There and back again…

Used to early morning I found it impossible to sleep in and was out by 8:00. John and I had breakfast across the road with Donna and Dion and then Dion moved the truck forwards so I could get my razor out of the back locker and shave.

El was right, there is very little to do in Santa Elena. For my it was good time to catch up with internet, blog, photos and do some research for the next part of the trip between Rio and La Paz. At lunch time El and Fi made an appearance. Obviously they forgot to say that another thing to do in Santa Elana is sleep till midday. We made our way to a small deli at the other side of town. The memorial concert for Micheal Jackson was taking place on CNN (Spanish). It would have been interesting to see what the invited speakers were saying but it was voiced over in Spanish. I stayed long enough for a coffee and to see Lionel Richie perform but I needed to get some serious internet time in. To be honest I think Micheal Jackson was a great pop star but not one of my idols and certainly the time for the memorial concert was better spent elsewhere.

I had left 300B to last me to the Brazilian border but ended up changing another 30USD to tide me through the two days in town, pay for internet, drink and a night out. This would be El’s last night out as the next night we would be wild camping and she was due to leave the night we got into Manaus, having been forced to bring her flights home forward by a day.

I managed to get a skype call to both my sister and my parents. It was great to see Helen and Kiera, my niece. I can’t believe how quick she is growing and a regular chatterbox now. I got back to the hotel with minutes to spare, got a quick shower and changed ready for a night on the town. We ate as a group at a Chinese restaurant on the main plaza. The meal was OK but I order a “hot plate” meal and was sort of hoping it would come out on a skillet like they do in the UK. Must be a different translation in Venezuela!

After the meal Donna and Dion headed back to the hotel whilst the rest of us walked to a bar on the corner of the plaza. Fi and El lead the way. It was one of the funny images that I wish I caught on camera. The two girls, stood under a street lamp, on a street corner, outside a darkened bar, beckoning the men over. Perhaps not the most favourable comparison but it seemed to fit, as afterwards Fi told us how she had got stroked in a bar by a few prostitutes two nights previous.

We pretty much had the bar to ourselves. The music was pretty ropy but after a while the bar staff changed the music to English hits from the 80’s which wasn’t too bad. We asked the bar staff to put on some salsa music and we danced for a while. Fi and El enjoying some time together. OK this may be another photo that could be taken out of context, but that’s what blog’s are for!

By that time we were pretty merry so we were pretty much dancing to anything. There was only Fi, El, Karen and Laurie left by this time when Antonio turned up out of the blue. It turns out that his best friend owns the bar. We drank a few more beers with Antonio but we had an early truck day the following day so we left, probably around midnight. It was funny walking (staggering) back to the hotel.

Fi said “I’ve seen a mouse”
“Where” says Martin
“There…there on the stair”
“Where on the stair”….

From here is pretty much degraded into singing on the way back to the hotel. The main entrance to the hotel was locked. El and Fi were trying to get the key in the lock and not making too much noise “Sshh” “Sshh”… to which I had to continue with the Björk song “It’s so quiet”… Not the most quiet song to enter a hotel. We eventually managed to get into the hotel but somehow a stray dog had managed to sneak in which set Fi of with “Who let the dogs in….” A bit chaotic but it was good send off for El.

Woke up this morning again for sunrise, but to my surprise we actually had a sunrise. Perhaps not the most spectacular, but considering that this is the wet season it was great.

Eugene woke up to the sound of a dog pissing against the tent right next to his head. Karen had enough of sleeping in a tent with John and opted to sleep on the tables under the hut. No one quite knows why this was, she wouldn’t say. Even though our tent had a busted zip I think we got the best deal. Though I was glad it would be the last night under canvas for us.

We had breakfast in the huts and then struck camp. The problem with the small rucsac I was carrying was that if I use the camel pac then I have to repack my rucsac around it. I forgot this small fact this morning which mean that as I walked down to the stream to get water just before leaving I had to then unpack and repack my sac. I asked the others to head of without me. I would be able to catch them before two long. 15 minutes later I set of along the path in pursue of the rest of the group. I finally caught them about 35mins later. We passed through now familiar territory and reached the steep incline we had struggle up the first day. At the base of this hill the path forked and I opted for the right hand path. This turned to be a long cut. I was a bit unsure that this was the right path but could see footprints ahead of us so convinced myself that it was OK. The path then dived into a heavily forested glen. John and I moved down into the jungle sure that it was leading in the right direction. Laurie and Eugene hung back to tell the girls that we had taken a wrong path and walk back with them. The path ran down a steep bank and across a shallow stream. The going was fairly straight forward but much more difficult than the relatively easy paths through the savannah and though we were soon up the opposite bank and through back onto the savannah. This short relatively easy path through the jungle has renewed my respect for those early explorers and I’m glad we didn’t have 8km of going like that.

John and I sat down to wait to regroup. The first to arrive was Karen and Renee who had been caught by Gideon who sent them on the right path. Eugene and Laurie then appears out of the bush following the same path as John and I. Gideon said we would take a bath in the stream and we could carry onto the village with Antonio.

Antonio walked on ahead of us followed by Eugene and then me. When we arrived at the village the jeep was waiting for us with a cooler of beer in the back. This was an excellent way to celebrate a job well done.

We had lunch whilst the three amigos packed the jeep with our packs. We drove the jeep back down the scary road and Gideon pointed out the bridge which used to be a ford. One group was driving through the ford when their engine cut out. It was during a storm and the water started building on the sides of the jeep. The group managed to get out but their jeep was washed away down stream. It was after this that the bridge was built in place of the ford.

Back on the road we first turned right to head to the village of San Francisco. Antonio bought us all another six pack of beer. We had given the three guys tips which was probably about 20 USD from each of the six of us. It was really touching that Antonio bought us this to say thankyou.

I think only John and Karen bought souvenirs and then we were back in the jeep. We were now heading back towards Santa Elena. On the way though we stopped at a waterfall called Cascade Jasper. This was an amazing waterfall.

The rock was blood red in colour and made for some interesting photos. We had some fun sliding along the water. Again we were lucky because if there was more water in the river then the current would be too strong to slide along and if there was less we couldn’t aquaplane. It was great fun. I managed to snap a completely compromising picture of Eugene being manhandled by John, Laurie and Gideon.

It was very innocent as they were trying to get Eugene to slide along the rock. But taken in isolation it could ruin a political career!

From the waterfall we stopped briefly overlooking “Jurassic Park” and then it was back to Santa Elena to rejoin Donna, Dion, Fi and El. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone quite as happy to see me as Fi and El as they saw us. “We’re going stir crazy in this town. There is literally f**k all to do. We’re so happy you’re back!” It’s so nice to be missed!

We got our bags out of the truck back locker. I got my big bag out but was gutted when I realised that my smaller bag with my razor was still in. I had been looking forward to a shave for a good few days now.

We spent the afternoon getting laundry done and getting cleaned up. It was great to be back in a group atmosphere again and it was great to be back with Fi and El again. That evening we ate across the road in the pizza place. Gideon and his wife popped in briefly to say hello. Gideon told us that a group of Swiss had just arrived and that he was going back up Roraima tomorrow acting as a guide for this group. After the meal I stayed up with Fi, El and Karen playing rummy.

A big day today! We would be hiking down to base camp and then onto Rio Tec, so what had taken two days up would be done in one day down. Antonio had made some porridge for breakfast. The previous night we had spoken with Gideon and expressed our desire to leave early rather than later. Gideon was more than happy to do this as he and Antonio were sleeping without tents so they got very cold during the night. We were ready to leave at 7:00 and made good time across the plateau to start our descent along the ramp. There was much less water in the tears of Roraima when we passed under the waterfalls which confirms that we felt we had much rain than the previous groups we had met who were coming down as we were heading up.

We kept a constant pace on the way down pausing once or twice for a quick rest and a regroup. I prefer climbing and walking uphill to coming down. I find that it jars my knees much more on steep downward paths. I slipped once but was OK. A few people slipped coming down and Renee took a nasty tumble just in front of me. She was pretty lucky that she came to a sprawling halt in a bush instead of falling further of the path. She was a bit upset, but luckily it was just the shock and she was fine with only a few bruises to show. We made it down to base camp about 10:30 and stopped at the hut for a quick lunch. Antonio prepared another tuna salad and finished with huge slices of water melon.

After lunch we continued on the downward path back to Rio Tec. The fact that there was visibly less water in the tears of Roraima was good news as it meant that there was going to be less water in the streams at Rio Tec. We probably wouldn’t need to cross the river by swimming as the ford would be passable. We only stopped a few times to regroup and take water setting a reasonable but not overly fast pace. As we were walking down the final hill towards the camp Gideon, Antonio and Neville caught us. They were pretty happy with the pace we had set as we could cross the river together. I was amazed at how low the water was compared to three days go. One of the top tips that Gideon told us for passing the ford was to put a pair of socks on instead of just using bare feet. This increases the grip you get much more than bare feet.

On the other side of the ford Gideon and the other two said they would walk up to the church to visit the family that lived up there whilst we could head directly to Rio Tec. I also walked up to the church as the mist over Roraima had cleared and I wanted to get a shot of the church with Roraima in the background. After taking the photos I carried on the path to catch up the others. I caught them just as they were heading down to the second river. Again there was much less water in the second river making it mush easier to cross. Unfortunately Renee slipped as she almost across and almost lost her sandal if Karen hadn’t have rescued it. To be fair it wasn’t as dramatic as the fall on Roraima, this was more of a casual sit down in the river.

We walked up to the camp where we had stayed five nights ago and to the same hut. When we got there, there was a team of Venezuelans occupying the hut. Fair enough it is a free country! (Although in terms of Venezuela that may be a borderline quote in the future) John was stressing that they wouldn’t want to share with us but they looked fairly reasonable types.

The three amigos arrived and we set up the tents in the same positions we had occupied previously. This was lucky as the Venezuelans, though loaded down with full packs actually had porters bringing their tents. This gave us the prime campsite. Just as Antonio was ready to serve our food the porters for the Venezuelan porters arrived and they left the hut to put their tents up. This was prefect timing as we could eat whilst they sorted their kit and then cooked their meal. The pasta sauce Antonio prepared was amazing; it was a creamy cheese sauce with more of the lovely Brazilian sausage. To our disappointment though there was no hot chocolate. This was made up for when Gideon wandered over with a six pack of Polar beer. It was warm but it was one of the best beers I’ve had in a while. We sat and chatted for a while before turning in. Gideon offered us the chance of a lie in but we sat we would rather continue with the early starts and be ready for off at 8:00. This was perfect for Gideon also because he wanted to get back to spend some time with his wife and family

This was a full day on the plateau for exploring. It was great to get up without needing to strike camp. After a good breakfast we set to walk across the plateau to see if we could see the Guyana side. On the way to the far side of the plateau Gideon pointed out the various endemic plants including the four species of carnivorous plants and the small bush like trees as well as a better chance to look at the black frogs.

We also stopped briefly at a place called the Jacuzzi, but we agreed that we would take a dip on the way back. Unfortunately when we reached the other side the mist was quite heavy and we could only catch glimpses of the rainforest below. It was interesting to see the difference between the Guyana and the Venezuelan sides of the Roraima. In the past the jungle used to encircle Roraima completely but in the 1920’s there was a fire at a ranch in the Brazilian side. The fire swept out of control and into Venezuela destroying all the jungle in its path. The fire scorched the sides of the Roraima but couldn’t pass over the ridge that separates Kukenan from Roraima. The jungle on the Guyanan side is therefore natural containing lots of wildlife such as jaguars and snakes. The villages within the national park continue to control the jungle by burning to create the savannah we walked across. The original explorers probably crossed the land when it was still virgin jungle.

We waited for a while for the view to clear, but it was obvious that the mist was in so we found some shelter at a formation called the window. This is a gap in the rock formation where you can look down 800m to the forest below. Unfortunately this particular window was shut and we couldn’t see anything through the mist. We decided to head back to camp instead of waiting for the mist to rise.

On the way back we called back at the Jacuzzi. This was a beautiful rock formation in the carved from the river bed. In the base of the river bed is filled with quartz crystals. If this was a thermal spring it would be absolutely gorgeous. However there was no such luck and the water was freezing. But how many people can say that they’ve taken a dip on the top of Roraima. So it was time to strip off, get the cosy on and jump in. That was a real wake up call! But at least the rain felt hot afterwards as we got changed again.

We walked back to the camp and had some lunch and dozed for a while. In the afternoon we set out again to take in the summit of Roraima. This was fairly close to our camp and we could see it from the entrance to the rock hotel. Karen opted to stay back at the camp whilst the remaining five walked with Antonio and Gideon to the summit. The summit was shrouded in mist when we arrived and it started to rain. We took some shelter under a rock ledge and waited for the weather to subside. When the rain did stop the mist that had enveloped the peak until that point also thinned and lifted giving us views all the way over the Savannah. The view was amazing we could see all the way back to the lands around the village, we could see the rivers we had crossed and the church.

It was very satisfying to think that four days ago we were stood in that village looking up at Roraima and now we stood on the peak and looked back. This is what I love about hiking. You see a point in the distance, walk to it and hopefully you can look back and see just how far you’ve come.

We spent quite a while on the peak before it was to head back to camp. For our evening meal Antonio had prepared a meal of fried Brazilian sausage. This was really nice like Chorizo. Darkness came quickly and we had another ration of rum and hot chocolate. This time Gideon told us the storey about the German Camp. This was another camp about 20 minutes from our camp. Its called the German Camp because this is where a German tourist had a heart attach and died a few years ago. They couldn’t save him but the camp is now haunted by his ghost. A few people have experienced strange happenings at this camp. Gideon was there a few years ago with some Swiss tourists. During the night they heard someone around their tent opening their rucsac. In the morning they found that their first aid kits had been opening. They thought it was Gideon and challenged him in the morning, but Gideon was asleep at the time. Personally I don’t believe in ghosts, but they make for a good story, especially given the desolation and eeriness of the Roraima plateau.

This was to be the hard day with the steep ascent. We would be going about 4km horizontally but gaining about 800m ascent. We had a good breakfast and were ready to walk at 8:00am.

The first bit of the route straight of the camp is a steep climb. The rock is a very soft silt which has been worn by erosion into steps but which become very slippy when wet. The plan for today was to keep going slowly with a few planned breaks. As we climbed higher we could look back down onto the camp. It was amazing to see just how quickly we gained elevation. The steep climb gave way to a jungle path which we weaved through crossing a few streams. Eventually we reached a place called “the hole in the wall” where water rushed from a fissure in the rock face. The mist lifted slightly to give us a view of the rock face above us. Roraima means “Rainbow coloured mountain”, close up you can see the way that the different rock formations and vegetation that make this plateau so spectacular. The hole in the wall is the start of the ramp that runs along the wall and to the top of the plateau.

After a short rest here we started the ascent to the “view point”. I wasn’t holding out much hope due to the mist. We reached the view platform about 40 minutes after the hole in the wall and we were surprised to see the large Venezuelan group waiting there. They left quite a bit before us. They were just getting ready to leave just as we sat down for a rest. As we sat down the mist that had been enveloping us lifted to give us a great view of the Savannah. We could make out the river and the church were we had been the previous morning.

After a while we carried on the trek. From the rest at view point we had to descend slightly before recommencing the ascent. The next milestone was the tears of Roraima. This is a waterfall feature that runs of the plateau pouring onto the paths below. The paths cross directly under the waterfalls. As we crossed we came across a man sat sheltering under a rock. Gideon asked him what he was doing to which he replied that he was waiting for the rain to pass, obviously not realising that it wasn’t rain but the waterfall. From the waterfall is was another 40 minutes to the top of the ramp and onto the plateau.

First impression is that Roraima is desolate as there is no tall vegetation, but it is an amazing collection of rock pools, formations and small flowers and plants. It wasn’t long before Gideon found the first black frog. The black frog is the worlds smallest frog. It is usual because it crawls rather than jumps. Jumping is a defence mechanism but the frog has little predators here so why waste energy. The colour is probably derived as camouflage based on the black algae or lichen that covers most of the rocks here. Once we knew what we were looking for we saw quite a few of the black frogs.

Once we passed from the ramp to the plateau we had another half an hour to walk to the rock ledge we would be staying in. The rock ledges are called “hotels” by the guides, ours was Hotel San Francisco, and realistically we probably didn’t need the tents as this one gave good shelter. However it does get much colder at night so it was good to get some more protection from the wind and cold.

We set up the tents and pretty much spent the rest of the day just exploring the local area and sleeping. I was really regretting at this about not bringing a book nor my mp3 player which I left with Fi on the bus. We ate fairly early today and as darkness crept on we tucked into another pasta concoction of Antonio. I am completely amazed and humbled by just how much good food the cooks can make on his little camp stove. Some more hot chocolate and rum and it was time for another story.

This time Gideon told us about the meaning behind Canaima, the name of the National Park. When the tribes of the area used to hunt they used a special herb, a relation of the ginger plant. They would squeeze the juice of the plant into their mouth and it would numb pain and give them strength to walk long distances without rest. Some people got addicted to the drug and instead of using to hunt animals they would start to hunt other humans. By dressing up in the skin of a Jaguar they would creep up on their victim attacking them and knocking them unconscious. As they slept they would take a length of very strong plant fibres that they use for making their bows. With this they would sew or tie up the victim’s penis or anus. When the victim recovered consciousness they would go home thinking they had been attached by an animal. After a few days they would come down with a fever and in great pain not being able to pass water. Eventually they would die a painful death. Once buried the Canaima would dance on their grave. How much of this is true, legend or myth I’m not sure but Gideon believes that there are still Canaima’s at large in the population and even now they have one or two unexplained deaths each year that people attribute to Canaima. When Gideon first arrived from Guyana to Venezuela he said that people, even Antonio, were not trusting of him thinking he may be a Canaima. With those pleasant thought to occupy us we drifted of to our tents and off to sleep.

I had a pretty good night sleep though the thermarest I had taken from the truck was only a ¾ length. I wish that I brought my own thermarest but it was another piece of kit that I couldn’t fit in my pack. I had set the alarm for sunrise but sticking my head out the tent it was obvious that there would be no good sun rise so I slept in for a little longer. We were aiming to start walking at 8:00. Breakfast was arapas with meat and cheese washed down with some more fruit punch and some pineapple.

It had rained quite a bit in the night and the rivers running from Kukenan and Roraima were swollen. The river we had washed in the previous night was quite a bit higher. This was the first of the two rivers we would wade today. Taking boots of and putting these in a plastic I was the first to wade across. It wasn’t as bad as thought it would be but I was glad that I had the walking pole. However one of the cam clasps was missing from the second pole so that is useless until I can repair it. After getting my bag to the far side I waded back to help Karen across.

We arranged to meet Gideon at the church of Santa Maria on the next hill. This church was set up by a missionary (O. E. Doyle?) who came to the area from Brazil. He brought religion to the area and although some of the things he said were well received he was also unpopular, such as allowing men to only have one wife. The missionary died, no one knows exactly why but some said it could have been malaria or that he was poisoned by those who did not like the changes he was proposing. After his death the village split into two with those who wanted to change and took the message moving to the village of San Francisco on the main road. The remained settled in the village that was our starting point. Gideon said that today you can still see the differences between the two villages with the villagers living in San Francisco being harder working and paying more attention to hygiene than the other village. The church of Santa Maria was an amazing building, not because of any architectural merit, but because of its remoteness and location. It stands alone on a hill, a man made stone sentinel, as if to say that no place can resist change.

Gideon, Antonio and Neville were not that far behind us. The initial plan was that we would ford the river close to the camp on the far side of the river but with the river in flood this was not really possible. The other option was the ferry. This would add at least an hour to our journey but it was the only way possible. There was a big problem with this idea in that the ferry consisted of a dub out canoe and there was no paddle. Quite literally we were up the creek without a paddle.

Gideon came to the rescue though and carved a paddle of sorts with his machete using a disused fence post. With the paddle in place we walked down to the river where the other group was waiting. So save time we opted that we would put the bags into the canoe and then swim ourselves across the river. This seemed to work well with the other group ahead of us doing the same. Each of our group went across I was the last to cross and was loading bags into the canoe for a final trip when Karen started her swim. I’m not sure if Karen is a strong swimmer but the shock of the cold water sent her muscles into shock. She started drifting with the flow of the river with little more than a doggy paddle style of swim. Gideon and I shouted for her to turn back and swim back to our shore. When it was obvious she had drifted past the landing zone she started trying to swim against the current. I shouted for her to just swim straight to the bank, which thankfully she started to. Gideon and I were on one bank about to go in for her whilst Eugene got into the water at the opposite side and swam down to help her onto the bank. She had just reached the other side when Eugene reached her. I cannot understand why she did this. It was a fast flowing river and there was the option of her taking the canoe across. Perhaps it was desire not to lose face or to try something that otherwise she would never do again. We were very lucky it ended well though. The guide from the other group paddled the canoe down to her and Eugene helped her into the boat. I’ve mulled over this situation about whether there was anything else I could have done. I could have reached her without too much problem but any sort of conscious body tow like check to check or cross body would have been very difficult in that current. The most powerful tow is one with extended arm the gives freedom for powerful leg kicks and single arm pulls but that is very difficult to establish with a conscious and potentially struggling casualty. The only thing I could think of in hindsight was that I should have kept a tee shirt out of the bag that could be used as an aid allowing for the more powerful tows. Below the section of river where we were making the crossing was a series of small rapids. The situation deteriorated pretty quickly and if she hadn’t made the bank within that 5 second window Gideon and I, along with Eugene would have been in the water. I don’t think that Karen realised how much danger she had put the rest of the group into. I swam across and was across quickly with few arm strokes, but it was a bracing shock to the system. I then helped get Karen out of the canoe and empty it with Eugene for the return legs.

We got our bags out of the plastic bags and got back into dry clothes ready to start the next part of the journey. We walked along the river bank to the camp where Gideon stopped to get water. We carried on walking uphill toward the Base Camp. From the river we had to gain about 800m elevation over a further 9 km.

We walked up hill at a reasonable pace and stopped occasionally to regroup. Gideon had mentioned about the Army Camp but we had no idea where this was. We caught up with the group we had crossed the river with and overtook them as they stopped for lunch. At the next rise, Eugene, Laurie and I decided to wait to regroup. John soon caught us up and I would say that we were about 300m ahead of the girls and about 50m in elevation. Gideon had caught up the girls and told them to stop for lunch. The shouted for us to come down. We were not feeling like walking back down and then back up the rise we had just spent the last 20 minutes walking up. We shouted down that they could bring the sandwiches up with them as they came up and we would eat quickly and then be back on the move. There was obviously a huge misunderstanding on our part. Not least because there were no sandwiches. Antonio was preparing a tuna salad with tins of vegetables and some fresh vegetable also. The place where they had stopped was the Venezuelan camp and was the last place with fresh water before we got higher up the mountain. After an impass when it was obvious we weren’t coming down Antonio walked up to us bringing the food that the girls hadn’t eaten up to us. When Renee arrived she said that she was embarrassed and mortified at our behaviour they said that the someone had said we were sat up there like the king of England. I think the response was something like “well don’t you think that we felt very guilty and embarrassed about our cook walking up to us with our lunch and then going back for his pack”; this was a huge understatement and we apologised to Gideon and Antonio about this. If we had realised we would probably have left our packs at the top and walked down. Anyway its in the past now.

As we got higher towards the Base Camp the weather seemed to improve and the mist lifted again from the cliff faces giving us a view of what we would be undertaking the following day. We got into base camp about 4pm and pitched the tents and sorted ourselves out. I had left to go and fill up water from the stream when the heavens opened. I ran back to the tent and thankfully Laurie had brought my stuff into the tent. It kept raining hard for the next hour or so. Gideon and Antonio brought round our evening meal which was a spaghetti bolognas. It tasted absolutely great made more so by the fact that we were hungry and tired. The rain started to subside and we could get out of the tents. Antonio brought round some hot chocolate which I added the first of my rum rations to. Rum and hotchocolate is something I remember first having in a ski resort, I think in Canada. It’s a great drink for warming you up and I prefer it to Irish Coffee.

We didn’t stay up much longer though as it started to rain and unlike the Rio Tec camp there was no shelters to sit up in.

The night bus arrived about 7:00am into the bus terminal at Santa Elena. It was a relief to have everyones bags off the bus.

We jumped into a taxi to go the address we had been given by Gecko in Cuidad de Boliviar. Backpacker Tours have an office into town and a Posada on the outskirts of the town. Unfortunately we were send first to the Posada but when we arrived there they set us right and we caught another taxi to the backpacker office close to the centre of town. The rest of the group got some breakfast whilst we waited for our guide and porters to join us.

Our guide was Gideon and was originally from Guyana, so English was his first language after the language they spoke in the tribes. We loaded the rucsacs, tents, cooking equipment onto the roof of a large Toyota Landcruiser. We left about 10:00 driving back the way we had come on the night bus passing back though the checkpoint. There is an interesting conflict over Guyana. Venezuela does not recognise Guyana and calls it “the disputed region”. Surinam to the east lat claim to the east of Guyana and Brazil lay claim to the south. The only thing that keeps the country together is that it is a British Protectorate. The village which is adjacent to the checkpoint was created out of a conflict between Guyana and Brazil relating to a border village. The Venezuelan government sent their soldiers to the aid of the villages who evacuated the village bringing the citizens back to Venezuela and created this village. The checkpoint is a two way thing checking people entering into the national park but also to prevent people leaving the village and going back to Guyana. I’m not sure whether this means that the village is effectively a prison, but I think that this all happened a generation ago. Driving on past the checkpoint we drove past an area where they filmed the first Jurassic Park movie. I think the scene is the first parkland scene where the palaeontologist played by Sam Neil sees the dinosaurs for the first time. If it wasn’t this exact spot then it must be close by. I had no idea that any of Jurassic Park was filmed in Venezuela. Its quite funny as we had been mentioning the who Lost World, Jurassic Park, King Kong genre as we passed through Angel Falls. After about 40 minutes on the road we turned off onto a dirt track that led up to the village which was to be the starting point for the trek.

The road up to the village was an adventure in itself in part the road was so broken up it looked as though half of the road was ready to slip off into a ravine that ran along side the road. I would be very surprised is this section of road lasts the rainy season. Gideon was telling us that if it rains too much the final part of the road up to the village become impassable and we have to walk an extra few hours. Luckily this wasn’t the case for us and we reached the village with no problems.

When we got to the village we unloaded the truck. We had some lunch of sandwiches whilst Gideon set out trying to find porters. Unfortunately a large Venezuelan group had come in front of us and taked most of the porters. The only people available to us was Gideon, the guide, Antonio, the cook and Neville, their friend. I think ideally there would have been an extra porter at least for the first two legs of the journey. As we had lunch it started to rain and then with our usual good karma, the rain stopped and the sun came out.

As we waited to start the mist over Roraima lifted and we got out first good view of the “Lost World”. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had been to a lecture at the Royal Society where some explorers had described their expedition to Roraima. This account of the first ascent and exploration of Roraima became the basis and the inspiration for “The Lost World”. I remember reading abridged version when I was younger but I’ve never read the full version. It’s now on my list of books to read either when I get home or if I can get it on the trip at some point. I would also like to read the accounts of this first exploration of this area, but that will have to wait longer. After lunch we set of walking. The plan was to reach the first camp, about 8km away. It was probably about 11:00 when we left. Gideon said he would catch us up on the road and so we would make our own way, following the other groups. The path from the village was fairly obvious and we could see some of the other groups ahead of us. Interesting there seemed to be much more people on Roraima then there had been at Angel Falls. The path started of on the level before dropping down to a stream crossing. It was such a great feeling to be walking in the country again. This is one the things that I miss most when travelling and also ironically one of the things that I have let slip from my life back in the UK. After a while we climbed a sharp incline to a view point back towards the village. We carried on further and came to the first challenge of the day. This was a much steeper path, nothing in the grand scheme of things but gave a bit of an idea to the other challenges we would face over the next few days.

Once at the top the path pretty much levelled out with us ascending and descending for the majority of the walk. We finally caught the large Venezuelan group one of the larger stream crossings. Though the stream was fairly dry and we could have waded the stream, there was a log that spanned the banks so we crossed at this higher level. Instead of stopping we pushed on to try and get some distance between this large group and ourselves. The path continued along the level reaching the peak about about 1300m before decending down to the first camp at Rio Tec.

Rio Tec means River of Red Stone and is characteristic of this area. Gideon and the other two amigos arrived slightly after we did. We got the tents had helped set up camp. Being there first we got the nicest campsite with an open sided hut that Antonio could cook in and we could sit and eat. After setting up camp we walked down to the river to get cleaned up. After Angel Falls we were all pretty hardened to washing in cold mountain streams. It was then back to the campsite where dinner was well on the way. The guys had also set up a travel toilet. Due to the ecologically sensitive nature of the area and the amount of tourists all waste would be carried out. The toilet was basically a toiler set on a tripod which you placed a plastic bag into. Once finished you added quicklime to the stool and sealed the bag, then resetting the toilet for the others. So when we said that the guys carried all our shit up the mountain we weren’t kidding.

The food was great with chicken and potatoes. They also had an orange fruit juice made from a packet mix. We didn’t stay up too late as we could feel the sand flies starting to bite. Before we went to bed Gideon told us the story behind the mountain of Kukenan, the mountain next to Roraima. Kukenan means suicide mountain. Many years ago there were three tribes in the area that is now the Caimera National Park. Because of the thickness of the jungle the tribes rarely met and when they did their ways were so different that they usually fought. The largest tribe near to Angel Falls came to wage war on the tribe that lived in the area of Roraima. They waged war on the village but the warriors from the village resisted which made them angry. They killed the men by impaling them on their spears pursuing the survivors up Kukenan. Trapped at the top of the mountain near to the huge waterfall and with no where left to run the large tribe thought they had won. But fearing a painful death at the hands of their enemies the survivors jumped from the waterfall to their deaths. The large tribe was so shocked and moved by the unnecessary death of these warriors that they called a truce with the tribe to live in peace.

This was a very packed day. We didn’t need to wake too early, though in hindsight it would have been much better had we got up at the usual time of 6:30am. After a good breakfast we walked through the village to the beach below the waterfall. This was the same cascade we had stopped to take photos at on the way up the river two days ago. A boat driver was waiting for us at the beach and after a quick group photo we all jumped on the boat.

The route we took was straight across the lake formed where the two out of the three heads of the river cascaded over the falls. We landed on a small beach on the other side and walked up through the forest to the other waterfall.

The path lead beneath the waterfall. Fi and El opted to stay on the side of the waterfall as they didn’t want to get wet having no dry clothes left. The rest of us walked along the path that led through the waterfall. The spray and noise from the waterfall was amazing. As we got towards the half way point, the only light illuminating the path was the coming through the waterfall itself. With the spray you could easily imagine being underwater so people suffering from claustrophobia would probably not have enjoyed the experience.

Looking through the waterfall at the halfway point I was reminded of the scene in “Last of the Mohicans” where Hawkeye and the Mohicans jump through the waterfall. I wasn’t going to try and repeat it though as I’m sure you’d get crushed on the rocks below. We were soon onto the far side of the waterfall where there was an excellent view point looking back at the waterfall.

As we were stood taking photos the guide managed to find one of the yellow and black frogs. This is one of the classic animal shots that I wanted to get. The frog excretes a poison which covers its body. The yellow and black is a warning sign to other creatures. The natives use this frog to load poison onto arrows and blow pipes for hunting. As well as offering great views of the waterfall, the view point also provided an excellent diving/jumping platform. I was thinking about diving in, but not known the water well I decided to jump it.

Eventually it was time to head back through the waterfall. We picked up El and Fi and walked up through the forest and through a small area of savannah to the top of the waterfall. With the blue skies the views from the top of the waterfall were great. In September, at the height of the wet season, the river completely covers all the rock pools and the river is much deeper making the rapids we had passed through much more dangerous. On top of the waterfall was the remains of a broken boat which had been deposited by a previous storm. Looking at the wreck reminded me to be very grateful that the motors didn’t fail on our way up or down the river. It doesn’t bear thinking about!

We went back to the compound for lunch. I wasn’t feeling too great so skipped lunch. I think I must have picked up the bug that Laurie had on the way out. We were very keen to get our flights out as we had to get back to Cuidad de Bolivar to pick up our night bus tickets. This is perhaps were things started to sour a bit. The guide who had obvious ulterior motives had asked the Swiss girls what time they wanted to leave. The had given a late time. So at lunch we pushed him to get us to the airport. He said that there was a plane waiting for one group but that the other group had to wait for a flight coming from Santa Elena. There was a lot of frustration in our group so we split into the same two groups that we had flown out with my group taking the first flight.

When we got to the airport our pilot was visibly annoyed. He said he had been waiting since 8:00am and was on the point of refusing to take us. There was obviously some bad communication going on as we could have got to the airport earlier, but also it was always the plan to visit some more waterfalls in the morning. Our group checked into the plane. We had collected a tip for the guide but I gave this to El as we said he should only get the tip if the second group managed to get out on time.

We all piled into the plane, taking the same positions as before. The take off was relatively smooth and we were soon airborne. The view from the plan looking over the waterfalls we had just visited was amazing and I was grateful that I was sat on this side of the plane.

Our journey back was largely uneventful though there was a little bit more turbulence than previous. After about 1½ hours we were back on the ground at the airport. We met the representative from Gecko tours and we bought our tickets for the night bus. The only person on the other flight who was also doing Roraima was John. Unfortunately we couldn’t buy a ticket for John as you have to buy the ticket in person using your passport as ID. Everything seemed to be going smoothly though we were worried that the other group would be delayed. They were due to leave at 3:00pm from Salto Angel. We waited in the room for the plane to arrive.

Eventually the plane arrived and with El leading Fi out of the plane I could tell that things had perhaps not gone as smoothly as our flight. If Fi had got down and kissed the tarmac I would not have been surprised. Eventually El and Fi made it through to the restaurant. Fi was still visibly distressed even after sitting down for a while and eventually we managed to get the story out. El gave everyone their tips back and said she hadn’t given him the tip. After our group had left the guide completely ignored the remaining party instead spending time with the two other girls. The girls had still dragged their feet being slow to get their stuff together. To be fair on the guide I don’t think that he was that bad. He showed us where we needed to go, answered our questions and looked out for us for the two days we spent at Angel Falls. He caught the frog, showed us where it was safe to swim and jump. Ok he was trying it on with one of the Swiss girls, but from his point if he showed interest in someone and the feeling was reciprocated then what was the problem. Eugene asked him as we were leaving whether he liked Switzerland. His responded for the rest of today and then I forget about it.

John, Fi and El didn’t leave that far behind schedule. The pilot took off down the runway and as soon as he was airborne banked sharply to the right. In fairness this would have given the passengers a fantastic view of the falls and I would have liked it if our pilot had done this, but it wasn’t the thing to do when you have passengers who have a phobia of flying. Fi pretty much broke down at this point and spent the rest of the journey in fear. Once you pass the threshold of panic and fear it is incredibly difficult to regain composure. With the adrenalins flowing the body goes into fight or flight which can’t be acted on when strapped into the back of a small plane. Once the pilot levelled out he got out his paper and proceeded to read it whilst flying the plane. This made Fi and El more nervous. When John, who was co-pilot, asked the pilot to stop reading he pushed the yoke forwards momentarily putting the nose of the plane down. This was probably the final straw for Fi, who though the plane had gone into a nose dive. Given her fear of flying I think it’s remarkably brave for people to continue to fly. I’m just glad that I’d don’t suffer from such phobias.

Meanwhile back at the airport John was having difficulty buying his ticket. When the first group had bought our tickets we had asked the rep from Gecko whether they would sell out. He said that they never sell out. John couldn’t get a ticket though. In a sort of karmic moment the Swiss girls where now the ones forced to wait around whilst we got John’s ticket sorted out. Eventually it was sorted by the guy from Gecko phoning the ticket office to buy a ticket over the phone. He then walked round to the office and transferred the ticket to John’s name. Problem sorted we got into the minibus and headed back to the compound, stopping briefly at a pharmacy to pick up some supplies for the Roraima trip.

When we got back to the compound we packed for the Roraima trip. I wasn’t feeling too well at this point and not looking forward to a night on a bus. It took me a while to pack as I was using my small pack instead of the big pack. Everything just about fitted into the rucsac, but it was a tight fit and I had to strap the thermarest to the top of the sack. I ordered some fries for an evening meal but didn’t feel like eating anything. I had asked Donna to change some money for back to USD but the rate the offered was 5.6 so Donna hadn’t changed it. I said that I would be happy for any rate otherwise I would be stuck with unusable Bolivars. Donna was eventually able to get 5.5 for me but it was all small bills which won’t be much use until I can get back to the US.

We said goodbye to Donna, Dion, Fi and El and left after 8:00pm to be there for the 9:00pm night bus down to Santa Elena. Ironically Santa Elena is near to Angel Falls and in the same Caimera National Park. It may have been easier to get a flight from Cuidad to Bolivar to Santa Elena calling at Angel Falls and taking all our gear with us. The night buses throughout Central and South America are very cold and have the air conditioning turned up to max. Consequently everyone had warm clothes, sleeping bags or blankets for the journey. I would hate to mistakenly get on wearing only shorts and tee-shirt; you would probably be hypothermic by the end of the journey.

The coach itself was very nice, modern and clean. Perhaps the best public transport I’ve been on since the Visul in Cuba. The coach left on time and we started the journey. What we would do in one night is what the truck would do in three days down. I was lucky enough to get a seat next to the window and asked Karen if she would like to sit next to me. I’ve heard enough stories about night buses and people getting things stolen by pick pockets so although spreading out over two seats would have been nice it would be better to have someone I knew and trusted in the seat next to me. Apart from the toilet starting to smell towards the end of the trip the journey went relatively smooth. I probably got about 5 hours of sleep though it wan’t good quality sleep as I was quite uncomfortable.

John, Eugene and I planned to get up early to see sunrise on Angel falls. In theory the direction of sunrise should have bathed the falls in the morning sun. However it was not meant to be with a low mist shrouding the waterfall and pretty much everything from the jungle upwards. It was really disappointing, but that’s nature.

After breakfast our group walked down to the river and were taken across to the other bank by boat. From here we walked up into the jungle to the falls. Walking up through the jungle my sandal which I had bought in Oaxaca, Mexico, finally gave up the ghost with the back strap separating from the sole. My first pair fell apart in Medina after only two days. I was now in need of another new pair. I am kicking myself for not buying a decent pair of Teva’s in the UK and I’ve probably spent the equivalent cost now of a good pair. As we were walking through the jungle it was fairly obvious that the guide and the brunette Swiss girl were enamoured with each other. If the guide was at the front she would overtake the rest of the group to be near him of if he was at the back she would stop to fasten her shoes, coincidentally ending up at the back also. We reached a view point where I theory we would have been able to see the whole of the falls. As the sun got hotter through the morning the mist was burnt away. The top half of the falls was still in mist though which was a real shame.

We waited at the view point, but it was fairly obvious that the mist was now clearing quickly. So we walked down to the plunge pool below a secondary waterfall below the main falls. Here we could swim and play around in the waterfall. The water was freezing though but after a while we were used to it. When everyone had had enough and got out to dry we walked back up to the view platform.

The mist had cleared some more and we could occasionally see the top but eventually we had to leave so that we could get back for lunch. El and I were at the back of the group and quickly got separated. I’m not sure how we managed to get so far behind but we probably got down about 10 minutes after everyone else. When we did get down to the river the mist had cleared and I could get another photo of the falls from the river. We were boated back to camp and had lunch. Just then the heavens opened and we had torrential downpour. We were so lucky that we were back at camp otherwise we would have been soaked to the sink in seconds. The soil around the camp couldn’t handle the volume of water so the surrounding jungle had about an inch of standing water. Whilst we waited for the rain to clear I took the opportunity to catch up on some sleep back in the hammock. After about an hour the rain had cleared and along with it most of the mist. The group readied to leave the camp.

Eugene and I took the opportunity to head back to the clearing to take a photo of the falls without the mist. I can’t understand why more people didn’t head back with us to the clearing. I guess the others just wanted to leave. It would be great to come back another time and spend a few days in the jungle and not be rushed. The guide was telling us about different routes up to the plateau which creates the falls. There is a five day from the same side we were on, which basically continues beyond the viewing area we’d seen earlier. Another route goes from the back of the plateau and takes twelve days. There’s definitely much more to see in this area and considering that it is perhaps the must see tourist attraction in Venezuela, there are remarkably few people. In our trek to the viewing area we saw no other groups, and we only passed a handful of other boats on the river. I guess the reason for this is the relative isolation. The only way to get to Angel Falls is to take a flight into the area and then a boat trip.

The boat trip back down the village was relatively straightforward. Again because of the rain and the water in the river we stayed in the boats and shot the rapids. The skill of the boat drivers was remarkable. The knew the exact location of the paths through the rapids, skilfully navigating the rocks, stoppers and eddies. We arrived back at the compound in the village after about 3 hours. Once back at the village we had a quick (cold) shower before the evening meal. We didn’t stay up that late as most of us were still feeling sleep deprived from the previous nights interruptions, plus the beer was really expensive, 10B for a small can (2 USD). I guess this is because all the supplied are flown in, so most things about twice the price they are in other towns and cities. 1.5l of water was 12B instead of 5B. When we left the guide was plying that ancient love potion, alcohol, on the two Swiss girls.

Angel Falls! This is the one thing that made me want to come to Venezuela. I had always wanted to see this, but I honestly can’t say why I felt this way. So far everything I had seen and experienced on the trip had been a bonus, so quite literally Venezuela had exceeded all my expectations.

This is starting to sound cliché, but yet again we were up early. We had left the tables set up for breakfast so we could be quicker in the morning and we were all finished, packed and cleaned away when the minibus was ready to leave at about 7:15am. It was a short drive to the airport, but that was lucky as it was a tight fit with nine of us plus packs in the back of the bus. In addition to the eight from the Dragoman tour, two Swiss girls joined as well. Laurie sat in the front as he wasn’t feeling too good. We arrived at the airport and went to the Gecko tour office. We gave them our passport details and then we went next door to the Sunshire Air office who we would be flying with. This took very little time and we would split the group into two lots of five people for the flights. In my plane were Laurie, Eugene, Renee and Karen. The other plane took Fi, El, John and the two Swiss girls. After a short wait in the airport restaurant we were ready to check in. Check in basically consisted of walking through the metal detectors and onto the tarmac. Going through the security guards picked up my scissors in the first aid kit. Bearing in mind that these are safety scissors and I had walked through several international airports with these I thought they should be OK. But the security guard was a “jobs worth” and I think I finally convince him that they were no threat by jabbing them into my hand. El had her tweezers confiscated, which was a real disaster for her as I have not know anyone to spend as long plucking their eyebrows as El.

However when we went onto the tarmac the manager of Sunshine Air came with us and gave us all the confiscated tweezers and scissors back. The plane was a small single prop cesnor type for five passengers. It is the smallest plane I’ve flown in so far. Laurie was sat in the co-pilot seat with Eugene and Me on the next row and Karen and Renee in the bag and our bags behind them. Our pilot was fairly young and we were told that he had dual citizenship of Columbia and Venezuela which I joked would come in hand for drug running! The plane taxied down the runway and turned round to take off. I’m always amazing at how quickly these small planes are airborne. The flight took about 1hr 30 mins and was pretty smooth with very little turbulence. The view from the plane was amazing. We passed over mountains, forests, lakes and rivers. The air was clear and we could see for hundreds of miles. I’ve always wanted to learn to fly and everytime I get in a small plane I say that I’ll book some flight lessons when I get back. As we got closer to Salto Angel we started to see more of the table top mountains that characterise this region. As we came in for the landing we flew past a large waterfall near to the village. The landing was smooth though it was interesting that we landed on the dirt track next to the landing strip and not the tarmac landing strip. Eugene hates flying and although at times he was hanging onto the seat beat for life he said that he enjoyed the flight. I think the scenery we flew over was enough to distract anyone from their fear.

We were met by our local guide from the local tour company. We waited for the other plane to arrive and then we got the truck to the compound at Salto Angel. We left our passports at the compound just in case they got damages or lost on the trip. After a quick drink of coffee we left the compound to start our journey upstream.

Before getting in the boats we quickly stopped for a photo opportunity at the top of the large waterfall we had seen from the plane on the way into land. Then it was on to where the boats left from. Initially the plan was that we would carry on up the river for about 40 minutes and then get out and walk through the Savannah whilst the boats came up through the rapids. However there was enough water in the river to allow up to actually stay in the boat whilst the boat drivers took us up stream. As a set of rapids if you were coming down stream it would probably be about class 1 white water. However going up stream was great fun and we would get waves coming up over the sides of the boats and crashing into us. Within five minutes everyone was soaked and Fi and El were screaming away as they got drenched with the waves.

We passed through the rapids and we could take our life jackets off to make the seats more comfortable. The landscape as we drove upstream was absolutely amazing. It would seem as though every time we passed around a corner or bend in the stream the vista was better than the last. After about another 40 mins from the top of the rapids we stopped for lunch we a small stream ran into the main river. As if on cue the mist lifted completely and we had blue sky and sunshine for the duration of lunch. After lunch we had a swim in the waterfall and plunge pool that formed in the stream just before flowing into the river. The sun was so warm that we could dry our t-shirts which had got drenched from the rain and the river water that crashed into the boat.

After lunch it was back into the boat and onto the camp where we would be staying for the next night. We continued past majestical land forms and waterfalls next to the river before passing through another series of rapids. One of the things that struck me about the river and jungle we passed through was that there was a distinct lack of birds. This was in complete contrast to the boat jouney up to Lake Maracaibo were literally every tree would have some form of bird life, iguanas or monkeys. I’m guessing that there are two reasons for this. The first is that the shear size of the national park and the amount of water in the river and streams meant that there was more choices for the wildlife to go. The second could be due to the river itself. The colour of the water was a deep red from the tannins in the vegetation that the water flows through. This makes the river acidic and therefore it holds less aquatic life. Less aquatic life means fewer birds and other animals further up the food chain. It also explained why we had fewer mosquitos at the camp. But I could be completely wrong about that, it wouldn’t be the first time!

There are a few really memorable things I’ve seen that really lodge in my memory. My first view of the Grand Canyon, sunrise in Monument Valley and dawn on the way up Huyan Potosai. My first view of Angel Falls was similar. The boat rounded the final corner and we could see the mass that forms the Angel Falls Teupo. In the centre was a rock face stretching from the jungle to the sky topped by cascade of water. This is the tallest single cascade waterfall in the wall at just under 1km in height from the top to the plunge pool. It was a really beautiful site.

The boat pulled into the opposite bank from the side with Angel Falls and we disembarked for a short walk through the woods to the camp. From the camp we could take another short walk a little bit further upstream to a clearing in the jungle where we could get a better view of the falls. The weather in this region is in constant flux, especially as this was the rainy season. One minute we would have blue skies and glorious sunshine. Five minutes last the mist would come in wrap the views in a blanket of whiteness. In the time it took us to disembark the boat, drop our things at the camp and walk another five minutes to the clearing the mist started to come in again. We waited at the clearing for to see if the mist would lift again, but it didn’t seem to want to and then it started to rain so we walked back to our camp. The evening meal was well on the way for preparation when we arrived back at camp. Chicken roasted on skewers around an open fire.

It was about 8pm when dinner was served and we tucked into roast chicken and rice. The chicken tasted absolutely amazing. Probably a combination of the way in which the chick had been prepared and our hunger. Washed down with “Big Cola”, no less! Bearing in mind we had been on the go since about 5:45 this morning we were absolutely shattered so our group got into our hammocks. The generator and the lights went out about 9:30 and then the fun started! We weren’t the only group at the camp. The camp itself was a large open building which the dining tables and the hammocks were strung up in and a collection of out houses for the toilets and showers. There were perhaps 35 hammocks in the building. Our group took 10, including the Swiss girls. The rest were taken by a Venezuelan group. One the lights go out its usually the signal for silence so that people can get to sleep. I’m not saying that all the Venezuelans were inconsiderate morons but some were talking, laughing and joking. They weren’t even whispering but talking at the top of their voices. I think it is probably because they are city types who had never been in the natural environment. After about an hour our group, and to be fair some of the other Venezuelans were getting angry and saying “Ssh!”. Eventually I had enough and boomed in my most polite Spanish “Hey Amigos, Hacer Silence Por Favour!” (I don’t know if this was right but it had the desired effect and from that point there was relative silence so we could get to sleep, punctuated only by El chirping “Thank you!”. This phrase modified slightly to “Hey Amigos, Silencio Por Favour” has now become part of trek mythology.