On the morning of Thanksgiving, we awoke in a little Posada outside of Ciudad Bolivar, a large city in Southeastern Venezuela. I didn't grab any breakfast because I was hoping for some sort of empenada or arepa at the airport. When we arrived there, I managed to find a small hole-in the wall store, where I picked up a tasty little chicken & veggie empenada and we waited for our flight. (Shaun, another teacher, managed to have his first real doughnut in months at this same time...."real" doughnuts are tough to find down here).
After sitting around and getting checked in, we waited for about another 25 minutes until our pilot told us it was time to go. So the three of us (Shaun, his wife Susan, and myself) boarded a little single engine crop-duster with an Englishman and German and flew to Canaima, the launching point for any trip to Angel Falls.
In there air we had some spectacular views of the countryside as it slowly went from slightly occupied, to uninhabited jungle in the span of an hour. Suddenly on the sides, we saw these huge mountains, rising straight out of the ground. They are called tepuis (te-poo-e) and are supposed to be some of the oldest rock formations on Earth. The plant and animal life on top of these things are sometimes only found in that one spot....and oddly enough, these were also the inspiration for The Lost World, written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Eventually we landed in Canaima, on the bumpiest runway (and saddest airport) I've have ever seen. The airport was essentially a small shack with locals selling souvenir jewelry and other items and another small shed, where you payed your entrance fee to the park.
From here we went into the city, got a brief chat from our guide, split into two groups of 10 (thus losing our German and English passengers) and began our tour. We were in the lucky group: 7 Germans, 3 Yanks and a local guide....we were to board a long wooden boat with a single motor engine and head for the falls immediately. The other group would follow the next day.
The boat trip lasted for ever. 3.5 hours on this little boat, meandering our way up river. Luckily this was broken up by a 45 minute hike (while the boat went through some dangerous rapids) and lunch. Still, I was ready to get out of that boat when we finally hit the camp site.
From there we rested for the night and were given some brief views of Angel Falls from our side of the river. Sadly, it was cloudy and there really wasn't a good view, so we instead played cards, read books and relaxed for the night. Our Thanksgiving dinner composed of a quarter of roasted chicken, yucca, and some cheesy rice w/ veggies....not bad really. That evening we all slept in hammocks, which to be honest wasn't too bad, once you adjusted to it.
The next morning we awoke early and were treated to scrambled eggs, a slice of ham and cheese and two arepas, each weighing roughly a pound (and that is without anything inside). Normally you stuff the arepas with the eggs, meat and cheese, which is what I did and the meal will sit with you for about 8 hours, at least. It's very heavy, pretty filling, pretty tasteless and simple/cheap to make.
Next we got in a boat and crossed the river to begin our hike. The hike wasn't too bad and only took about an hour, possibly a little longer. Our trek took us from a rocky river, into a damp and muddy jungle and then we began going up in elevation, hitting a more dense forest. Eventually, after many slips, near-falls and almost twisted ankles, we came upon this view:
Stunning.
I won't lie....it was pretty impressive. After taking a few pictures and staring at it for a while, I was ready to go back to camp. I mean, what else can you do so far away from a huge waterfall? But we stayed for roughly 30 minutes, until finally Shaun, Susan, Tina (one of the Germans) and myself decided to start heading back.
The return trip was a lot faster (aka downhill) and it was much easier. Once we reached the river, we were really far ahead of everyone, so we took the opportunity to soak our weary feet in the river.
At this point, two incredible things happened. One, Shaun saw a river otter playing on the opposite bank of the river and pointed it out, which was pretty amazing to see (I always loved the otters at the zoo). The second thing was that we turned around to look at the Falls one last time and were blessed with this view:
After that we went back to camp, had lunch and then went back to Canaima. The boat ride back only lasted 2 hours, which was much more bearable. Then we got to spend the evening at a little Posada just on the outskirts of town. My bed wasn't as comfortable as the hammock, but it worked.
The next morning we awoke and had to pack everything in preparation to head home. We were going to eat breakfast, then go see Sapo Falls and the lagoon and finally come back for lunch before heading back to Ciudad Bolivar.
Sapo Falls was beautiful and the lagoon was pretty impressive as well. We ended up walking behind the falls, which was cold and wet, but a blast.
After Sapo Falls, we ate lunch and tried to head home. Sadly, we had to board a larger plane (carrying 14 passengers) and when everyone was ready and waiting.....we had to head back to the "terminal" (the hut). Suddenly no one could find our pilot, although we think he was playing cards with some of the locals.
A 45 minute plane ride later, we were back in Ciudad Bolivar. We boarded our mini-bus, made a stop at Wendy's (which is a real treat since we don't have one in Anaco) and then began our 3 hour ride home. All-in-all, a good trip, even though I was ready to jump out of the little boat at one point.
God Bless and I hope things are well, wherever you are.
