Canaima National Park and Angel Falls

We arrived in Cuidad Bolivar tired, confused and in bad need of a long shower! We had left Merida at around lunch time on the 18th of June and it took over 24 hours to arrived in Cuidad Bolivar. First a 4 hour bus ride from Merida to a town called Barinas..... then a VERY hot and sweaty 5 hour wait in a really dodgy bus station in Barinas, which we had to sprint across a duel carriage way to catch (it was either run like the wind or wait until the following day!)......followed by 14 hours on the world´s coldest bus to Cuidad Bolivar. We thought we came prepared for the bus trip this time! We brought extra socks, fleeces and even used towels as blankets but no joy.... we were still freezing!!! And to add a little extra excitement to the mix, the bus was stopped at around 2 am for one of Venezuela's many army checkpoints!

We met an English guy (with the same surname as me!! a good omen!), in the bus station in Barinas who was also planning on heading to Angel Falls so the three of us enquired with local hostels about the details and cost of the Canaima/Angel Falls trip. We eventually booked the trip for the following morning.

We all met up at 7am the following morning and took a taxi to the airport. The airport was really small and had very.... what´s the word.... relaxed security :-) The flight to Canaima from Cuidad Bolivar took about an hour in a tiny plane with enough room for about 5 people including the pilot. There was hardly enough room for the 3 of us because our plane was transporting loads of food to Canaima village.

When we landed we had a long wait in Canaima airport because other members of our tour were arriving from various other places in Venezuela. After everyone arrived to the airport we took a short trip to our hostel where we had a quick briefing. We were told that the plan for today was to head straight to the falls.

So around 11am we started out 4 hour canoe ride to the falls and I have to save the journey was great fun. The canoe goes fairly fast and the water is pretty rough so you end up soaked!!! Plus it bucketed rain on the way. All I can say is thank God our camera was in a small plastic bag :-) We had a small packed lunch on the way and arrived near the falls around 4ish. To see Angel falls from the best place we hiked for about an hour through the jungle before which we had to cross the river by foot. I lost my flipflops in the process so had to revert to wearing my runners. The hike itself was cool....and although my feet were killing me from my crappy new runners the views from the top were breadth taking. The photos speak for themselves :-)

After a few minutes to ponder the meaning of life while overlooking Angel Falls we hiked back to the canoe and took the short boat ride to our campsite for the night. The campsite was really well-equipped. We each had a hammock complete with mosquito net and blanket. There were two large picnic benches for meals, a pit-fire roasting chicken (which smelt really good after all that walking!) and shower/bathroom facilities.

The first port of call on arriving was a shower. I´ve never seen so many insects/bugs in all my life!!! At one stage there was a massive frog leaping across the bathroom floor!!! After our showers we had dinner and the pit roasted chicken tasted just as good as it smelt. After dinner the group of us sat and played cards while sipping a little rum. At around 9pm the generators around the campsite were turned off and the guides lit candles all around the grounds. That night was our first night to sleep in a hammock. There is definitely a knack to it but overall is was pretty comfortable (despite the cold!!).

The following morning we had a yummy breakfast, after which we jumped in the canoe for the boat journey back to Canaima. On the way back we stopped in a place called 'the happy lake´ for a shower under a small waterfall and a quick swim in a small lagoon. We arrived back to Canaima pretty early so we had a chance to explore the area. We were surprised that the town wasn´t very touristy, especially considering it´s the starting point for most people who want to see Angel Falls. The town is small with one restaurant and a pub which looks more like someones home from the outside. After a day of relaxing we had our group dinner followed by a few games of pool in the 'pub´ :-)

On our last day in Canaima we woke early for yet another yummy breakfast. After breakfast we walked to the local lagoon (really pretty) and took a short canoe ride allowing us to get really close to some amazing waterfalls. The canoe then brought us to the other side of the lagoon where we hiked for about 30 minutes to the back of a huge waterfall. We all stripped down to our swimsuits and were able to walk behind the waterfall :-) It was amazing. The waterfall was so powerful!! Most of us were in danger of loosing our bathing suits at one point of another with the strength of the water!!! :-)

After walking behind the waterfalls the canoe picked us back up and brought us back to the starting point on the lagoon. We spent the next hour or so relaxing on white sand beaches and swimming in clear, warm waters overlooking beautiful waterfalls.... absolute heaven! That evening we flew back to Cuidad Bolivar and started our long and tiring journey across the Venezuelan border into Brazil :-D

The whole Canaima tour was really cool. Angel falls is definitely a spectacular sight but the rest of the tour... the lagoons and walking behind the waterfalls were equally as beautiful and we would highly recommend a similar tour to anyone visiting Venezuela.

- By Karen

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