Tepuis

Caracas is the capital of Venezuela. It was founded in the 16th century.

Simon Bolivar is the national hero of Venezuela. He fought for independence from Spain. After the independence the former colony became divided in several states: Venezuela, Bolivia, Columbia and Ecuador. Simon Bolivar is a hero in all of these countries. Not only the Venezuelan money is named after him but also the central place in every city or village is called Plaza Bolivar.

flying through the Gran Sabana

To get to the tabletop mountains you take a plane in Ciudad Bolivar, which used to get called Angostura.

waterfall

The Tepuis rise from the green of the woods.

Salto Angel from the plane

Salto Angel or Angel Fall is the world's highest waterfall. The water is falling down almost 1000 meters. It was discovered by Jimmy Angel.

Salto Angel

The pilot passed Salto Angel several times to provide the best view.

near Kamarata

Kamarata is a village of the Pemon Indians and the starting point of the Tepui trekking.

Looking down on Kamarata from Temun Tepui

The trekking starts with a three-day trip to Temun Tepui.

raptor raptor

In the warm winds the raptors look for pray.

waterfall on Temun Tepui

There are also waterfalls on Temun Tepui. This one is falling down hundreds of meters shortly after this cataract.

flowers flowers

Kavac Kavac

The trekking to Auyan Tepui starts in Kavac.

creek near Kavac

Kavac is famous for the nearby grotto.

waterfall near Kavac

in the savannah

To get to Auyan Tepui you first have to walk through the savannah. Make sure to wear long trousers, since the grass is causing little cuts that become itchy.

waterfall

There are more waterfalls to see.

view on the valley

After reaching the first level of the tabletop mountain you get a great view on the valley below.

spider spider

You have to watch your gear or you'll pick up some hitchhikers.

carnivore

On the Tepuis there are many plants that are endemic. Since the ground is washed out, the plants became carnivorous.

on top of Auyan Tepui

Millenniums of erosion created the strange formations in the stone.

lost world

Just a little fantasy is needed to regard the stones of having the shape of dinosaurs. So many legends about prehistorical beasts were created. One of them is the famous novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: Lost World.

surface of Auyan Tepui

Auyan Tepui, means devil's mountain and the Indians were in fear of going up there.

On top of Auyan Tepui

Only as more and more scientists wanted to go up and do research, the Indians send a group of shaman up there to ban the evil spirits. The area they are banned to is still off-limits today.

flowers flowers

The conditions for the plants are quite harsh.

blossom blossom

There are only few trees and bushes, most plants stay rather small.

plant plant

Auyan Tepui

Auyan Tepui is almost 2500 meter high and the surface is about 700 square kilometers.

on the way down

this was the gap we went through

There's only one way up Auyan Tepui.

This was the way we came down

Going down from the third level, the surface and reaching the second level, you get a great view of the way you just used.

boat trip to Canaima

After returning from Auyan Tepui we did a boat trip on the Rio Akanan heading for Canaima.

tabletop mountain

On the trips there are several rapids to cross.

the tastiest chicken ever

Just before the Rio Churun meets the Rio Akanan, we stopped overnight. The barbecued chickens were delicious.

Salto Angel

Salto Angel is reached a short distance up the Rio Churun. The distance the water falls down is so high that the water does not reach the ground. It gets sprayed and comes down as light rain.

behind El Sapo