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Published: October 4th 2004
Angel Falls
Angel Falls, viewed from a freebie flight. Right then... after a week of bumming along Venezuala´s North West Caribbean Coast, cold beer, fresh fish, and warm, tropical seas, we decided to get our adventurous hats on again, so with my trusty old exploring sun hat and lots of insect repellent, we set off on an overnight sleeper bus (which was quite palatial, with fully reclining beds, but broke down at 5am) to the hot, sleepy town of Cuidad Bolivar.
Simon Bolviar
A quick history lesson here.. (I get that from my mum). Simon Bolivar is THE national hero of Venezuala, he was the man who liberated much of South America from the Spanish in the early part of the 19th Century. In the grand tradition of South American revolutionaries, he then set about creating his own dictatorship, and was eventually overthrown. But history has been kind to him, and literally EVERY town, village and city in Venezuala is based around a central Plaza Bolivar. They'd have named the country after him, but Bolivia got there first, and in fact, even that didnt stop them, since the official title is "Bolivian Republic of Venezuala". Anyway, he´s the big cheese here, and Cuidad Bolivar is the city where much
Canaima Falls
The falls at Canaima, viewed from the same flight. of the early spasms of government took place. It is a lovely colonial style town on a hill overlooking the mighty Orinoco.
Orinoco
Now there are 2 references to the Orinoco in modern english culture.. one was in the title of that Enya song that went "sail away, sail away, sail away", and little else was recognisable... the other was the name of a womble.
But let me enlighten you further.. it is one of the biggest rivers in South America, and it snakes through the hot, steamy tropics out to the Atlantic.
Canaima National Park
So anyway, Cuidad Bolivar is basically, from the backpackers point of view, the starting point for trips into the Canaima national park. This wilderness in the South East of Venezuala is the same as that trusty old geographical barometer "The size of Belgium".
It is a strange landscape of colossal table top mountians, or mesas, and thick rain forest. think Arizona and the Grand Canyon, but covered in a thick green carpet.
This park isnt accessable by road, or even boat for most of the year, so we took a flight to the town of Canaima. My flight happened to coincide
Canaima National Park. Good Value, this free flight, wasnt it?? with that of 2 american ladies, who had paid $100 extra to fly over the main attraction of this park, the Angel Falls, the worlds highest waterfall. Obviously, I enjoyed this free trip, and got some decent photos.
Canaima itself actually has 7 waterfalls of it´s own, and a spectacular lagoon of reddy, brownish water, and pink sand, caused by some kind of mineral alchemy that I didnt really listen too hard to when it was explained to me. After a day at Canaima, we took a 5 hour boat journey and trek into the jungle for a close up view of the Angel Falls, which at 980metres high, are 16 times higher than Niagra Falls. We camped out in the rainforest, in hammocks which was quite an experience, and went for another view of the falls at dawn.
Where´s the Beach?
AFter all this jungle adventure, we needed our Caribbean beaches again, so we headed to the more commercially developed North Eastern Coast. We didnt have time to visit Margarita Island, so we spent a couple of days at the busy resort of Puerto la Cruz. Again, being there at the weekend meant lots of crowds, but
Canaima National Park. Think Arizona covered by rainforest. it was kinda fun to watch the beach scene of Venezualas jet set. The national park made up of coral reefs and barren rocky islands was again spectacular, and if anybody ever wants to do a Caribbean holiday on the cheap, Venezuala is your place...
After Puerto la Cruz, we headed back to Caracas, (with some dramas, see next entry) and then on down South, to Chile...
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