* Angel Falls! *

In order to get to Angel Falls, even from my city in Venezuela, you have to travel a long way! I traveled with my friend Kelley, and our first stop was Puerto Ordaz. We flew there and were greeted by our first travel guide. He brought us to Cachamay park, where we were immediately entertained by the antics of the monkeys! They seemed to be everywhere: grooming each other in the trees, watching us curiously from a short distance, or perching themselves upon a rock in order to see if their friends were nearby. This monkey below felt that the boy at the picnic table would surely give him a snack if he ventured over and looked cute ;-)

As you can see, many of the trees in the park were huge!

We had no idea that Puerto Ordaz held such beauty! I had thought of it as a busy city, or maybe a beach city, but we found an expanse of many short but powerful waterfalls along the river flowing through the park.

This was the first of many small canoe-type motor boats that people braved across the rushing rivers which flow beneath the waterfalls in Venezuela.

The clouds in this picture were our first clue that a storm was brewing. Nevertheless, with hearts set on adventure and minds set to expect the best, we continued walking along the river and marveling at the rushing waterfalls and the unique flowers and trees. Once we were far enough away from the refuge of the gazebos and roofed park areas, the deluge began! Kelley and I ran through the rain, covering a good quarter of a mile before we regained the first little abandoned park shelter. The entire front of out outfits were soaked, and the mud speckles on my ankles began to itch. Our feet and shoes were thoroughly soaked, but there was nothing to do except wait for the rain to stop before attempting anything further. By the time the rain stopped, we had decided we were used to the mild soak which remained, so we continued our exploration of the city.

We went to the Orinoco mall, the biggest mall I had seen in Venezuela. Since we had barely started our trip, and each of us had carefully packed a tight backpack, leaving little or no room for extra things, we didn't buy anything. We did enjoy window shopping though, and ate a well deserved meal.

After window shopping and a parchita icecream (parchita is passion fruit), we headed to our home for the night- Cunuri Posada (a posada is a motel). I had expected a rather rundown, simple motel room, but the posada was nice! It had an adventurer's taste to it, with artistic pictures and decor.

The view below was enjoyed from the outdoor eating area of our next posada, the one in Canaima. This grand waterfall was one of the many we saw in Canaima. These tepuis (the plateau/bluffs) were the first that we saw and are one of the defining features of the region.

Almost as soon as I set foot in our posada, I told our tour guide that I wanted an air tour of Angel Falls. To my surprise, he made a phone call, then came over and told me we would leave immediately for that tour! Kelley and I, and a group that we had just met from the unloading area at the tiny Canaima landing stip joined us for the flight. We barely fit inside the family-sized plane below. 

Our first views were of the area surrounding the falls, in which we saw many tepuis, never knowing if the next one we saw might be "the" tepui with Angel Falls pouring from its height!

I'm guessing this winding river, which shows up in most of the aerial pictures, is the same which were destined to traverse the next day in order to get to Angel Falls.

Since we were in such a tiny plane, we were able to get quite close to the sides of the tepuis.

Finally, our first view of Angel Falls! Unfortunately, our pictures here don't do it justice at all. Our pilot was doing some neat and stomach-jerking maneuvers, so we were unable to get good pictures. However, I remember the view of Angel Falls growing quickly and massively before my eyes. I was moved to tears by the sight! I'd wanted to see Angel Falls ever since I was a teenager, so this was a dream come true.

These grainy windows are another of the reasons it was hard to get a good picture of the falls.

Upon our return, we were brought to a neighboring posada in which we could pay for the flight. At this posada were several parrots, 2 or three of which looked just like him:

The man who arranged our payment owned this sweet and friendly parrot named Blue. He allowed us to pet him, nuzzling his head on the rock when he wanted some more attention.

Alexis, one of our group, was the first to brave an encounter with the bird (most of us having very little experience with large-beaked, semi-wild birds). The bird welcomed his touch by stepping onto his hand as a perch!

I was delighted when Alexis suggested I give it a try myself. The bird willingly obliged! He stayed on my arm long enough to be adored, then climbed up to my shoulder and flew off!

After our plane adventure, we returned to the beauty of our posada.

We ate a hearty late afternoon lunch, then soon set off for our first waterfall adventure, though not to Angel Falls. It would take us a full four hours just to reach Angel Falls, so we didn't head out to see it until the next day. This afternoon trip was to the waterfall that we could see from the dining area of our posada. I can't remember the name of it at the moment, but it was something like "Sukui" falls. I'll set the name aright when I remember to ask Kelley about it.

         This is the top of the waterfall, but the most amazing view we had was from behind the waterfall! Our guide led us right behind the powerful torrent! Kelley and I were afraid to pass behind such crushing loads of water, seeing that the water poured over into much of the trail, with only a rope to prevent us from slipping down into the pouring water! However, Kelley decided she was getting more scared just watching the water, so she threw caution to the wind and took the rope, climbing carefully through the deluge. I figured if she could do it, I sure as goodness could do it too, so I followed. What a thrill to come so close to such a powerful waterfall, and yet not be swept away! It was amazing, though I am grateful none of us was washed away by what seemed to me to be a very threatening possibility of disaster.

Here was our resident dog who took as much joy in the adventure as any of us! He was a wild dog, but he spent much of his time at the posada, and took whatever tour opportunities which pleased him. Our tour guide was familiar with him and didn't mind the company ;-)  As a matter of fact, the dog knew the paths as well as our guide did, so I was comforted to see him trotting ahead of us, leading the way.

Here is an area that had probably recently burned, hence the black roots. Wildfires are common in my city during the dry season and also occur in Canaima. I saw the blackened roots all over the mountain with the waterfall. I think I remember seeing more if it in some of the land we crossed to get to Angel Falls as well.

Here is the view of the fall by our posada, but from the other side of the lake, where we started and ended our tour. It is this same waterfall which we went behind!

I was impressed that palm trees grew right alongside the tropical trees of the rainforest. The rainforest area near my school only has the tropical trees, no palms.

Upon our return to the posada, I was impressed by this lantern. It seemed out of place, yet unique and intriguing in the half light. I was reminded of the lantern in the wood in "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe."

Again, more views of the same waterfall, and the area right in front of our posada.

Our own posada, amidst the many others at our camp.

The decorative palm branch roof of our dining area.

Another decorative roof in the adjoining lounge area of the dining floor.

The docking area of the ever common canoe boats that everyone used on the rushing rivers of the falls.

The next day we finally set forth to see Angel Falls, first from the edge of our boat, then on the mountain which housed the beauteous fall.

Before we got to the fall, there was an area of strong rapids. We were asked to disembark and walk for about 20 minutes, meeting the boat on the far side of the stretch. In this way, the navigator of our little boat could travel much more quickly through the rapids, since the boat was much lighter without us!

The abandoned feel of the place gave me a sense of the reverence and awe which the native people must have felt for the land when they lived free in it. It was beautiful, and seemingly untouched, not willing that any should build upon its wild and unpolluted expanse.

Once back in our boat, we eagerly watched as each tepui passed, wondering which one would have our beloved waterfall!

It took us nearly 4 hours to reach this spot, so when we finally beheld Angel Falls from the edge of our boat, we breathed out both in awe and relief! Our sore bodies called for a rest, and our eyes were aching for this much needed view of the fall.

After we got out of our boat, we had a 45 minute trek ahead of us, after which we finally turned a corner and were greeted with a huge bolder, on top of which we saw this view. My eyes started tearing up again, and I just sat and gazed in wonder.

Below you can see the slanted boulder which I was precariously sitting on, the plunge beneath being some hundred feet down!

I write this next piece in embarrassment, but feel that it is necessary for me to write it in case it should prevent such an event from ever happening to you. After we had viewed the falls from this boulder for about 15 minutes, our guide said, "Bajamos!" which means "Let's go down." I felt shortchanged, seeing as we'd only been on the boulder for such a short time. After the last of the group turned to go, I told her that I would stay behind for a few minutes, taking one last look at the fall.

When I began my descent down the mountainside, I saw no sign of my group ahead of me, even though I could see the trail quite a ways ahead. This concerned me, so I quickly continued down the mountain, looking up expectantly every few steps, hoping to see my comrades. However, even though I went as quickly as I could, I still didn't see any sign of them. My fears grew, but it didn't occur to me until I'd gone about half the way down, that they may have taken a different route. I didn't think there was any point in going back the way I'd come, since I had no assurance of which way they'd gone, so I continued down the mountain, spraining my toe badly in my hurry.

Once I finally reached the river again, I saw that I'd somehow come the wrong way! Instead of the narrow rocky strip which led to the point where we'd left our boat, I was met with an expanse of rocks, then either a section of bushes, or the rushing river. After carefully, yet quickly, stepping from one rock to the next, I finally got close enough to the edge of the river to see that I was certainly not close to any camp or boat. I stepped back to the edge of the forest, beginning to despair. Now in full survival mode, I quickly decided to go back the way I'd come, until I saw the couple whom I'd passed earlier. They had looked like they knew where they were going, so I would follow them, and at least I would be able to go with them to their camp, and ask their group if they knew where mine had got off to.

After a fearful 7 minutes or so, I did meet up with the couple. They willingly allowed me to follow them, but once we reached the area where my boat had been, we saw neither their group, nor mine, nor even a boat. They told me that they had headed down early, and weren't expecting their group till a bit later. I waited as well, finding a good deal of security in their company, but miserably worried about what had happened to mine. I knew they must have taken a different way, or had left without me.

Finally, after what was probably an hour's wait, the couples' group came. I asked their guide about my group, and he kindly offered to find someone who could take me to my camp. A man brought up his boat to the point not long after, and he offered to take me to my camp. Not long after that, my own group showed up! They told me that they'd been looking for me, to which I began to feel guilty for having decided to stay on my own, viewing the falls while the rest of the group had set off without me.

They had gone even further up the mountain, to the pool at the very base of the fall. In essence, I had missed a full hour of viewing of the falls... I felt like an idiot, having gone astray, causing the group undue concern, and missing my biggest view of the fall. 

Suffice it to say I've learned my lesson- never leave your tour group, especially if you haven't talked it over with the tour guide!

I was hugely disappointed in the loss, but also greatly relieved at being reunited with my group! we proceeded to ride in our boat to the camp where we would spend the night in a hammock.

The hammocks themselves were fairly comfortable, but each hammock was tied to the same post as the adjoining hammock. Every time the person across from you turned over, your hammock would shudder. Anytime someone needed to use the bathroom, he or she might bump rather violently into your hammock, which disturbed the sleep you had slipped into. Needless to say, my night was not one of deep sleep. Nevertheless, I imagined that sleeping in the same area with so many others would be much more noisy and frustrating than it was.

This toad was large enough to comfortably cover my entire hand! There were at least 2 of these large inhabitants under our tent, along with a tree frog of equal size! I found them fascinatingly large, but wished they'd chosen another area to live after hearing them croak loudly through the night.

Here is a wild and powerful waterfall close to our posada of the night before- the one across from the waterfall which we climbed behind. We saw it on our journey back through Canaima, on our way home.

A couple of people kindly offered to take pictures of me when I happened to be alone for a bit, not being able to take my own picture, of course. This picture was taken by one of our group- the father of a family who stayed at the same posada with us, and who had traveled on the Angel Falls journey with us.