Merida, Ciudad Bolivar, Angel Falls, Venezuela

The highlight of our journey to Merida was a trip up the to Pico Espejo. Merida is located at an altitude of approximately 1640m. In 4 separate stages, the teleferico takes passengers in cable cars along 12.5 kms of cable to an altitude of 4765m at the summit. We were very lucky, as although our ticket was for 12 noon, one of the women working at the base where we bought our ticket advised us to come early and maybe she could help us go earlier. When we arrived at 7:30 the next day, she motioned for us to go on the very first car up. This meant that we beat the cloud cover, and the views were spectacular, up to and down from the highest points of the Andes in Venezuela plus down to the city of Merida below. Ascending so quickly left our ears a little blocked, and any exercise at the top left us breathless!

After saying goodbye to Merida, we made our way by bus (about 23 hours in 3 different buses) to Ciudad Bolivar, in the eastern part of Venezuela. It´s a lovely old city, with colonial architecture, cobblestone streets, and our first views of the Rio Orinoco. On the advice of a man from Caracas whom we had met at the teleferico, we went to the Art Museum of Venezuela´s beloved Jesus Soto, where we became part of the art in his `penetrable´ works.

The next day, we left on our 3 day tour to Angel Falls. After 2 hours in a van, which brought us to the end of the road closest to the settlement of Canaima, we boarded a 5 passenger Cessna plane (along with sacks of flour and bottled water) for the 25 minute flight to Canaima. The views along the way were wonderful - the jungle, rivers, and waterfalls below, and views of the tepuis - the table top mountains that the area is famous for. Our group of 6, plus our guide Daniella then climbed into a wooden boat for the 2 hour ride to our first base camp. On the way, the skies opened up and showed us that we were truly there during rainy season. After dinner and a little local rum we all climbed into our hammocks for the night. Then the sky put on a real show, with lightning like we´d never seen before, and rain and thunder so loud we had to yell to be heard.
The next morning, we donned our lovely garbage bag ponchos for the 2 hour boat ride to our second base camp. The skies were clear, but the rapids we had to shoot ensured we were all wet by the time we arrived. After lunch, we walked for about 1 hour through the jungle to the foot of Angel Falls. This time, the weather was with us - the skies were sunny and our views were clear to the top of the falls and the tepuis across the valley. We tried to follow the water as it plunged down 979m, but the best we could do was to count to approximately 15 or 16 seconds before we lost track. It was very special to be in such a secluded and beautiful place.
The third day, on our way back to Canaima, we stopped at the Canaima Falls, where we were able to explore these falls, and actually walk behind one of them, between the water and the rock wall. The water pelted down in front of us, and then completely over us as we walked around and over the falls. We then retraced our steps (boat, plane and van ride) back to Ciudad Bolivar, before hopping on our night bus to a little town, Santa Elena, near the Brazillian border. After crossing the border, and taking a second night bus, we have arrived in Manaus, Brazil, where we had our first shower in 5 days, and will sleep in our first bed in 5 nights.

Location: Manaus, Brazil