Peurto Colombia The Real R & R

And so it finally arrived...R&R! The group were excited and after an overnight bus journey from Ciudad Bolivar to Maracuay and a short but very windy taxi journey from Maracuay we arrived in Puerto Colombia. Our hotel ´Casa Pueblo´was a lovely surprise, total luxury compared to any of our lodgings over the past month. The little town was bustling and lively and everyone has enjoyed good food, and the palm tree lined beach. After 4 weeks of self catering and trekking it´s nice to have a few days to relax here without feeling like we are living out of a bag.

With just one full day of the expedition left, it clear that this has been an adventure, an experience of a lifetime and just the most amazing month. We have seen epic jungle, endless savanna, busy towns, rolling countryside, paradise beaches and the tallest waterfall in the world. We´ve eaten Ants, termites, chickens cooked over open fires and all sorts of delicacies cooked by the group on trek. An most amazingly of all we have climbed Roraima; the magnificent Tepui with the most bizarre summit I think any of us have even seen. It´s been hard at times but the group have pulled through, they have achieved alot and come a long way. We will be sad to leave Venezuela which has proven to be an incredibly interesting, utterly amazing and totally diverse country, and the most fantastic place for our month long adventure.

Angel Falls 2

A leisurely start this morning saw the group embarking on a new adventure. We took slightly bigger long boats than yesterday for the 4 hour trip up the river to Angel Falls. Travelling up the Rio Carrao we encountered rapids which the boatmen skillfully but exhilaratingly guided us through. After getting off the boats and walking for 1/2 hour we took the boats once more towards our first stop of the dayat the ´Pools of Happiness.´Many of the group took advantage of plunging into the cool water, a refreshing change from the heat of the day. On the boats once more after a quick stop for lunch we continued to power up stream, our guides prepared us for the sight we had been waiting for. As we turned around a final bend in the river, the jungle parted and there, visibly thundering off the top of the mountain was Angel Falls. A continuous drop of white water, cascading down the vertical side of the Tepui. With this now in view we stopped and walked the short distance to our jungle camp for the night, taking just our cameras we started the short hour walk to the falls themselves. It seemed a long time since we had been trekking in jungle but the group soon grew accustomed to the roots, branches and trees. Encountering a coral snake constricting and then eating a mouse, a huge maze of spider´s webs hanging in the trees above us and vines strong enough to swing on reminded us of what an amazing place we were in.
Aftera 20 minute ascent we arrived at the view point of ´Salto Angel´as we appeared out of the vegetation we heard it before we saw it, thundering and echoing through the forest. The sight was absolutely breathtaking, clear skies allowed us to see the water plummet over the edge of the tepui before exploding and cascading, as if in slow motion, down the enormous drop into the churning pools below. With a total a drop of 807metres this was a waterfall of epic proportion, totally amazing and the group looked on in awe. Back at the jungle camp the group reflected on what they had seen over the most delicious meal of potatoes and chickens cooked to perfection by the boat men on spits over an open fire.

Angel Falls

With just under a week to go, the R & R really began with out trip to Angel Falls. We had an early start and left for Ciudad Bolivar airport at 6am. It was a welcome relief to be carrying our day sacks after the heavy bags we had carried on the trek. The Cessnas that would take the group to Canaima, only accessible by air, were not disimilar in looks to the plane of Jimmie Angel the American explorer who first discovered the falls and who they were consequently named after, and whose plane now sits outside Ciudad Bolivar airport for all to see. Angel Falls or ´Salto Angel´cascades from the top of the Áyuantepui´in the middle of the jungle in Parque Nacional Canaima, Venezuela´s second largest park. The group split into 13and 5 to travel over savanna, jungle and then close to various tepuis and over the surging Carrao river to reach their destination. After paying arrival tax we took a short truck journey to Kavac camping site, as 18 hammocks were rigged up we walked down to the paradise stylew beach on the edge of the lagoon. Lined with palm trees the pinky water lapped at the shore. In the blazing sunshine the team were able to lie on the beach in view of 3 powerful waterfalls. After a few hours we met our guide and took a short boat ride towards the 3 waterfalls which had been visible during the day. Disembarking the long boat we made our way to the first waterfall ´Salto El Sapo´ walking behind the ferocious water we were soaked in seconds, the water was surprisingly warm, yet it powerfully dropped in front of us in a white, foamy curtain. The noise was immense, the water roared all around us as the team carefully made thier way over the rocks behind the falls. After this exhilarating experience the team were taken to another, bigger fall ´Salto Hacha´which had been clearly visible all day from the beach. This was more powerful, noisier and more dramatic than the last. There was chance to sit under the mighty plummet of the waters to the lagoon below. Spray enveloped us and once again we were saoked. After this amazing experience the group made thier way back to camp for dry clothes and warm drinks.

Back to Ciudad Bolivar...

After the 6 day trek the group enjoyed not onoly a small lie in but a lazy day having a leisurely breakfast at the local cafe. After a team meeting where R&R plans were finalised some of the group took taxis over the border to do some shopping in Brazil in La Linea, a small town very much geared up for tourists, unlike most of Venezuela! Loaded with shopping bags, some of us even with hammocks, we returned to the camp to go on the overnight bus to Ciudad
Bolivar. This journey was not without incident, after only 15 minutes the bus broke down and we had to wait 1 1/2 hours for another one to turn up. Eventually we switched coaches and continued on our way. Another day´s rest in Ciudad Bolivar allowed the group to sleep, eat and more importantly buy supplies for our trip to Angel Falls.

Roraima: The Summit and descent

For our only full day on top of Roraima our guide wanted an early start. As we walked out of our camp into the mist it was easy to see how the tepuis support their own eco system. Truly unique, the mist only added to the eerie atmosphere and quiet stillness on top of Roraima. We walked across the seemingly identical sections, without our guides we would have been entirely lost. We made our way to the Crystal valley to see the quartx fields, passing on our way many of the endemic flora in this harsh little micro climate. The ´jacuzzis´ (cold plunge pools) lay still and deep in the smooth rock which eventually gave way to harsher land with mini pillar like sections perfect for a quick team photo opportunity. The final point of the tour was ´The Window´a hole in the rock floor with plunging views to the ground below. The mist however obscured this view but added to the feeling of an utter abyss below us as we peered over the edge of the Tepui feeling we could topple over at any point.

The descent was much quicker than the trek up, with civilization and more importantly pizza getting closer the group rallied together to reach the goal of a 2 day trip. Setting up camp at Rio Tek the first night the group were in good spirits. Looking back at Roraima, a dark, monstrous shadow in the moonlight as the fire flies flickered through the grass and stars twinkled in the moonlit sky we were able to feel the enormity of our achievements. The final day of the trek had us pushing hard towards the village of Paratepui and after leaving at 6.30am the first of the group crossed the line at around 10am with the others not far behind. Hot and exhausted the majority of the team took the trucks back to Santa Elena, leaving one truck to stop off in the Pemon settlement of San Francisco to look at the crafts. That night back in Kamadac´s camp site the team basked in their achievement of the last 6 days.

Roraima 3 "What a doddle´!"

With a fairly early start we spent breakfast looking up at the mist covered ramp. Anxious but excited we began the hardest day of the trek. Climbing on all fours for the first half hour we clambered up the steep ground but spirits continued to stay high. As we climbed on we were able to catch glimpses through the trees of what we had left behind the savanna still stretching into the distance and base camp growing fainter as we trekked on up the steep and difficult terrain. After the open land of the past 2 days the more jungle like route provided the group with a change of scenery. From around us trees reached up into the sky, roots, logs and boulders lay in our path as the group carefully made tracks up the ramp. The futher we trekked the more exicted we became, and so the belief grew that the group could in fact get to the top. After and early lunch the group pressed on, passing under two waterfalls saw the group donning thier previously unused waterproofs. Looking up through the forest the Tepui rose to dizzying heights above us. The top however did begin to come into view, after one final stop it was just another 30minutes up the ramp. The group pushed on and finally after 5 1/2 hours we reached the top! Delighted but exhausted the group were totally elated and proud of thier achievement, even if Anna thought "Roraima was a doddle!"

The top of the mountain was awesome. Truly the most bizarre landscape I´m sure any of us had witnessed. Deep moon like craters, rocks balanced on top of one another, sand, shallow pools with the endemic plants growing from them and then the ´hotels´massive overhangs of rock with enough room for all the groups´tents underneath. A few of the group ventured to the edge of the moutain. The sheer vastness that met us is hard to describe. The immense savanna over which we had trekked lay spread out before us, the tiny path visible at points across the rolling hills, clouds lay shadows over the land. The vertical drop from the edge was spectacular and breathtaking. With the Kukenan Tepui to the right we could clearly see the feat we had accomplished. Morale was high and high and rightly so, the group looked forward to exploring the summit the following morning.

Roraima 2

5 am on Friday the 24th July. We awoke to a clear and sunny day. With bags packed and supplies on trucks we travelled the 1 1/2 hours to Paratepui, as the trucks bumped and raced along the dirt tracks we caught our first glimjpse of Roraima- the magnificent Tepui. Reaching up above the cloud only a small section of the summit was visible first thing that morning, but as the day progressed the cloud cleared and more of the mountain became visible. The huge flat topped monster towered above us and stayed there for the duration of the trek gradually becoming bigger as we progressed, only occassionally disappearing as we walked into a valley between the undulating hills of the savanna. Well trodden paths and our guides led us to our first camp site at Rio Kukenan where we crossed two rivers the Tek and Kukenan. Although the day was long the terrain was fairly easy and the group coped well, in fact we arrived at the lunch stop 40minutes AHEAD of schedule a feat never before accomplished by this group! The team all reached camp safely and although exhausted were pleased with their efforts. It was a bizarre but amazing experience bathing in the cool waters of the Rio Kukenan in the shadow of the mighty Roraima as the sun fell out of sight behind the Tepui casting shadows on the ground and enveloping the camp in darkness.

Waking up in the shadow of the the mountain we realised just how much ground we had covered the day before. The group set off at a steady pace and trekked across the slightly harder ground. The Roraima loomed ever closer and by lunch, after trekking through the endless savanna we were able to distinguish ´The Ramp´from the rest of the side of the Tepui. Pushing on after lunch saw the group make fantastic progress and a stop on top of a hill left the group in awe of the endless, barren savanna, no signs of inhabitants and the only evidence of trekkers being the narrow dusty path that snaked across the grassland. Reaching base camp the anticipation began to rise as well as apprehension...we could feel how close we were to the moutain which stood above us eerily dominating the sky line.