Tugela Falls is a seasonal cascade on the Tugela River near the Drakensberg’s Amphitheatre in South Africa.
The falls descend from the Drakensberg escarpment in a series of five major free-leaping drops. Their total height is commonly given as about 948 metres, although measurements and rankings have been debated because the waterfall is a multi-stage cascade rather than one uninterrupted plunge.
Tugela Falls is in Royal Natal National Park, whose landscape includes the enormous basalt wall known as the Amphitheatre. Rain and snow on the high escarpment influence the waterfall’s flow, so the visible cascade can be much stronger at some times than others.
The falls are often confused with Angel Falls because both appear in discussions of the world’s tallest waterfalls. Tugela’s ranking depends on measuring its complete multi-drop descent, while Angel Falls is famous for its uninterrupted principal drop.