Ciudad Bolivar is the biggest city on the Orinoco River and has a nice, hilly colonial downtown. It is also one of the hottest cities in Venezuela. It was so hot that all we wanted to do was stay in our slightly cooler posada, but we still wandered around a bit.
After a day in the city, we moved to the posada connected with the tour company we would be traveling with to Angel Falls. It was a 20 min drive out of the city, in a relaxed, beautiful resort-like compound with a kick-ass pool, a small zoo (monkeys, ant eaters, parrots, deer, etc...), and thatched roof huts. We stayed in an area with hammocks and bunk beds with mosquito nets. In the countryside it was significantly more pleasant in terms of pase and temperature. However, the posada was also host to a large group of rowdy, aging Dutch tourists (some of whom enjoyed walking around in speedos all afternoon...). The next morning we headed off to the airport for our Angel Falls tour - to see one of the 7 wonders of the world, the highest waterfall in the world.
The one hour flight took us over 300 hundred kms of untouched forests, rivers, tepuis (flat-topped mountains), and almost no roads or signs of people. We descended into Canaima, a Pemon (indigenous group native to the area) town of 3,000, and one of the most beautiful places we have ever seen. The village surrounds Laguna Canaima, a large, undeveloped lagoon created from several waterfalls that split from the same river. The waterfalls form several islands and sand bars that Gabe enjoyed swimming to and exploring. The picturesque scene is accented by palm trees and tepuis in the distance.
The first day we went on an excursion to other waterfalls and lagoons by boat. We even walked behind a waterfall, which was very cool. We were in a group of about 27 people - a group of 7 older French people, 3 Latvians, 3 Germans, 2 Austrians, 2 Spanish, 3 Venezuelans, 1 Brazilian, our Pemon guide, us, and unfortunately 3 OTHER AMERICANS. These were the worst kind of American representatives you could have. A family of three, the mother had an 'I Love Jesus, Jesus loves me' hat, paired with an 'I Heart NY' shirt, the dad wore shirts sporting scripture each day, and the daughter was a missionary living in Venezuela. They were from Iowa (Miriam knew they were from the mid-west instantly). They were not the smartest nor the most physically capable, so they were a source of great amusement to all. But, besides them, we had a good group of interesting people to talk to, and Gabe was very thankful that the common language between everyone was English.
The next day, (Wednesday) we got up, ate breakfast, and left by 7am, because as it is the beginning of the dry season, there is a lot less water, so it takes longer to get up the river. In fact, ours was the last boat tour that went up the river to Angel Falls (others took a plane and circled it). Our boat was about 30 feet long, narrow, and made of wood. It took us about 8 hours to reach our camp. Throughout that period, we got splashed a lot from the spray of going fast in the boat, we walked some sections because the rapids were too intense to get the boat up with everyone in it, at some points, when it got too shallow the guys had to get out and push the boat upstream! It was a very intense, exciting ride. We enjoyed the active participation that the low level of water required, compared to other times of year when there is more water flowing.
From our camp we hiked an hour uphill to a lookout spot where we had an incredible view of Angel Falls. As mentioned earlier, the water level was lower, so unfortunately, the Falls were less impressive than we thought - they were only about a third of the normal amount of water. But, it was still really impressive, with a total height of 979 meters, and a continuous drop of 807 meters. We were then able to hike a little further and get to the point where the waterfall ends in a rocky pool, as Miriam's knees can atest. The water was chilly, but refreshing after our day in boats and hiking. We had a great time.
We then came back to our camp for dinner (delicious grilled chicken on spits, rice, and cole slaw), and our first night in hammocks. We were in an open air room with hammocks hung fairly close together (good for bumper hammocks as we discovered later). We slept ok, but had to get up before 5am to get back down the river in time to catch flights back to Ciudad Bolivar.
The way back took half the time, which was fine with us because our butts were sore from two days on wooden seats. We decided, along with the Latvians and one German guy, to stay in Canaima two extra days (the 31st and New Years) because we knew that buses don't run and businesses are closed, so instead of being stuck in a ghost town, we chose to stay in paradise for two more days.
Unfortunately, because there are no roads out of Canaima, food is very expensive because it is all flown in, so we ended up eating bread and cheese, crackers, and dry cereal for all of our meals for those two days. Miriam does not want to eat bread and cheese for the rest of our trip.
Our guide invited us to THE New Year's Eve Party at the local bar, run by his sister (one of 10 siblings). We shared a bottle of rum with the German guy (who also has the same engineering degree as Gabe), as Venezuela is known for its really good rum. At the bar, we had a good time chatting with the other tourists (8 of us) and dancing merengue (the only music they played) with the locals.
For the rest of our stay, we swam, relaxed in the shade of the palm trees on the beach, and took naps in our hammocks at the posada where we were staying. In the evening, we watched the full moon rise, big and glowing above the waterfalls.
We got a flight (the airplanes fit 6 people max) back to Ciudad Bolivar midday on the second, and from there we got a bus to Puerto La Cruz, where we are right now (the 3rd). Today we are leaving the city for Mochima National Park, where there are smaller beach towns and boats to take us snorkeling.
Pictures will come soon, when we have more time.
Happy (belated) New Year!!!
Factoids:
Number of Americans seen: 3
Number of Westerners seen: 90
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