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Canaima: Where Angels and Devils Collide
By bradley
I threw my bags into the back, went around to the passenger side door, and slid into the front seat. A few moments later, the engine was purring and the wheels started in motion-our journey to Canaima National Park had officially begun. As we picked up speed, I felt a pleasant breeze came in through my window. Then we took off.
Into the Jungle
This four-seater, with its single propeller in the front, was certainly the smallest plane I had ever flown in. Built in 1978, it was also probably the oldest plane I had ever flown in. But it was the only way into Canaima and besides, it certainly made for a dramatic entrance.
Swaying with each gust of wind, we climbed to a cruising altitude of around 5,000 thousand feet (much to my chagrin, I had to shut my window after a few minutes). At this height, the jungle looked like one gigantic green carpet, except for the red snaking rivers that sliced through it. Then, after close to an hour, we reached the breathtaking Tepuis. These are the famed tabletop mesas that rise thousands of feet up from the jungle floor. Flying above them gave us an incredible glimpse at their unusual rock formations, many of which were stacked in a manner not unlike those of Stonehenge.
During the course of the flight, we ended up seeing dozens of waterfalls, as nearly all of the Tepuis have rivers that end up cascading down into the valley below. But none was more stunning than Angel Falls, the world's tallest. Our pilot hovered above the famed Auyán-Tepui, following the path of the Churún River. As the river approached the edge of the mesa, our pilot made a dramatic dive that allowed us to follow the trajectory of the mighty Angel Falls as it plummeted down into the Devil's Canyon. A combination of the sudden dip and the unbelievable spectacle literally left me breathless.
A half hour later, we landed at the "airport": a long dirt strip alongside the six mud huts that made up the Pemón Indian village of Uruyen. I was surprised at the rather modest infrastructure, considering the fact that we were visiting one of the world's greatest natural wonders. As the trip continued, I became increasingly amazed at not only the minimal infrastructure, but at the overall lack of tourists. Nowhere was it more shocking than at the principal vantage point of Angel Falls. Here we were on a sunny June afternoon in Devil's Canyon, at the base of the 3,200-foot waterfall. It was, no doubt, one of the most awe-inspiring sites I have every beheld, but I was almost equally incredulous at the fact that we were the only ones here!
How could this be? After all, you can barely move even on overcast days at Niagara or Iguassu Falls. I'm not sure I ever came up with the answer entirely, but there seem to be two major factors. The first is Canaima's remoteness - both in the geographical and economic sense. There is no road access into the park so you must charter a flight from Puerto Ordaz, which is an hour flight away from the Venezuelan capital of Caracas. The amount of charter planes is limited and the trip is expensive, especially by Venezuelan standards.
The other major factor is that, up until very recently, the Venezuelan government has not promoted Canaima and Angel Falls. The national identity has always been based on oil-production - tourism has never really entered the country's consciousness. Of the five people I spoke with at the Venezuelan tourism board, I was amazed to find that only one had been to Canaima.
Of the few tourists who come to Angel Falls, most fly directly into the town of Canaima, which has a few hotels and restaurants. Canaima allows for the easiest access to Angel Falls - the trip entails a three-hour boat ride and a moderately challenging two-hour hike. But most who enter through the village of Canaima end up just staying for a few days and therefore only see a small fraction of Canaima National Park, the world's fifth largest natural reserve. It's almost like visiting Machu Picchu without hiking the Inca Trail.
A Different Approach
The tour operators at Angel Eco-Tours take an interesting approach in that they emphasize the park and its people more than Angel Falls. In doing so, they create an experience that I found to be truly unique. This is in large part due to the close interaction we had with the Pemón Indians, to whom Angel-Eco Tours donates five percent of its earnings. In previous stays at indigenous villages, I had often gotten the sense that tourists were well received primarily because we provide a significant portion of the village's income. But the Pemón are extremely gracious hosts by nature. From the moment we arrived, it was clear that they were genuinely excited to share their culture and learn about us.
We slept in their huts, played soccer with them, tried their traditional dishes such as cassava bread dipped in a beetle-based hot sauce, and even learned a few phrases in the Pemón language (although most speak at least some Spanish). My fondest memory is of the evening when we watched three generations of Pemón perform a ceremonial dance while decked out in their traditional garb. The show became increasing amusing as Pemón and tourist alike drank more and more of their homemade cassava beer. It's no Heineken, but it gets the job done. Our inhibitions quickly dissolved and before we knew it, we were dancing alongside the Pemón.
Through our interactions with the Pemón, we also gained a very special understanding of the land they inhabit. They were the guides for our hiking excursions, bringing us to some of their most sacred spots. These included caves with eerie rock formations resembling human faces, towering waterfalls where we could swim underneath their powerful spray, a spot in the river that formed a natural Jacuzzi, and a riverbank with pink sandstone that can be used for natural facials. And as we walked through the forest, they pointed out the many trees and plants that they use for medicinal or ceremonial purposes. Given the other-wordliness of the park, I was not surprised to hear that a large portion of the flora, such as the several varieties of carnivorous plants, is endemic to the region.
The Pemón also introduced us to their system of beliefs and spirituality. I had heard from several sources that the planet's major energy meridians, which connect spiritual centers such as Machu Picchu and Stonehenge, all run through Canaima. After a few days, I didn't doubt it. Nearly everyone in our group reported having extremely lucid dreams (even the ones not on Larium).
Mysteries seemed to be commonplace. For example, the sky at night was constantly flickering with lightening, although there was never any thunder or rain. And supposedly there are more UFO sightings here than anywhere in the world. I might not have paid this statistic any mind had one of my most logic-oriented friends not told me that he had seen one here several years ago. Sightings or not, by the end of the trip, every one in the group felt by the end that, pardon the cliché, their battery had been totally recharged. In fact, I had the sensation that I was floating for several days afterwards.
As much as I found the trip to be exhilarating, I would not say that it is for everyone. Eco-tourism means responsible, low-impact travel and generally entails some degree of "roughing-it." This trip is no exception. Three of the five nights were spent in hammocks, which did not always suit everyone's natural contours. You must also be someone who is not averse to sun, sweat, mosquitoes, or bathing in rivers with no semblance of privacy.
As a matter of course, many of the people who do not mind the rustic conditions happen to be the ones who do not have the budget to expect better. At $1,500 per person for the week-long trip, it is an excellent deal but still prohibitively expensive for some of these people. But if you can spare the change and don't mind a few ants in your pants, this trip will provide you with an incredibly unique experience that I guarantee you will never forget (unless the aliens from the UFOs use their notorious memory-eraser on you).
For more information about this trip, you can visit www.angel-ecotours.com.
