October 2007

(Fotoalbum am Ende)

A normally 3 ½ hour bus ride to Ciudad Bolivar turned into an uncomfortable 6 ½ hour sauna trip as the AC of the bus didn’t work, usually the buses are more like freezers, not this one. We arrived late afternoon in Ciudad Bolivar and went straight to Da Gino’s Hotel across from the Airport that Tony had recommended. I met Tony our tour guide last year when Helene and Peter organized a trip with him to Los Llanos. Tony is definitely Steve Erwin of Venezuela, and he proved that during our fun and adventurous trip to the Canaima National Park.

We met Tony later at the hotel and went out to a wonderful Steakhouse for dinner. The funny thing about meeting him at the hotel was that Ed and Linda who just returned from Merida (which is on the other side of Venezuela bordering Colombia) told us that they met a fun tour guide in Merida named Tony and here was the same Tony standing in front of us; small world.

After a great dinner and good night sleep we headed across the street to the airport at 7 am. Tony arrived and handled all the paperwork with Sapito Tours we had just a few minutes to wait before our Cessna flight to Canaima was ready to take off. Five of us piled in and right away we taxied onto the runway and took off. The flight was exciting as this was a trip we wanted to do ever since we arrived in Venezuela. The flight was about 45 minutes and took us over flatlands with nothing other than a few bushes, thick lush jungles and over Lake Guri, a humongous manmade lake which provides most of the electricity to Venezuela. As it was a bit overcast the pilot stayed just below the clouds which made it less turbulent and we still had a beautiful view. The funny thing about the pilot was at one point he lifted his hand over his eyes to shade them from the sun and started to look all around, kind of like “where the heck are we”. Then a river with lots of rapids appeared, the plain did a sharp turn while descending and the most incredible view of several waterfalls appeared, this was our destination Canaima, we flew just a little above the falls leaving us speechless. The landing strip looked in perfect shape and we still wonder why the pilot chose not to land on the strip rather on the gravel strip next to it.

Tony decided that it was best that we headed straight up the river to Angel Falls so that we could get the most out of it, meaning more time. A truck drove us above one of the Ucuaima waterfalls where a 30 foot dugout canoe with 45 hp engine waited for us. The biggest guys, Sid and Ed, were told to sit in the back. I was lucky to sit in the front so that I could shoot some good photos and films. I was sure that my seat was going to be the wettest, but I was wrong, poor Sid and Ed got drenched. It was so wet back there that at one time Sid had water come up the sleeve of his jacket, up his arm and around his back, now he really was soaked, he had a good time though. The ride up the river was really one of the most exciting and fun boat trips ever. We headed 40 km up the river climbing a total of1500 feet, which meant rapids and we encountered many of them, some higher than others soaking us to the bones. Except for me in the front seat, I stayed pretty dry. About half way up we stopped at a small fall and enjoyed some lunch, some swam in the river, others like me fought of nasty mosquitoes.

There was a part with really ugly rapid which a few years back one boat capsized and since then these rapids are off limits for tourists and instead we get to hike 20 minutes along a nice path, while the boat awaits us above the rapids. From there the ride turned into a real adventure as there was one rapid after another, all you could hear was screaming and laughing. The view was spectacular every time we turned a corner of the snakelike river we had a view of another Tepui, some with waterfalls some with many of them and some with none. At one corner an orange bird came flying out of a tree it was a Rupicola Rupicola or Orange Cock of the Rock, you may recognize this bird as its head has a round crest of erectile feathers, shaped like a helmet. We also saw a beautiful bird with an iridescent cobalt blue color with yellow belly, Tony said it was a Drogon, but I haven’t been able to find it in my bird book or on the internet.

The higher we climbed the narrower the river became and more and more visible rocks appeared on the surface of the river. The boat sometimes came with in inches off these rocks but amazingly never hit one. The captain did a great job maneuvering us up the river and definitely knows his way. Then finally the Angel Fall was in sight and a few more rocks and more rapids appeared before we finally arrived on Isla Ratoncito where our camp was. We had to climb a fairly steep hill to the camp which is about 50 meters above the wild flowing river and has a magnificent view to the highest Waterfall in the world the Angel Falls. Plan was to climb up to the fall but a distant thunder announced rain was underway. Instead we all hung our hammocks up, with of course mosquito netting which made them look like cocoons. It didn’t take long for the rain to start, which lasted about 30 minutes and left us with a pleasant cool temperature and the freshest smelling air.

After the rain subsided and our cocoons were in place one of the indigenes ( that’s what they call the local Indians) started dinner by piercing one half chicken after another on long sticks and stuck them around a camp fire and roasted them crispy. While the chicken was roasting we discovered all kind of things around the camp. A cute looking lizard just as excited to watch us as we watched him, wild blooming orchids in the trees, a black scorpion munching on a centipede, big spiders and beautiful Morpho butterflies.

A Russian group joined our camp; they told us that they did some kite flying in Isla Coche. Knowing that Butch on Tropic Bird was kite flying in Coche we wondered what the chances were of them having met, well they did, small world again. We had a wonderful dinner, laughs, songs in all kind of languages, jokes, stories, for some a lot of rum and a good night sleep in our hammocks while rain drummed on the tin roof all night long.

The smell of frying arepas (corn pancakes) in hot oil awoke us and we enjoyed a wonderful breakfast before heading across the river to our walk up to Angel Falls. It’s a 1 ½ hour hike mainly up hill. Underway Tony explained soil, plants, flowers, animals and one of the indigenes showed us a plant with branches unbelievably straight, he showed us how they make fiber out of them which they use for basket weaving and other things, they also use that stick as fishing poles. He made a girl catcher, which the young Indigenes make for the girl they like, he slips this girl catcher over her little finger and stick his little finger into the other side, now they both pull on it, if it comes off her or his finger, they are no match, but if it sticks that means they are made for each other.

The last 20 minutes was fairly tough as we had to climb some rocks but then came the view of the incredible water fall which spilled over the Tepui cliff way above us. The height of the falls is so great that before getting anywhere near the ground the water is buffeted by the strong winds it creates and turned into mist and the mist was carried to where we were.

Angel Falls (‘Parekupa-meru’ in Pemoñ language meaning Waterfall of the deepest place)Niagra Falls. (Coordinates: 5°58′03″N, 62°32′08″W). The base of the falls feeds into the Churun River, a tributary of the Carrao River. is the world’s largest waterfall and has a total height of 979m with an uninterrupted drop of 807 m and is 16 times the heights of

Angel Falls spills off one of the largest tepuis 700 sqm, the heart-shaped Auyantepui (in Pemoñ language ‘Mountain of the God of Evil’), and drops into the Cañon del Diablo (‘Devil’s Canyon’). The waterfall has become Venezuela’s number one visited landmark. Angel Falls is named after an American bush pilot, Jimmie Angel, who landed on the boggy top of Auyantepui in 1937 in his four-seater airplane in search of gold. The plane stuck fast in the marshy surface and Angel couldn’t take off again. He along with his wife and two companions, trekked through rough, virgin terrain to the edge of the plateau, then descended a steep cliff, returning to civilization after an 11-day odyssey. The plane was later removed from the top of the tepui, restored and placed in front of the airport terminal in Ciudad Bolivar.

Angel Falls is in a distant wilderness without any road access. The village of CanaimaAngel Falls, Auyantepui, Canaima and the surrounding area lie within the boundaries of the 30’000-sq-km Parque Nacional Canaima, Venezuela’s second-largest national park. It stretches eastward and southward almost to the international borders with Brazil and Guyana and encompasses most of the Gran Sabana. about 50 km northwest is the major gateway to the falls and only reachable by plain.

We sat up on a rock awing over this spectacular waterfall, the mist spraying our faces. We were in a most beautiful scenery enhanced by all the blooming orchids, bromeliads and other tropical wild flowers everywhere we looked, plants we pay a fortune for in stores.

After we returned to the camp we gathered all our stuff and took the fast ride back to Canaima. The river current took us swiftly down the Churun river, again inches by boulders and rocks and down Rapidos Mayupa and Rapidos Arautaima and then into the Carrao river. It felt like on a ride in an amusement park. We were let off just a few feet before the river spilled over the Salto Hacha fall and hiked 20 minutes down the hill to our next camp on Isla Anatoly at Bernal’s Camp, our home for two nights. Bernal Camp was a bit more civilized than the Ratoncito camp, with 44 hammocks under one giant roof, tables and benches, bathrooms with cold river water showers, huge garden to explore and the most magnificent view over the Canaima Waterfalls. We were right across from Salto Hacha to the right of it is Golondrina, then Ucuaima. After we had settled in Sid and I ventured down to the lagoon across the falls. The couple from Belgium followed us and as we explored the beach we heard her scream then him: “snake, snake”. Immediately we ran over to them and oh my gosh was it the prettiest snake I’ve ever seen. I guess it was about 6 feet long with the most incredible sparkling green and blue colors, the color of a dorado, with a yellow belly and it slithered very fast across the hot sand, over a bush branch and finally disappeared inside a tree trunk. I got a good shot of this on film. I ran for Tony to get him and when we came back the snake was still in the tree trunk. Tony got it out but was unsuccessful at catching it, but we got another glimpse of this beautiful cold blooded creature. He said it was a green macaw, can’t find it either on internet or books, but Sid thinks it’s a blue racer.

After another wonderful dinner the guys went to the lagoon beach and started a bonfire while Carmen gave us girls a face massage, ahhhhh life is good. We arrived, the bonfire was raging and the guys half blasted. Tony said that now after the massage I now needed some of the healthy tannic water foam that washes ashore from the falls (the indigenes swear by its rejuvenating powers) and tossed foam in my face over and over, I felt like I was cream pied over and over. Evidence was found all over my shirt the next day which was stained with a brown mess and I always thought sea foam was white, but I have to admit my skin felt silky and soft. Even Sid had a rejuvenating foam pie tossed into his face. As we were singing songs around the fire some wild foxes joined us, I hope they didn’t think we were howling at them.

The shrieking sound of caracara falcons woke me up I grabbed my camera and followed the sound. There must have been at least 10 of these beautiful falcons playing on the ground. I also saw a chiquire (capybara) but they are so shy he disappeared into the bushes when he saw me.

Very near to Cainaima Lagoon from a branch of the Carrao river, you will find one of the most beautiful waterfalls in all the region: Salto Sapo (Frog Fall). The amount of water is really impressive, especially in the rainy season (May to November). We hiked about 20 minutes to this incredible fall and the hike didn’t end here as Tony led us below the fall. Yes below! I cannot describe the feeling you get walking behind the curtain of water, getting soaked to the bones and at one point where the most water spilled over the top, the mist was so thick we could barley breath or see. If you have claustrophobia this will definitely bring it out. We were just absolutely taken by this powerful scene of nature, we all were speechless. On the other side we rested and awed some more over this wonder of nature. Sid and I even found a pool the size of a Jacuzzi to cool off in. From here we walked to the neighboring Salto Sapito which is another beautiful waterfall and watched the massive amount of water spill over the edge into the lagoon below us and to the grassy meadow on the other side with Tepuis in the background, just breathtaking. On our hike we also saw the most colorful butterflies, a lilac dragon fly, two giant ants fighting, and a green poison dart frog and found some rocks of Jade. Above one of the pools we sat in the water just a few meters before the water spilled over the cliff.

After a relaxing bath in the shallows of the lagoon at our camp we all ventured into Canaima Village which is a mixture of indigenous village and tourist center that serves as a base for Angel Falls. It lies on a peaceful wide stretch of Rio Carrao known as Laguna de Canaima, just below the point where the river turns into a line of the seven magnificent falls.

The red wine-colored lagoon is bordered by a pink beach, and the falls, too, have conspicuously colored water, vaguely reminiscent of beer or brandy. The coloring of these (as well as other rivers and falls in the region) is caused by tannin, a compound found in local trees and plants, especially in the Bonnetia tree. The lagoon looks wonderful calm, but the waterfalls cause treacherous undercurrents.

We had just enough time to make it to the souvenir store as a heavy downpour of rain cooled off the hot air. We enjoyed walking through this quite beautiful village and walked along the beach back to where the boat had dropped us off. We were one hour too early so we decided to have a cocktail at the beach bar. I was shocked as we received the bill, it was 25 000 Bolivares for one Cuba Libre, they usually are max 5000; just good we only had one each. As sunset approached the waterfalls lit up in the reflection of the sun and a beautiful rainbow showed up by the last fall and disappeared as the sun disappeared below the horizon. We also met some of Tony’s old friends and learned that the Indigenes are not allowed to marry out of the race or they face a two year jail sentence, which happened to one of his friends. After his two years he did marry his sweetheart after all and is probably the only guy living here that is out of this tribe. Six o’clock came and past and still no boat in sight to pick us up, then seven came around and still no boat. A half hour later we found out that the motor was broken and one of his buddies drove us in his boat back to the camp. After dinner we noticed foxes just outside the camp. Tony hand fed them and one even came to my hand to sniff if I had anything tasty for him. Tony said that he saw them during the night going to each of our hammocks sniffing us, one had even two babies, would have loved to see that.

We had an early start, packed up our gear, loaded it into the boat, and drove back to Canaima and the airport. Just minutes later we took off in a Cessna and flew for 45 minutes over the Canaima National Park. We were able to see the rapids we encountered just days earlier, the camp we stayed in and the most incredible view over Angel Falls, plus so many more uncountable waterfalls that spill off this giant Tepui. We flew over terrain no one has ever ventured in. The scenery was just breathtaking.

At one of clock we took off again in another small Cessna, this time to Santa Elena. The pilot insisted on me being his co-pilot and as we flew over Auyantepui he pointed at a narrow stream explaining that this was the Angel Falls river, to which I responded how puny it looked for such a powerful water fall, he mumble something, turned the rudder and started flying along the narrow stream of water. I cannot describe the view we had as we flew just a few feet, over the edge as the top of Angel Falls came to full view, just unbelievable. That was super nice of him to go out of his way to share this with us. We were back on our track he set the autopilot and started to read his newspaper, Sid told him that he should studied the flight instructions before we took off. I had to translate for Sid. You should have seen the pilot he could barley stop laughing, he laughed so hard he shook the plane. It was an incredible flight as we got to see the top of the tepuis, some more rugged then others and one in particular stood out as it was an odd oval shaped tepui, I think he called it Tepui Urna, which means urn. Right after that the land evened out and gold mines came to view. We flew through a thundercloud; just good Sid was the only one seeing the lighting bolts streaking to earth.

We arrived safe and sound in Santa Elena where another yet unforgettable adventure awaited us.

Santa Elena de Uairén is the only town in the region of the Gran Sabana and only five miles from the Brazilian border. It is a very laid back town and we felt right at home, what we liked most was the climate, dry and pleasant cool at night. Founded in 1924, Santa Elena began to grow when diamonds were discovered in the 1930s in the Icabarú region. Then the village was isolated from the rest of the country due to lack of roads and remained small and insignificant. The second development push came with the opening of the highway from El Dorado in 1992, which is the only road link between Venezuela and Brazil. We stayed at the German owned Backpacker’s Posada very clean and cozy.

The next morning Basil our tour guide from Kuravainatours picked us up and drove us first to La Liñea which is across the border in Brazil. It’s a little town with one tourist shop after another, not really worth the trip other than being able to say “I was in Brasil”. On our way back we stopped at a liquor store to load up on some rum as there are no further stores in the whole entire Gran Sabana. The best liquor store we’ve ever found with the best rum and Tequila section ever, we found Flore de Caña Rum and Zapaca the best rum we have ever tasted and can’t find anywhere, we scored big time, best yet Santa Elena is a duty free zone. Happily we took off into the Gran Sabana.

Vast, wild, beautiful, empty and silent, the Gran Sabana is one of the country’s most enchanting and unusual region and way worth a visit. It’s located on a plateau 1000 meters above sea level. Gran Sabana is an amazing rolling, grassy savanna with uncountable waterfalls and more than 100 table mountains (Tepui) which are the most striking natural features. Tepui is a Pemoñ Indian word for mountain and it has been adopted internationally as the term, although the term Tepui is used only in the Pemoñ language, elsewhere they are called either cerros or montes. These massive Tepuis are flat-topped, cliff-edge sandstone mountains and geologically are the remnants of a thick layer of Precambrian sediment laid down some two billion years ago when South America, Africa and Australia were joined together as part of the supercontinent Gondwana. Warping of the continental plates created fissures and fractures in the sandstone plain, which gradually eroded, leaving behind only the most resistant rock ‘islands’ present day tepuis. The tallest of the tepuis Roraima 2810 meters can be climbed, and this trip is an extraordinary adventure.

First site was Pacheco’s creek a waterfall hard to find along a bumpy dirt road with a crystal clear pool. It was fun jumping from the rocks in to the refreshing water and we enjoyed sitting under the waterfall where the falling water massaged our backs.

Second stop was Yuruani falls where a rainbow was visible just beyond the fall, just breathtaking.

The trip was ended with a dirt road drive to Mirador Agua Fria where we had a 360 degree view over the Gran Sabana an incredible sight and rather dramatic as the sun set and shadows started creping across the savanna. Here we met a group from Maracaibo and shared some rum with them while we watched the sunset.

Then it was back to Santa Elena and up the hill to a most beautiful Posada called Campamento Petoi, we had the cutest room and HOT running water what a joy and the fun people we just met stayed there as well. Dinner was wonderful as the owner is a gourmet chef. After dinner we sat outside with the our new Maracaibo friends and talked, rather laughed way into the night.

As we stepped onto the patio in the early hours a most beautiful view awaited us and we noticed the cutest stuffed puppy in the corner until it started moving. Parrots were talking loudly in a near by cage, then breakfast was served and we were off to our second day adventure in the Gran Sabana.

First visit was Quebrada de Jaspe (Jasper Creek or in Pemoñ Kako Paru), a natural wonder, where at the same time a waterfall and a stream 30 feet wide was flowing on a bed of Jasper, a red and yellow semi-precious stone. In the glistening sunlight the jasper was the color of shiny copper, brass and gold and at some spots it resembled a beautiful leopard skin a very breathtaking and unusual sight. We climbed the waterfall to get a different view of the unusual but beautiful shimmering colors. A bit further down the fall a pretty stepped cascade, also of jasper completed the enchanting scene. The color of the jasper must attract butterflies as there were numerous different types, we saw at least 8 morphos which are rather hard to encounter and harder to photo, several Swallowtails and in one corner lots of smaller yellow and white ones.

Some other beautiful falls were Soruape, Arapon Meru or Quebrada de pacheco, Karuai Meru, Kaki Falls where I found some Jasper pieces and we stopped at Mirador de Valle de los tepuis with another incredible view over the Sabana of several Tepuis including Roraima, the view was spectacular. Further down the road Basil turned off onto a washboard road and drove us some 85 miles along the bumpy road to Posada Chivaton out in the middle of nowhere. What a neat place and cozy rooms but “screech” was the shower water freezing cold. We had plenty of time before dinner so we sat down in front of the TV (sat dish)by the restaurant and made ourselves comfortable in the wooden chairs. As night was falling and there were no windows in the restaurant it didn’t take much time for bugs to fly around the light above us then they started bumping into us and landing on us, some got entangled in my hair, not for me, a scream later I had red wine all over my pants and socks not to mention a half empty wine glass. Dinner was again wonderful except for the steak which was as tuff as shoe soles. We had a good night sleep except for Ed and Linda finding a black scorpion in their bathroom. The squawking of a parrot woke me up; of course I grabbed my camera and went to find the noisy little critter. Didn’t take me long to find him in the near tree and less time to get him on my hand, I made a new friend.

The next trip took us another 28 kilometers on the bumpy dirt road to the Aponwao river where a dugout awaited us and twenty minutes later we arrived at the top of the second highest fall in Venezuela the Salto Aponwao (Chinak Meru) 105 meters a quite impressive waterfall. From there it was a short walk to the edge of the fall while we noticed two wire cable spun across the river which was placed there for safety as a few year back a boat’s engine failed and 16 adults and kids were killed as they fell over the fall. We walked a steep hill down to the base of the fall where a cool breeze from the fall engulfed us with the mist. From there it was an hour walk to Poso Escondido (hidden pool) surrounded in a narrow rocky valley covered with moss cliffs and yet another waterfall splashing into an inviting pool. The water was icy cold, but felt very refreshing after the hike. A ten minute hike up the hill took us to yet another fall with crystal clear and clean water. Amazingly being the same river the water up here was quite a bit warmer. Sid and our guide Oswaldo climbed up the waterfall and ventured up the river where they found three more falls. They returned pretty excited over this as this was the first time that anybody ventured higher up. The hike back was on a different track through trees, then the boat ride back to the village where Basil stayed behind and cooked lunch for us. I heard that they eat giant ants here and I really would have like to try some, couldn’t find any, but they make a hot sauce in this region where they use ants or termites in the sauce. We tried the first sauce in Santa Elena but did not like it all too much, but then trying it over and over again in different places we found out that each family has their own recipe and some were quite good and indeed I did find a head of an ant in one of the sauces. From here we drove 50 km on the dirt road to the biggest of the Pemoñ villages Kavanayén, which is nestled on top of a small plateau, a small Indian village in a spectacular location in the middle of the Gran Sabana. The village is about 70 km west of the highway, and accessible by dirt road only. It’s surrounded by tepuis and has views of at least half a dozen of these table mountains including the unique cone-shaped Wei Tepui (Mountain of the Sun). Kavanayén developed around the Capuchin mission established here half a century ago. The missionaries erected a massive stone building for themselves and apparently assumed that the Indians wanted to live in a similar dwelling. Almost all the houses in the village are of heavy stone construction, a striking contrast to the thatched adobe churuatas you’ll see elsewhere in the region. Here is also the only other presidential palace other than in Caracas. Hugo spends quite some time up here and brings all the dignitaries of other countries to this area. Basil answered “not at all” to my remark that he must be heavily guarded while here.

We spent another night at the Chivaton posada and had a really early start as we had over 500 kilometers to drive back to Ciudad Bolivar, which took us by the virgin Statue “Piedra de la Virgen” which is a rock formation that looks like a statue with open arms, from there down the “Escalera” (staircase) from here starts a rainforest that ends at KM 88 (I guess they couldn’t find a name and since it was 88 km from Ciudad Guyana they named it just that) a small village which had lots to do with gold dealing and is still to this day a rather dangerous area. We had to stop for fuel and police told Basil that it was not a safe day to hang around. We also drove over a bridge that Eiffel built and later was given to Venezuela. The French now are trying to get the bridge back to France, what kind of present is that. Next village was Santa Clarita where some of the goldmines are. Basil drove us to one that he knew was safe as there is a guard sitting by the entrance. The goldmine is a pitiful sight not to mention the health hazard these poor men are working in as this area is contaminated with mercury.

Next village we drove through is Tumoreno where the famous soft cheese for Chapatas (Corn pancakes, quite tasty) is made. Since we didn’t have a cooler we decided it was best not to buy any but we stopped in El Callao an old town on the Rio Yuruari, what is Venezuela’s richest gold region. The town is a product of the gold rush that hit Guyana in 1849 and made Venezuela the world’s largest gold producer. Today El Callao is a quite town and the gold-shopping mecca of the region. I think I went into every single jewelry store in town to find silver jewelry, yes silver not gold. This town’s other distinctive feature is its Trinidad-influenced carnival, accompanied by calypso, steel bands and floats, attracting thousands for the festivities, sound like a fun place to see carnival.

With real car butts we finally arrived in Ciudad Bolivar an old Spanish port on the Orinoco River, the largest river in Venezuela, about 420 km upstream from the Atlantic, Ciudad Bolivar is one of Venezuela’s most popular destinations, for the city itself and mainly to access the natural attractions of Angel Falls. During modern times the town has expanded greatly, but still kept its historic core which retains the flavor of an old river town with its colonial era architecture. The historic quarter is perched on a hillside overlooking the mighty Oronoco RiverPosadas only one room left so we left it to Dreamtime, while we went to the next door hotel, which unfortunately was filled up too, one hotel later Posada Valentino’s right across the street from the wonderful Steakhouse we had dinner 9 days prior we found a room. Actually this room was a lot nicer and cleaner than at Da Gino’s with AC and Cable TV a cute restaurant and bar. Poor Sid could finally rest as he was sick all day long and by now had a high fever, poor guy. we were not able to spend the night in this old part of town but headed back to the Da Gino’s. They had and Paseo de Oronoco invites you for an evening stroll along the river. Well due to full

The bus trip home was a lot better as the bus was air-conditioned, faster and we even were able to watch a movie.

This was indeed an incredible and unforgettable adventure definitely the best trip we’ve ever taken and we want to do it again. Venezuela is such a beautiful country, the people kind, warm and friendly with open doors. We like it so much we may stay much, much longer depending on the political situation of course; after all there are so many more places to visit in this beautiful country.

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