Orinoco Delta & Canaima

On the 8th of June I got picked up from my hotel at 8am in the morning to go on a tour for a few days. There were about 20 people on the tour including the guide. Mostly people from Germany and 4 from England. The guide usually explained things twice in English and German. We flew from Porlamar (the only airport on Isla de Margarita) in a small charter plane down to a small airstrip in the Orinoco Delta.

From there we took a small boat down the river for about an hour and a half. It started raining at one point, but they had this big plastic sheet you had to pull over everyone´s heads and hold on. We stopped to see some monkeys in the trees and some birds. They also have some dolphins in the river as well which are really hard to photograph as they pop out at random places and only for half a second.

We arrived at the jungle lodge and went to our rooms, a bit like the one in Peru really. They served us a nice lunch and we went fishing for piranhas after lunch at the lodge. In the afternoon we went on an excursion down the river again in the boat. It started raining very heavily this time, so it was back on with the plastic sheet. It was quite exciting hurtling down the river at top speed with the heavy rain and not being able to see anything!

When it wasn´t raining we stopped to see more birds and monkeys. No snakes in sight unfortunately. After a while we stopped to get off the boat and had a wander in the jungle for 30 minutes to feed the mosquitoes. That was quite interesting learning about the native trees and wildlife. We saw a few scorpions and ant-nests among other things. They cut down a big palm tree and then stripped it down to cut the inside out which is edible. Apparently they serve the palm hearts in restaurants too for a premium. They also cut a vine as well and gave us the branches so we could drink the water in them. They had the same vine in the Amazon in Peru but they didn´t give us a taste of the water there.

After that we went back to the lodge and had dinner, then I chatted with the people from England till quite late. You have to have lots of repellent on when at the lodge at night as the dining area isn´t sealed off with mosquito netting. I didn´t have any malaria tablets left either as I used them all on my Peru trip, so extra repellent on for me!

In the morning we got up at 5am to see the sunrise and had a good breakfast. However the food and everything in general at the EcoAmazonia lodge in Peru was miles better.

At 7am we took the boat back to the airport and flew down to Canaima National Park. From the plane you could see the Tepuis which are mountains that are flat along the top, quite impressive. No photos from the plane I wasn't in a window seat unfortunately.

When we landed we paid 25 bolivars to get into the park and took a bus to a restaurant on the edge of the Canaima lagoon. The lagoon is fed by four waterfalls, which are very impressive. We put on our swimming gear and left our bags there to go on another excursion. We boarded a Curiara (long motorised canoe) to cross the lake and view the waterfalls on the other side.



After we reached the other side we walked for about an hour in the hot sun to come to the Sapo and Sapito falls. We viewed it from the top where you get some amazing views of the Tepuis, then we walked down below.


We put our cameras etc in plastic bags then went for a walk behind/under the length of the waterfall. There is a small natural walkway just behind the falls and you get totally drenched walking through. The noise and sight of water gushing around you, then the disorientation you feel with getting drenched from all directions is incredible. This was definitely the new highlight of the trip so far and something you should experience for yourself.



After that we walked back to the boat and went to the restaurant for a really nice lunch.

Haha no we didn't eat the bird. We were supposed to be flying down into the canyon and over the Angel Falls (the world's highest waterfall) on the way back to Margarita Island but the weather packed in and it was too cloudy. If it´s too cloudy it becomes really dangerous for the pilots to navigate through the canyon. So that was very disappointing to go all that way and not see the Angel Falls. Might have to go back one day and view it by boat instead - that way you definitely get to see it.

So we flew back to Margarita and I stayed one more night at the hotel in Playa El Yaque. This beach is well known for having a good consistent wind which is great for windsurfing and kitesurfing. I decided to have a go at windsurfing in the morning as I hadn´t tried that before. I booked a lesson at 9:30am for an hour and that was quite fun. It´s a bit easier than normal surfing but a very tricky balancing act to walk around the mast and change positions to sail back in the other direction. I got the hang of it though and could go back and forth without falling off.

So after the hour of windsurfing I had to get ready for my flight. At 12pm we took off from Margarita back to Caracas where I had to wait at the airport for 4 hours to check into my international flight. Then at 8pm my flight left for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Quite a bit of backtracking with connections in Lima, Santiago and Sao Paulo but I got there in the end (1pm the next day)! Managed to sleep a little bit on the planes but it was a very long journey! As we were flying from Santiago to Sao Paulo we went over the Andes mountain range and it happened at sunrise so I got some fantastic views from the plane. In the first picture you can see some weird effect with the sky, that's not the camera, you actually see that with your eyes as well, very cool.

I was supposed to have a transfer from the airport to my hostel (organised by the Portuguese language school I´ll be studying at next week), but no-one was there when I arrived. I found a call/internet place at the airport and rung up my contact in the US. She was very apologetic - she hadn´t even booked my accommodation at the hostel! Oh dear. Anyway found a taxi and took that to the hostel. They´ll reimburse me for the $80 Reais so that´s good. She sent me an email a few days later and it said at the end of the email in 3 days she would no longer be working for BridgeAbroad and gave me the contact details of the new person. Hmm...

The hostel is quite good and I´ve met some cool people there. I had a sleep when I arrived and then got up at 8:30pm. They have a chef at the hostel and that night was pizza night. Got to try 15 types of Brazillian pizza, yum! They also have a bar there and serve 2 for 1 cocktails and drinks. Later on we went out in a big group to some Reggae nightclub some blocks away from the hostel so that was quite fun.

The next day I went out with 4 people from the hostel for a look around Rio. Took the metro and buses and visited a few museums and big cathedrals. Also went to this nice lake near the botanic gardens and you can see all the skyscrapers and mountains surrounding.

More to come later, there's lots to do in Rio. On Monday I start my Portuguese language course. I´ll try that for a week and see if I feel like continuing.