Crossing the pond (III)

Having already visited the city of Caracas and one of the most beautiful zones in all of the Caribbean sea with paradisaical beaches, that only left me with one more setting to visit which characterises Venezuela - The Amazon rainforest.

Venezuela owns a small part of the immense forest. To see it, we went to the Canaima National Park, which is one of the largest national parks in the world and extends almost all the way to the Venezuela-Brazilian border.

Flying to Canaima

We were already getting to the second week of our trip. I was still on Margarita Island and the next stop was this huge national park. To get there, we took a flight back to Caracas where we changed planes so we could catch a different plane, (which wasn't very big), which was going to take us to the tiny airport in Canaima.

The plane taking us back was as precarious as the one we had got to the island, I even dared to say that it was even worse. Luckily, the one that took us to Canaima seemed to be in a better state which was appreciated because the journey from Caracas to Canaima took a little while longer - approximately 2 hours.

However, the fear of this journey came when we got to the airport in Canaima. This airport looks like it doesn't receive too many flights; in fact, the biggest part of the airport seemed like it was reserved for small planes. That made it difficult to imagine that a big plane could land in an airport like that, but they did!

The "terminal" in the airport is, without a doubt, the most strange that I have ever seen because it wasn't really a terminal, it was more of a transit site built from wood in which to collect your suitcases which are gradually being released. So that was our experience of that airport so far, until we had to return to finish the adventure.

After, a small truck took us through the jungle until the place where we were staying. Halfway through this journey, we made a stop at the highest part of some of the waterfalls which we would visit later. Just to see these sights and look at the landscape as we entered the jungle, it was really worthwhile.

Arriving at the campsite and the first excursions

It took a little while before we arrived at the campsite; a small place with well air conditioned and equipped cabins. On arrival, in the reception area, they gave us some welcome cocktails, which were yet again, so tasty. At the same place, you could see animal skins and stuffed animals which were all over the place. If it was not because almost all of the animals have moved away from those areas that humans pass by, would be very scary since it's not normal to see an anaconda skin which is 3 metres long.

The campsite was very welcoming and of course, right in the middle of the nature in the area. Although it was well equipped, it was still in the middle of the jungle.

But the adventure didn't end there, the best came later when some local guides took us to the most noted places in the area, including the crown jewel, El Salto Ángel (Angel Waterfall), it's no more and no less than the longest continuous waterfall in the world (approximately 1. 4 km drop).

The guide who accompanied us at all times was very flashy since he was a kid who was barely 18 years old guiding a group of adults. But, without a doubt, if it had not been for him, we wouldn't have survived. Furthermore, this boy wasn't wearing shoes at any point during the tour around the jungle. In fact, he told us that he had only ever worn shoes whenever he had to go out of the jungle areas to visit "civilisation".

He was really friendly and attentive, he resolved any doubt that we might have had. The only 'but' is that he was able to walk through the jungle as if it were nothing which sometimes was really difficult to follow for us.

But he wasn't the only guide who accompanied us because to do the programmed excursions around the area, the only mode of transport that we had were the canoes, those which can only take a couple of people in them.

Up until then, I had never travelled on such an impressive river in a canoe. Despite wearing a life jacket at all times, the fear was always there that there was the possibility of the boat capsising, since the guides told us that it's happened before (without any injures, of course).

I have to also mention the local fauna, because on more than one occaision, we saw the heads of some alligators which rest by the banks of the river. Luckily, we only saw alligators because there was also the possibility of finding anacondas and bats hanging from the trees or piranhas just underneath the surface of the water.

El Sapo waterfall, nightime in the jungle and Angel waterfall

The main excursion took place over 2 days, so we had to spend a night in some of the cabins which were a lot less equipped than the ones on the main campsite in the middle of the jungle. We would be on the river for approximately an hour and a half until we got to the vicinity of a waterfall which was a lot smaller than the Angel waterfall, but no less impressive: the Sapo waterfall.

We walked for a bit through the jungle until we got to one of the extremities of the Sapo waterfall. It's an immense waterfall which extends across a few metres. The main attractions of this waterfall is the fact that you can walk around inside it whilst looking at the water falling and forming an immense and thunderous wall of water which doesn't stop flowing.

This was, without a doubt, one of the most impressive experiences of the whole trip since you can feel first hand the power of nature. There are moments of this walk around the inside of the waterfall where the water falls on top of you and you feel a load of weight which is generated by the waterfall. But it's only for a few metres, afterwards, you come out and get to the other extremity of the waterfall, the one which has amazing views of the waterfall itself.

After this great experience, we had to make our way back as night started falling. So, we went walking through the jungle until we got to the area where our canoes, that would take us back in approximately 2 hours to our base camp, were waiting for us.

On the way, we started to see the meseta features which form this particular landscape, until we finally got to the meseta where the Angel waterfall is located.

Not much longer after arriving at the cabins in the middle of the jungle, I felt horrified. I was not (nor am I) a person who enjoys too much contact with nature. Especially bugs. Well, not long after going into the bedroom where I had to sleep, the first thing I saw was a huge cockroach on the wall which hid itself once it saw the lights. I didn't find out anymore about this cockroach, so I had to sleep knowing that there was one hiding somewhere.

However, there was a positive side. For dinner, the guides (those who, of course, would sleep outside with hammocks), had prepared some grilled chicken for us which I can say was spectacular. After eating dinner, we stayed for a little while contemplating the nocturnal landscape at the foot of the huge meseta where the Angel waterfall is located. You could see little lights all over the small trees which looked like stars, but no, they were fireflies.

The following morning, we got up early so we could leave at the crack of dawn to get to the Angel waterfall, an excursion which lasts approximately 2 hours.

The night, truthfully, was very hard because I couldn't stop thinking about all the spiders and cockroaches. In fact, that same night, it's possible that a small spider bit me because I had an enormous bite which lasted and annoyed me for the rest of the trip.

The journey to the Angel waterfall was, like the others, through the jungle. But this journey was a lot more steep and really made it feel like we were being immersed in the jungle. Although the guide told us that it was normal to come across tigers or jaguars in the area, it seemed obvious that the man-made trail had been freed from the majority of animals and bugs.

But finally, we arrived. There was the enormous waterfall and all of us were below it with one of the best views. The truth is that it's one of those places which looks so much more impressive in real life than it does in photos (however good they may be).

The Angel waterfall is known for being one of the places which appear in the animated film, 'Up', but it's called "Paradise Waterfall" instead.

Furthermore, the guide took us to a natural pool which is formed from the falling water which comes from the torrential rains which remain in the upper part of the meseta.

There is also the possibility to tour around this whole area in a light aircraft which you can usually see flying around there. It's something that I didn't go to do but without a doubt, it was impressive.

But it's not because of that why I wanted to travel in a light aircraft, it's because the days in the National Park of Canaima had already ended, so after a long journey back in a canoe (3 hours approximately) we returned to the small airport. Although this time, we didn't travel in a big plane, this time we went in group of 4 and we travelled the distance which we had travelled before in a commercial jet to Caracas, but this time in a light aircraft.

I have to say that it's an incredible experience because you get the opportunity to see the landscapes out the window which I would have never imagined I'd be able to see, but honestly, it turns out that it's largely dangerous because it's still a small, light aircraft. The light aircraft accidents are a lot more common than you'd think, a lot more than commercial airliner accidents.

But at last, everything went well again. The total amount of planes which I took was around 6, and there was still two more to catch to get back to Spain (because we had to make a stop over in Lisbon).

So, from here, the trip to Venezuela had already finished. It's certain that we had to live through an odyssey because, one more, we had problems when it came to finding a room in the hotel. So, we went from one place to another until, at last, we had a hotel where we could spend the night and return to Madrid during the 9 hour flight. Me, with some kind of bug bite, made the plane journey, without a doubt, one of the worst which I've ever been on.

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