Blogs from Guayana, Venezuela, South America

Angel Falls My driver from the delta to the city of Ciudad Bolivar where I caught the flight to Cainama, was even more vocal than the last. We were stopped at a police checkpoint for 40 minutes while they went through the car and his papers with a fine tooth comb. He later explained that the police are paid the minimum wage, which is impossible to live on. They therefore routinely stop traffic and request payment in return for free passage. Failure to pay leads to the stop and search and 'fines' for anything that is out of order. I thought that Cainama would just be a place to catch the boat up to Angel Falls, but it's a great place. What is called the lagoon is really a wide section of river below a series ... read more

For a completely different Thanksgiving, I and six other teachers ventured to Canaima National Park to see the number one tourist attraction in Venezuela - Angel Falls or Santo Angel. We started off the day before Thanksgiving with a four+ hour bus ride to Ciudad Bolivar where we spent the night in a hotel that was already decorated for Christmas. It was a bit strange seeing a Christmas tree all lit up and decorated when it was still over 80 degrees outside. We were up early Thursday morning for an hour long flight into the national park. Our plane was small, though we saw smaller ones leaving the airport, and it was a pretty bumpy ride. Once we landed, we were picked up by one of the guides with a few other people and shuttled about ... read more

Internet access in Venezuela has been sparse but here we go with my latest blog update and as ever, if you just want to look at the pics, here are the links: Part 1 - Angel Falls etc http://www.facebook.com/media/set/fbx/?set=a.10150225978870236.348656.691995235&l=3c05252651 Part 2 - Catatambo, Los Llanos http://www.facebook.com/media/set/fbx/?set=a.10150235473160236.361771.691995235&l=b536f99a11 Victoria, Iguazu, Niagara……the world’s greatest waterfalls and I’m lucky enough to have seen them all. Only one has eluded me…. Angel Falls - the waterfall with the longest sheer drop on the planet; at 979 metres, a ribbon of water cascading down a vertical rock escarpment, deep in the heart of Venezuelan jungle, accessible only by boat... It did not disappoint. Packed and ready for 2 nights in hammocks in the exotically lush national park we were dropped at Ciudad Boliva... read more

Dzis wrocilismy ze wspanialej wyprawy do najwyzszego wodospadu swiata - Angel Falls! Po relaksie w Choroni czas przyszedl na rozpoczecie naszej wyprawy na dobre. Pojechalismy busem do Ciudad Bolivar i nastepnego ranka wyruszylismy do Canaima. Lot: trwal okolo 1 godziny 10 minut, maly samolocik 8 osobowy razem z pilotem!Clint jako ´big man´ zostal posadzony obok pilota a ja z tylu z bagazami - i tak w obie stony,hehe. Widoki oszalamiajace to tego stopnia, ze az mi zaczelo sie w zolodku przewracac i musialam, zastosowac metody wdech przez nos i wydech przez usta gapiac sie w jeden punkt, zeby sie zrobic bu bu. Przezylam! Niestety jak zwykle musze sie streszczac wiec w skrocie: jak wspomnialam wyzej samolocikiem ciut ponad godzinke, drewniana lodzia motorowa 6 godzin w gore rzeki( lekki hardcore - trzeba byla pchac lodke wiec faceci ... read more

A 5am wake up call saw us leave at 6o'clock on a 1.5 hour hike to Angel Falls. It was a 4 hour round trip in total, on empty stomachs and with no water provided until we reached the falls where we got a stingy one cup each after sweating buckets in our long trousers (tucked into our socks to avoid a bug whose name I don't know that ventures under clothes and leaves pussing reminders) and raincoats. Venezuela is not ready for tourists! Nonetheless it was a scenic walk through rainforest and rivers (the flow so strong it nearly toppled me!) and across pink sandy beaches. The falls themselves were magical, nearly 1km in height, the water reduced to a fine and far reaching spray near the bottom, with a rainbow affront. We arrived just ... read more