Angel Falls - Heavenly

I returned to Puerto Ordaz (1 hour from Caracas by air) 2 days ago from my 4 day trek to Angel Falls.

My long journey started as follows:

Last Thursday night I stayed at Puerto Ordaz town in an Order with 3 priests.  One of them drove me at 5am to a bus terminal where private cars give lifts to passengers to a neighbouring town called Ciudad Bolivar, over an hour away.  This is where I had to catch the cessna plane to Canaima National Park.  So, I got into a car with 3 other passengers.  The driver was reclining in his seat as if it were a deckchair, with one hand on the wheel and the other behind his head.  Forget about sleeping, this guy was a maniac.  He was driving 95mph and in the meantime avoiding all the potholes on the road by swerving around them.  None of the seatbelts worked.  I seriously thought that I was going to be in the arms of angels above before reaching Angel Falls.  Thankfully I reached the bus terminal of Ciudad Bolivar alive, in record time (too bad Norris McWhirter wasn`t there to get this guy into the Guinness Book of Records). 

The representative of the tour company, Bernal Tours (which is the best and cheapest) was going to pick me up at 7am so I had half an hour to find a toilet and get a coffee.  The toilets at the bus terminal were disgusting.  I wouldn´t even take a dog in there.  I walked around the whole area looking for a toilet as my situation was getting rather desperate.  However, at 6.45am, there was no place open.  There were some fields but the gates to them were all locked up.  It was becoming rather an emergency to find a toilet as my tummy was not its usual self after all this travelling.  I stumbled across a derelict mechanic´s yard with pick-up trucks parked.  I looked around and there was no one there.  I hunched low and sneaked between 2 pick-ups and crouched on the ground.  Nature took its course and I was so relieved that there was no one around.  My relief turned to horror when I looked up and saw a man in overalls looking at me with a red face and in complete shock.  Then he started yelling at me and saying lots of words (not nice I assume), hollering some more and then shouting some more.  I had not been in this situation before so really didn´t know what to do.  The man left but came back with a shovel, still shouting, so I thought he was going to smash me over the head and kill me.  I couldn´t believe that I had avoided death less than an hour ago with psycho driver and now I was going to die whilst squatting.  I thought to myself that there are more noble ways to part this earth.  As I was preparing for my fate, the mechanic disappeared again and returned with a broom.  I was relieved to know that he wanted me to clear up after myself.  I quickly finished everything and cleared up and ran out of there faster than you could say Speedy Gonzalez. 

Back at the bus station, I was picked up by the tour company representative and taken to the airport which was the size of my local Sainsbury´s.  It only had Cessna planes.  I got into the Cessna (5 seater) and we zoomed into the clouds.  An hour later, we landed in Canaima National Park, on a strip.  There were waterfalls around us.  The whole place looked a world away from the place I had come from.  Complete nature, lush think jungle, and roaring waterfalls.  Absolutely beautiful !

I joined my group that consisted of many nationalities, including British, Canadian, French, and Spanish.  We stayed at a posada right by the waterfalls, with beds and hammocks.  We were given nicely cooked food.  At 11.30pm I was talking to Huw, a guy from London who was now living in Sydney.  He had been given his own room, unlike the rest of us who were sleeping in separate beds, in one area.  I was trying to have a proper conversation with him, but it was a bit difficult as he had just finished a full bottle of rum.  The lights suddenly went out and so I tried to stumble back to my bed in the total darkness.  What should have taken me 2 minutes took 15 minutes as I accidently stumbled into different beds before finding my own.

The next day we took a motorised canoe boat up river for 4 hours, passing lots of Tepuis (similar looking to Table Mountain in Cape Town) and waterfalls, then had an arduous trek through the jungle for 1.5 hours, a lot of it upwards, until we reached the base of Angel Falls.  Our guides were the Pemon Indians, who are the indigenous people of that region.  They are short but strong people and very good natured and friendly.  They are also very proud of their land. 

The terrain surrounding Angel Falls was thick jungle and there was a steep and rugged trail that had been carved into the dense vegetation from all the trekkers down the years.  The sounds of birds, insects and animals could be heard.  The closer we got to the falls, the rumble of rushing water became louder and louder.  I was incredibly moved when I saw it.  It had been a dream of mine since I was young to see Angel Falls, and my dream had come true.  Out of the other waterfalls that I had visited, Niagara and Iguacu, it was the hardest to get to.  Angel Falls was just out of this world, humongous in size and really awesome.  I felt tiny in comparison and was overawed and mesmerised by it.  There were goosebumps all over my body, my mouth was open for ages and I was just fixated by this incredible natural beauty. 

Unfortunately, we only had half an hour there as it was getting dark and we had to get back to the camp which was next to the river, with a great view of Angel Falls.  Back at this camp, there was no electricity, so we just had candlelight.  And there were no beds so we slept in hammocks, which I was a bit unsure of, worried that the rope might snap and I would fall to the hard ground in the middle of the night, breaking my back.  So, I put my backpack beneath my hammock to break my fall.  Thankfully,  the hammock held. 

Early the next day, the group was going to head back to the original camp 4 hours down river.  I asked the guide to let me stay an extra day up there as I had paid for it and didn´t want to spend it at the original camp.  I wanted to see Angel Falls again properly.  After some heavy negotiating, he said fine, but told me that I would be alone all day until another group came at 4pm.  My desire to see Angel Falls again for a full day overrode my anxiety of being alone the whole day in the middle of the jungle.   Before they left, I was given a lift to the Angel Falls side of the river and then walked the long route up again to see it.  It was quite windy so I lay between 2 rocks for 6 hours with my backpack (containing water, food, and warm clothing) behind my head and stared at Angel Falls, taking pictures and videos of it.  Thank you to Ray Mears and Bear Grylls for their survival tips.  The warm sun also glowed onto my face from time to time, when the clouds permitted it.  I was really absorbing and taking in the beauty of this natural wonder of the world (the tallest waterfall in the world, at almost 1km high).

When it was getting close to 4pm, I was wondering if I would be able to communicate with the people in the new group that was coming up, as a lot of Venezuelans or other South Americans do not speak English and my Spanish is almost non-existent.  I need to take some classes somewhere along the line.  When I saw the guide, he told me that I had been very brave to stay behind by myself as there were wild animals, snakes, and even scorpions in the jungle.  I asked him how many people there were in his group and he said five.  I then saw them coming up one by one and to my amazement and great relief, I realised that I did not need to worry at all about communicating with them for the next 24 hours, even though they didn´t speak any English. 

All 5 of these people were Iranians.  I could not believe my eyes.  In the middle of the jungle, in front of Angel Falls, and I meet a bunch of Iranians.  I reckon even if I went to the moon, I would meet Iranians, and perhaps find a Persian restaurant as well, and a carpet shop.  So, we hit it off and on the way back to the camp via the jungle trail there was plenty of 'taarof' taking place, which means everyone was trying to always give way to the other person to go in front of them, as a mark of respect.  This caused a lot of delays.  Very surreal to see Persian custom in the middle of the Venezuelan jungle.  Over supper, we were eating some snacks from Iran and talking about politics and trying to solve the problems of the world. 

The return journey was very pleasant and I am now safely back with the 3 priests, in my own airconditioned room and using their computer, which you need to use a hammer to hit the fossilised keys with.

Until next time.