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Published: August 23rd 2007
We woke up at 6 today with an entire bottle of rum still sloshing around our insides...last night we decided that the mild beer around wasnt good enough....we also discovered that the place we were staying at (Posada La Casita) would allow us to transfer them money online at the unofficial exchagne rate for a tour to see angel falls...
but then the guy was being a real idiot since he was drunk and couldnt add up properly so we ended up getting into a bit of an argument..the other people at the place were nice though, and we played loads of pool...and then went swimming at midnight
i defnitely would not reccomend arguing with the guys who run it (Daniel)...freaky guy...
also met a journalist dude who works in caracas, and it was interesting to hear his opinions on the country and chavez...especially after the waiter we met in puerto la cruz who was singing chavez´s praises, it was good to hear from someone who had been directly affected by his anti-media policies...
we also spent about 2 hours yesterday trying to get money out of cash machines that insisted on being extremely troublesome which pissed
La Paragua Airfield
Stuck here in the baking sun with fish chicken Graeme Kilian as we wait for a plane..us off incredibly (especially graeme!)...
so anyway we went to the airport at 730AM and managed to book a tour for 750,000 bolivares each, or 375 dollars...graeme has very kindly offered to lend me the money since that wouldnt have fitted my shoestring budget...our trip to the cash points was successful as well so we were ready to leave..
the tour began by taking a van from ciudad bolivar airport, to a little airstrip called la paragua (flying direct from bolivar is more expensive) for about 4 hours....once at la paragua, we got flights to a little camp in the jungle called canaima...unfortunately with our brilliant luck, they ran out of planes to take us there, so me graeme and this german guy called sebastian had to wait for about 2 hours at the airstrip until they got us a plane...which was then loaded with about 200 kilos of fish, chicken and disgusting looking cheese...
when we got to canaima (after a scenic flight over 4 waterfalls), we ate a speedy lunch, met our guide Paul (pronounecd like the footballer Raul but with a P) who was a great guy if anyone is interested (Tiuna Tours), and
the rest of our group and then jumped into the boat....
our gang consisted of a french family alain, julie and their two cute little kids, sebastian and kilian (german guys), ale and vale (italian girls who talked absolutely non-stop) and a strong silent hungarian called attila (who later became very talkative!)..hehe yeah attila!
the first bit involved going across the lagoon at canaima, then climbing up past the 4 massive falls to get a second boat to the first camp in the jungle...we had to get off at one point and walk through the jungle because of some dangerous rapids...
when we got to the first camp, after getting completely soaked in the rain and the rapids it was already dark (luckily i had the sense to buy a waterproof poncho at canaima airstrip, though it didnt help much)... the guide book talks about how it is a "backside numbing 4 hour boat ride to the first camp" and believe me that is an understatement...
after dinner graeme and me invented our own version of dominos and played for ages...then the german guys taught us a card game with special german cards, i think its
Canaima Camp
The camp consisted of a lagoon into which four massive waterfalls drop. This is an aerial view just before we land called schapkoff or soemthing...
there was no electricity at the camp, so going to the toilets was pitch black (which was probably good since i really didnt want to know what was in there) and walking around in the dark meant i stubbed my toes a few times...
sleeping involved doing my best not to fall out of my smelly smelly smelly hammock...apparently the best way to sleep is diagonal but whenever i did that i fell out....in the morning i realised this was because someone had twisted my hammock round a few times...this was also why i had kilian´s feet in my face all night :-)
we also met a few other people including a group of english girls and a guy, and i cant remember who else..
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