharavathi river.

 

The falls are locally known as Geruoppe Falls, Gersoppa Falls and Jogada Gundi. Jog itself is a Kannada word, which means falls.
Jog Falls are unique in that the water does not stream down the rocks in a tiered fashion; it thunders down the slope losing contact with the rocks, making it the tallest un-tiered waterfall in India.
The beauty of the waterfalls is enhanced by the lush green surroundings, which provide a scenic backdrop. 

6.Gullfoss

  Gullfoss is in the river Hvítá (engl. white river), which has its origin in the glacier lake Hvítávatn (engl. white river lake) at Lángjökull glacier about 40km north of Gullfoss.

The waterfall Gullfoss Tobias Klose, Scuba Diving in Iceland Glacial water is brownish, since it carries lots of sediments that the glacial ice has carved off the earth. Gullfoss is called the "Golden Falls", since on a sunny day the water plunging down the three step staircase and then tumbeling in two steps down into the 32 m deep crevice truly looks golden.

To stand at Gullfoss and wallow in the beauty and the wonder of nature is an uplifting experience. One feels more energetic when leaving Gullfoss than when arriving. That's the impact these unique nature sites such as Gullfoss and Geysir have on us.

Sigríður Tómasdóttir, the daughter of Tómas Tómasson who owned the waterfall in the first half of the 20th century must have felt the same. She lived at a farm nearby and loved Gullfoss as no one else.

At this period of time much speculation about using Gullfoss to harness electricity was going on. Foreign investors who rented Gullfoss indirectly from the owners wanted to build a hydroelectric powerplant, which would have changed and destroyed Gullfoss forever.

As the story goes it's thanks to Sigríður Tómasdóttir that we still can uplift ourself with the beauty of Gullfoss, because she was the one that protested so intensly against these plans by going as far to threat that she would throw herself into Gullfoss and therby kill herself.

To make her threat believeable she went barefoot on a protest march from Gullfoss to Reykjavik. In those days the roads weren't paved and when she arrived after 120 kilometers her feet were bleeding and she was in very bad shape.The people believed her and listened and the powerplant at Gullfoss was never built.
Today one can see the memorial site of Sigríður that decipts her profile at the top of the falls.

7.Nanning Detain Waterfall

Located in Shuolong Town，Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the Detian Waterfall originates from the Guichun River which passes Vietnam and winds back Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. When the Guichun River arriving at the bluff in Detian Village, Daxin County, then the Detian Waterfall formed. Up on the about 200-meter wide bluff, the waterfall pours down with the drop of 70 meters. 

 

Visitors can the resonant roars kilometers away. If who visit the waterfall early in the morning, he would enjoy the rainbow when the rising sun shining on the mist upon the waterfall.
The Detian Waterfall is divided into three layers: the upper layer, the gradual slope, and the lower layer. In the upper layer, the water rushes along the almost vertical bluff, and pours down into the deep pool with silvery spray splashing upon the pool. Then the waterfall comes to the gradual slop, in which the waterfall has an opportunity to relax after the onrush before and gather momentum for the grandest lower layer. In the lower layer, the water rushes down and open a marvelous natural picture with wide water screen and surrounding green trees. In summer, the Detian waterfall has the largest water flow.

8.The Blue Nile Falls

   The Blue Nile Falls are one of the greatest falls in Africa. It is located in Ethiopian plateau, passing the Blue Nile River. This waterfall is also known as Tis Issat meaning smoking water, as the continuous dropping of water creates a smoke-like bounce of water droplets. The Blue Nile Falls has an enormous height of 37 to 45 meters or around 150 feet and its width is estimated at about half a mile. Watching the river water drop down the waterfalls is truly breathtaking.

 

Various trips can be arranged in order to reach the Blue Nile Falls as it is a main tourist spot in Ethiopia. There are many locals that make their income from the benefits of tourism; many are selling food and drinks like calabashes and sodas. Also many people are also selling charms, souvenirs and walking sticks. For accommodation, there are hotels available a few kilometers away from the falls. If planning to visit the falls, it is recommendable to wear comfortable clothes as the trail on the way to the falls is quite bumpy. The flora around the falls can also be appreciated; there are many plant species endemic only to that area. The Blue Nile Falls are also enriched with different types of wildlife that can only be found in Ethiopia.
Currently, a hydroelectric station was built in order to divert the flow of water to the falls for electrical purposes. This has caused a decrease in the flowing water of Blue Nile Falls, however, the full beauty of the falls can still be appreciated during Sundays and holidays because the hydroelectric station only operates during weekdays. For this reason, it is advisable to visit on Sundays. Prepare everything and enjoy nature’s great miracles: go see the Blue Nile Falls!

9.Victoria Falls

   Victoria Falls presents a spectacular sight of awe-inspiring beauty and grandeur on the Zambezi River, forming the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. It was described by the Kololo tribe living in the area in the 1800’s as ‘Mosi-oa-Tunya’ – ‘The Smoke that Thunders’. In more modern terms Victoria Falls is known as the greatest curtain of falling water in the world.
Columns of spray can be seen from miles away as, at the height of the rainy season, more than five hundred million cubic meters of water per minute plummet over the edge, over a width of nearly two kilometers, into a gorge over one hundred meters below.
 

The wide, basalt cliff over which the falls thunder, transforms the Zambezi from a placid river into a ferocious torrent cutting through a series of dramatic gorges.
Facing the Falls is another sheer wall of basalt, rising to the same height, and capped by mist-soaked rain forest. A path along the edge of the forest provides the visitor prepared to brave the tremendous spray, with an unparalleled series of views of the Falls.
One special vantage point is across the Knife-edge Bridge, where visitors can have the finest view of the Eastern Cataract and the Main Falls as well as the Boiling Pot, where the river turns and heads down the Batoka Gorge. Other vantage points include the Falls Bridge, Devils Pool and the Lookout Tree, both of which command panoramic views across the Main Falls

10.Dudsagar Falls 

 The magnificent Dudhsagar Waterfall is perched in the high peaks of the Western Ghats and is a sight to behold especially in the monsoons when it is in full and furious flow. From a distance, the waterfall appears like streams of milk rushing down the mountainside. The exhuberent and spectacular waterfall is located in the Sanguem taluka.

Measuring a mighty 600m from head to foot, this waterfall on the Goa-Karnataka border, attracts a steady stream of visitors from the coast into the rugged Western Ghats. After pouring across the Deccan plateau, the headwaters of the Mandovi River form a foaming torrent that splits into three streams to cascade down a near-vertical cliff face into a deep green pool.

The Konkani name for the falls, which literally translated means "sea of milk", derives from clouds of milky foam which rises up at the bottom of the falls. Dudhsagar is set amidst breathtaking scenery overlooking a steep, crescent-shaped head of a valley carpeted with pristine tropical forest, that is only accessible on foot or by train.

Like most places in Goa, the Dudhsagar waterfall too has a legend attached to its name. The legend tells the story of this powerful and wealthy king who ruled a kingdom in the Western Ghats. His lavish and opulent palace in the hills was surrounded by vast gardens which were full of deers and gazelles.

The King had a beautiful daughter, who used to enjoy taking a bath during the hot summers, in the picturesque lake near the forest on the edge of the King's palace grounds. It was her habit to finish her bath and have a jugful of sugared milk in a jug made of pure gold.

One day when she was finishing her usual jug of milk she found herself being watched by a handsome prince standing amongst the trees. Embarassed by her inadequate bathing attire, the resourceful Princess poured the sugared milk in front of her to form an improvised curtain to hide her body, while one of the maids rushed to cover her with a dress.

Thus was the legend born. The sugared milk (dudh) poured down the mountainside and continued to flow in torrents as a tribute to the everlasting virtue and modesty of the Princess of the Ghats. The Dudh Sagar (Sea of Milk) continues to flow to this day and attracts thousands of visitors to one of the most popular and famous tourist spots in the state of Goa.

A number of private operators offer special trips to the Waterfalls and the tours operated by GTDC (Goa Tourism Development Corpn) also have Dudhsagar Waterfalls as one of the tour stops.

The falls can also be reached by a train journey from Vasco or Margao. At Collem, in the Bhagwan Mahaveer Sanctuary near Mollem, there is a railway station where the train stops to pick up passengers for the journey to the waterfalls. There are two trains a day that stop at Dudhsagar Station and it's possible to catch a morning train up and spend several hours at the falls before taking an afternoon train back.

Near the top of the falls, the railway line from Vasco to Londa crosses the mountainside, with excellent views from the train. There also a couple of pools that you can swim in, making Dudhsagar a great place for a day full of fun and frolic. The alternate way of reaching the falls is only advisable between January and May, when the level of the water in the rivers abates enough to permit jeeps to approach the base of the falls.