Ciudad Bolivar, VenezuelaDec 17, 2009
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| Ciudad Bolivar is the place to go to arrange an excursion to see Angel Falls. It is a pretty uninspiring city. There was street upon street of market stalls all selling the same stuff. The roads were permanently congested with huge old 1970´s American cars spewing pollution into the atmosphere and constantly beeping their horns even though the cars in front had nowhere to go. It was quality experiencing it. It´s hard remembering it´s xmas when it´s 30 degrees heat, but there were constant reminders. Just like in the UK, most houses have fairy lights or xmas trees in the window. And also just like in the UK there are those houses that go way over the top with the number of lights and huge illuminated santa´s and snowmen etc. And there are huge nativity scenes everywhere. The trip to Angel Falls began with an hour long flight in a 6 seater Cessna plane because there are no roads to Canaima where Angel Falls is situated. This was an experience in itself. The first day of the tour we went trekking in the surrounding area which was very picturesque and saw us walk under a number of waterfalls. The second day we travelled up the river in a motor powered canoe. The scenery was stunning. Huge table top mountains partially covered with clouds giving them a very eerie look. It took about 3 hours to get to the camp where we were to spend the night. We then went on a trek up into the rain forest and after an hour or so we reached a view point for Angel Falls. Even though this is a well trodden path, the fact that Angel Falls is not easily accessible makes it a more impressive sight. We carried on walking to the foot of the falls and then went for a swim right underneath the falls. This was a quality experience, swimming at the foot of a 979m high waterfall (the highest in the world). We spènt the night in hammocks. They re comfy to relax in and read for an hour or so but sleeping in them is a different issue. I think I may have drifted off for 10 minutes at one point though! |
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