home about us late availability vouchers & booking gifts campaigns travel tips ezine community contact us

Venezuela family adventure holiday

country:Venezuela
departures:2010: 7 Aug, 21 Aug
2011: 23 Jul, 20 Aug
price:From £2488 - £2621 (16 days) per adult and from £2393 - £2526 per child including flights from the UK. From £1966 per adult and from £1966 per child excluding flights. Single supplement £435. Minimum age 11 yrs
vouchers:Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday
 
the amazing things you'll be doing
  • Bathe in the waters beneath the staggering Angel Falls
  • Raft the Asequia River as it cascades through the Andean foothills
  • Spot alligators & anteaters on horseback in Venezuela's pantanal

    Rainforest & Angel Falls
    Join us on this unparalleled adventure for teenagers, exploring Venezuela's 'lost world'. Flying deep into the heart of the rain-forested interior of this forgotten land, we spend 4 days travelling by motorised launches along the tree-lined banks of the Akanan and Iwana rivers to our ultimate goal, Angel Falls. Knifing down in a single unbroken cascade, the falls leap off the vertical escarpment of Auyan Tepui (Devil's Mountain, 2,400m) - the tallest waterfall in the world.

    Aligators, Anacondas & Anteaters
    From here we fly to the gentle foothills of the Andes, our base for a couple of action-packed days, rafting the white waters of the Asequia river and mountain biking down the verdant slopes. Continuing to Los Llanos wetlands, we discover a little-known area of quite incredible tropical wildlife. Staying on a working cattle ranch, we plan to explore this 'pantanal' region on horseback, hoping to spot alligators, anaconda, capybara, armadillo, giant anteater and numerous bird species. We also hope to see the Venezuelan cowboys close up as they work with the cattle on the ranch.

    Cloud Forest & Caribbean
    Continuing towards the coast, we pause at the sleepy village of Colonia Tovar in the cloud-forest clad hills of the coastal cordillera to get a taste of rural Venezuelan life. From here we descend to the coast where our final days are spent relaxing by the Caribbean on the horseshoe-shaped sandy bay at Chichirivichi. There's time to try some snorkelling, take an exploratory scuba diving lesson (both optional) or simply unwind on the beach.
  • day-by-day itinerary
    Day 1:Join Caracas.
    Day 2:Fly over Angel Falls to Kavac (dry season only - Jan-May).
    Day 3:Launch to Iwana Meru.
    Day 4:Launch down Carrao River to Arenal.
    Day 5:Motorised canoe to Angel Falls, walk to lookout.
    Day 6:Launch to Canaima, fly to Cuidad Bolivar.
    Day 7:Fly via Caracas to Barinas; PM rafting.
    Day 8:Rafting and mountain biking.
    Day 9:Drive Canafistola; PM wildlife viewing on horseback (or by vehicle).
    Day 10:In Canafistola; more wildlife spotting.
    Day 11:Drive via San Fernando to Calabozo.
    Day 12:Drive Colonia Tovar; free PM.
    Day 13:AM optional visit to cloud forest; PM drive Chichirivichi.
    Day 14:Free for relaxing on beach.
    Day 15:AM on beach, PM drive Caracas and fly London.
    Day 16:Arrive London.
    small group family holiday - teen
    This is a 'small group family adventure' - specifically for families with teenagers. They are imaginative, fun and challenging itineraries, designed specifically with teenagers in mind. The minimum age on these Teenage tours is 11 (‘teen’ used with poetic licence!) and typically you will join several other families and travel in a group of approx. 16 people. The trips are great value and a great way for you and your family to meet new people! While itineraries are pre-planned there is also some flexibility and you'll have plenty of time to yourselves.
    award winner
    This tourism business won an Award in our 2008 Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards - organised by responsibletravel.com in association with The Daily Telegraph, World Travel Market, Geographical Magazine, of the Royal Geographical Society and BBC World News.

    Since 2004, the Awards has recognised individuals, companies and organisations in travel making a big commitment to the culture and economies of local communities and helping to conserve biodiversity.
    how this holiday makes a difference
    Community
    Learning about the country we are travelling to is really important on our tours and our Venezuela tour is just brimming with exciting experiences to really get an insight into the country through authentic and fun activities. We travel through remote territory rarely seen and mainly stay in jungle shelters and rustic camps; sleeping as the Indians do – in hammocks - as we travel down the Akanan River. We experience life in the jungle, in the mountains and out on the Llanos where we stay on a local cattle farm. All this is done with the highest respect to the local people. Our agent, with whom we have worked for many years, has built strong relationships with the communities we encounter, ensuring our experience is not to the detriment of anyone else’s

    We use local leaders on this tour, which not only benefits the local economy but also means you’ll get a real insight into the country that only a local can give. All transport and suppliers are locally owned and run thus supporting the local economy too.

    Environment
    We recommend that our clients bring water purifiers and a water bottle on this tour rather than supplying them with bottled water. Plastic recycling facilities are very limited in Venezuela; so using a water purification system helps limit our impact on the local environment.

    As well as the above, we support a variety of charities and projects worldwide which support vulnerable communities and habitats including Friends of Conservation, Hope Worldwide and Send A Cow. We are also actively engaged with UK travel industry bodies which promote best practice in responsible tourism, such as Tourism Concern, The Travel Foundation and AITO. Our commitment to responsible tourism is not limited to our overseas operation and we have measures to ensure our UK office operates according to our responsible tourism policy. Carbon offsets for all flights booked with us are included in the tour cost.

    Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people.

    We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel.

    'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left).

    We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays.

    We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism.

    This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards.

    Convert currencies