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Published: November 4th 2007
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Angel Falls
We finally make our way to the first viewpoint! With the financial meltdown diverted, we are now onto ANGEL FALLS!
To our
pleasant surprise, the tour we paid for turned out to be legitimate and actually quite nice. After the drama with the slimy tourist guys, we felt a little anxious that we were still being ripped off, but decided to just go with it and crossed our fingers and toes for the best.
We caught an overnight bus from Caracas to Ciudad Bolivar at 9:30pm, and caught a flight to Canaima National Park early the next morning. The plane was a little 6 seater and because it was a clear and sunny day, we were treated to an awesome view of Venezuelan countryside. It was so beautiful and lush! Upon arrival at Camp Wey Tupuy, we were debriefed and told to pack ourselves a bag for 1 day and 1 night in the jungle. First thoughts:
Kristena: "Oh God, I hate bugs."
Trevor: "Excellent! Bring it on!!"
We left right away for the falls. The mode of transportation was a motorized canoed and our travel companions were about 12 other tourists. The ride to the falls from camp took about 2 hours and
The start of our hike up "Death Mountain"
Take note of the man with the blue shirt on ... you will see him in MANY of our photos! Also note the colour of the water. Beautiful! 40 minutes up a scenic river that somewhat resembled the colour of coca cola. Along the way we stopped to swim in a pretty waterfall and then pretty much went for the gold! When we got to the "base" of the falls we headed into the jungle for a one hour hike of doom so as to really see the falls in all their glory. The hike started out nice and flat... then the dirt changed to rocks and the flat changed to big steep mountain. Team Canada is definitely out of shape; the hike felt like a death march. However, after finally arriving at the optimal lookout point, the view was well worth the massive coronaries we nearly both suffered while heaving up the mountain. Salto Angel is extremely beautiful! The falls are an amazing 979m high - by the time the water gets to the ground it is just mist. Trevor has had a dream of seeing the them since he was a kid and it was one of those moments where you just sit there and think first: "Wow, I can't believe I'm really here!" and second: "All the B.S. to get here was worth it!"
After descending from el mountain of death, we learned that our guide was serious when he said we'd be spending the night in the jungle. Our campsite: across the river in the open air with an incredible view of the falls (for the morning). Everyone would be sleeping in hammocks covered by nothing more than mosquito nets. Read that again. Hammocks. Me. Outside. At night. In the jungle. You can bet that I was beside myself at the prospect. Every bit of pre-trip literature on malaria infested mosquitos and every episode of gigantic and killer spiders from the Discovery Channel crossed my mind. The odds were surely stacked against me. Miraculously, I survived (but not, I'd like to point out, without a sleepless night or sustaining a ridiculous number of anonymous bug bites.) Trevor on the other hand, was in his glory.
After marvelling at the incredible beauty of the falls in the morning, we packed up and headed back down the river to our main camp. The goal was to shower up and then embark on another adventure - this time to see some of the smaller waterfalls in Canaima National Park. The other falls were pretty, but
Salto Sapo
This is the waterfall we got to walk behind... it was amazing (and really scary). The falls are only at 60% of what they normally are; Mother Nature is incredible! nothing compared to the Big Kahuna we had come to see! Salto Sapo in particular was a cool experience though - we got to walk behind it! Even though it was only at sixty percent of its normal level, the sheer power of it was still just phenomenal.
A few thoughts about Canaima: it is the most picturesque little village! The locals are actually happy to see travellers and we felt we could walk around and explore without the fear of being mugged - a real
treat in South America. Despite the initial hoopla, Angel Falls and Canaima National Park have so far been one of the highlights of our trip!
We have just arrived in Quito, Ecuador tonight. We both feel very relieved to be out of Venezuela - the country is not safe and with exception of our time at the falls, we did not at all feel comfortable there. We spent some time chatting with a local man who speaks English and learned some pretty disturbing things about the country: corruption is a fact, pretty much known by all. No one trusts the police or the military, and there is a crazy level of organized
crime involving drugs and violence. Every building is covered in bars (as in all of South America apparently), and all car windows are tinted - so that people do not see who/what is inside and decide to stop your vehicle to rob you. He told us stories about highways where bandits attack cars at night time by throwing rocks - when drivers pull over in fear, they are assaulted and their vehicles are taken. Charming.
We are glad to be out of that country and so far Ecuador seems to have a nice feel (we are getting happy vibes!) Our plan is to hopefully arrange a tour to the Galapagos Islands tomorrow.
We leave you for now with some pictures of a dream come true... put Angel Falls on your bucket list, you won't be sorry!
Trevor and Kristena
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Maria
non-member comment
I know how you feel!
Hey, we know how you feel about the people butting in when you are trying to take a picture!! We had that in Costa Rica all the time---they have no sense of respect for other people it seems like!