Water, water everywhere

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First update of the big trip!

Flight out - Iberia at their best, flight leaving Madrid was late and then later and then later... next thing I knew I looked up from my book and discovered the airport lounge seemed to be empty - I really should have learnt the spanish for "we´ll bring the flight back forward by an hour and if you can´t understand the announcement in Spanish it´s tough". Anyway they let me on, but obviously the gods were having a laugh that day and not only was the plane full, but I was in the (screaming) kids section with a hyperactive two year old next to me, very restful to be sure, and the food was terrible too.

Arrived at Caracas, the half hour transfer to the city took over four hours as they had decided to repair the only bridge on the main highway and the traffic was all being diverted over mountain roads, bumper to bumper all the way - welcome to South America. Boy, was I glad to get to bed that night.

After that things began to look up a bit, the sun was shining and the temperature over 25 degrees. Met up with the group and then spent the day in the park, Caracas is a concrete jungle paid for with oil money and the city has little to recommend it.

We left Caracas for Ciudad Bolivar the next day travelling aboard Cameron, our trusty truck that will be our home for the next six weeks and 8,800 km until we reach Rio. We spent most of the first week in the National Park in Canaima visting the Angel Falls, highest waterfalls in the world and absolutely stunning. Travelled up to the falls in a small motorised canoe, rather akin to a dragon boat with an outboard on the back, it was a very wet experience. Camped in hammocks opposite the falls, hiked up and swam at the bottom, came back, it rained, we got wet. The next day we walked behind some falls in Canaima, spectacular, but very wet. Flew back in tiny six seater planes to our camp site, it rained, we got wet.

Next day was the start of the drive to Brazil over the Venezuelan Gran Sabanna, stunning scenery four days of it - South America is proving to be a bit bigger than it looks on the map. Truck broke down, it rained, we got wet. Very impressed with truck crew who stripped down and replaced springs in front suspension in just over three hours. The great thing about the truck is we are entirely self-sufficient so while they did that we cooked chicken and pasta with veggies at the side of the road. Camped in a school that night, which was cool, cos although it rained we did´t get wet.

The Gran Sabanna in Venezuela is amazing, populated by tepuis which are table top mountains with their own eco-systems on top and beautiful rolling green hills, waterfalls and palm trees. We camped as and where we could including right on the equator, sad to report it rained there too, and guess what, I got wet 'cos I'm only just getting the hang of this camping thing and forgot about closing the fly sheet and it tipped it down as only it can in the jungle.

We are now in Brazil in Manaus in the middle of the Amazon jungle and are off tomorrow for a spot of piranna fishing and caiman catching further into the jungle, bit more camping, probably thousands of creepy crawlies and I've no doubt it will rain and we will get wet - still it is the dry season - apparently.

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Photos

Cameron
My House

Angel Falls
Tepuis - you could eat your dinner off them

Our Canoe
You will get wet

More waterfalls
It's a lot of water