Venezuela trekking holiday and tour
| country: | Venezuela |
| trip type: | Moderate wilderness trekking holidays |
| departures: | 2008: 19 Oct, 23 Nov |
| price: | From £1225 (13 days) excluding flights. Price includes all travel in Venezuela, English speaking local guides, camp porters, accommodation (1 night hotel, 3 night's guesthouse, 6 nights camping in tents, 2 nights camping in hammocks) and most meals |
the amazing things you'll be doing
This small group expedition has two highlights: the trek to the summit of Mount Roraima, one of the most impressive mountains in South America, and the river journey to the foot of Angel Falls, the tallest waterfall in the world.
Mt Roraima’s huge plateau is skirted by sheer walls that lift it high above the tropical savannah. Its walls are so immense that repeated Victorian expeditions reported that it was unscalable. Darwinists proposed that it might thus retain ‘relic species’ cut off from evolution; perhaps dinosaurs might still exist there. Reports of Roraima’s ascent inspired Conan Doyle’s classic adventure novel ‘The Lost World’, whose heroes climb a fictional Roraima and discover a prehistoric land where they are swooped on by pterodactyls, chased by tyrannosauruses and captured by apemen.
Fantasy and reality meet on Roraima still. Weird rock formations covering much of the summit can appear as bizarre creatures from another world, there are valleys carpeted with gleaming crystals, and evolution has produced several species found only here.
To stand at the foot of Angel Falls, the second highlight of this trip, is an awesome experience, while the river journey by dugout boat and the scenery through which you travel is equally memorable.
Mt Roraima’s huge plateau is skirted by sheer walls that lift it high above the tropical savannah. Its walls are so immense that repeated Victorian expeditions reported that it was unscalable. Darwinists proposed that it might thus retain ‘relic species’ cut off from evolution; perhaps dinosaurs might still exist there. Reports of Roraima’s ascent inspired Conan Doyle’s classic adventure novel ‘The Lost World’, whose heroes climb a fictional Roraima and discover a prehistoric land where they are swooped on by pterodactyls, chased by tyrannosauruses and captured by apemen.
Fantasy and reality meet on Roraima still. Weird rock formations covering much of the summit can appear as bizarre creatures from another world, there are valleys carpeted with gleaming crystals, and evolution has produced several species found only here.
To stand at the foot of Angel Falls, the second highlight of this trip, is an awesome experience, while the river journey by dugout boat and the scenery through which you travel is equally memorable.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | We meet at Caracas airport and catch the evening flight to Puerto Ordaz. Overnight at a 3* hotel. |
| Day 2: | We visit Cachamay Park and see the massive cataracts that forced Sir Walter Ralegh to turn back. We take the TransAmazonica Highway, the narrow road south to Brazil, through farmlands then rainforests, pausing to see gold and diamond mining and to visit a local family. Overnight at a jungle lodge near the road. |
| Day 3: | We ascend the escarpment that leads up to the Gran Sabana. Before the road the only way up meant clambering on ladders and jungle vines. We pause near the top at a look-out over the forest (the guide can usually find poison-arrow frogs around here). Continuing south, we stop at Kamá Falls, an impressive 230ft waterfall. Sighting Roraima from afar, we take a rough road to a small Pemón village, where we get ready for the trek. Overnight in tents or at a simple lodge. |
| Day 4: | Our route starts with easy walking across rolling grasslands. Crossing several streams we ford the Tek river and later the Kukenán river—if there has been heavy rain this may be high enough that ropes are needed to cross it, but usually it can be waded quite easily. We camp with a fantastic view of the stark face of Roraima ahead and Kukenán-tepui to its left. Kukenán Falls (second tallest in the world) is clearly visible in the right season. From this point we can also see the pinnacle of rock next to Roraima like the one by which Conan Doyle’s heroes reached the top. |
| Day 5: | Next day we trek across rising savannah to the base of the mountain to camp in a meadow alive with multicoloured birds by day and fireflies at night. The Roraima wall is extremely impressive here, rising nearly 3,000ft directly in front of the camp, the quartz in the rock glittering in the late afternoon sun. |
| Day 6: | In the morning we set off up the route that leads diagonally across the face of the Roraima wall. The trail ascends through montane rainforest and crosses small streams where hummingbirds, orchids and brightly coloured flowers are abundant. Higher, the vegetation changes to tree ferns and the trail leads under a waterfall leaping from the cliff edge hundreds of feet above. After 3-4 hours (during which we are well shielded from the downwards cliff by the width of the defile and by vegetation and rocks) we arrive at the entrance to the summit and emerge at the top—looking back for an incredible view. We camp for 2 nights on the top. |
| Day 7: | Next day we explore the summit itself, taking a circular route to the marker where Venezuela, Brazil and Guyana meet. We walk among impressive rock formations, suddenly finding surprisingly lush meadows among the stark outcrops, and places where the ground is covered with sparkling quartz crystals. There are rock pools everywhere, and in them you may see the black toads unique to Roraima. Over half the plant species are unique to tepuis or to Roraima alone, including several orchids. Carnivorous pitcher plants attract their insect prey to chambers of liquid, each of which is a miniature ecosystem of mites and larvae adapted to live off the hapless creatures who fall in, without themselves being digested by the plant before their own allotted life span has run out. |
| Day 8: | Next morning there is time to explore some more before we descend to the base and continue to one of several possible camping places. |
| Day 9: | On our sixth day of trekking we complete the return to the village to be met by our vehicle. We say goodbye to our porters and set off to Santa Elena de Uairén where we stay in a small lodge. On the way we stop at Jaspé Falls, where a stream tumbles over sheets of semi-precious stone glowing red and orange under the sparkling water. |
| Day 10: | We catch a flight to Canaima across the heart of the Gran Sabana, with great views of many tepuis. If conditions allow the pilot will detour over Angel Falls for a sneak preview. |
| Day 11: | On landing at Canaima we join our boatmen waiting on the Carrao river for our journey to the foot of Angel. |
| Day 12: | Returning to Canaima at the end of the river journey we stop at the lagoon for a little relaxation on the sandy shore, after which we fly to Ciudad Bolívar where we stay in a good quality posada. |
| Day 13: | We explore the historic part of Ciudad Bolívar leading down to the Orinoco waterfront, then drive 1hr to Puerto Ordaz for our flight to Caracas, where the tour ends, in time for overnight flights to the UK. |
small group adventure holiday
Typically you will be sharing your experiences with between 4-20 like minded travellers (depending on the trip, operator and how many others are booked on the trip) and you'll have a group leader with you. Whether you are travelling alone or with friends its good value, and a great way to meet new people! While itineraries are pre-planned there is some flexibility and you'll have plenty of privacy. This trip will appeal to travellers of all ages who enjoy meeting new people as well as seeing new places.how this holiday makes a difference
|
As an in depth specialist tour operator to Venezuela, responsible tourism is at the very heart of what we do. To us, this means much more than a simple donation to a charity for each client. We try to build long and constructive involvements with local guides, guest houses, wildlife lodges, and hotels, in the course of which we, and our clients, can make lasting wide-ranging contributions to the wonderful places and people we engage with.
In this itinerary we use a small Venezuelan based company to arrange the trek and the river trip and have forged a long-term relationship with the guides. Porters are from the local Pemón community. All luggage is carefully weighed to make sure it is within the limit for porters. Our clients pay their own porters directly so they know the money is going straight to them. Clients are briefed not to disturb any of the flora and to respect the environment. |
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. |