Canaima National Park and Angel Falls

The incredible views from the flight in and out of the park
Staying with the Pemon Indians and witnessing their fascinating customs
Playing soccer with the Pemon in the village of Kavac
Hikes to some of the many gorgeous waterfalls, many of which you can swim under
The boat ride and hike up to the world-famous Angel Falls.

Quick Tips:

You will need to go with a tour group. If you only have a few days, you will probably want to go through a company that lands in the town of Canaima, which is closest to the falls.

If you have five or more days, stay in some of the Pemon villages and explore the park further. Angel Eco-Tours is a company that does an excellent job with this type of tour.

Best Way To Get Around:

You can't drive into Canaima. You must charter a flight from Puerto Ordaz, which is an hour's flight from Caracas. Once in Canaima, your tour group will take you around primarily by boat and jeep.

This is the village where we flew into and stayed the first evening. The village consists of about six or seven thatched roof huts. The accommodations were rustic, but nice and quite comfortable. Each hut had two beds with mosquito nets, a few wooden tables, and a nice bathroom with a shower.

There is one large open-air eating area alongside the landing strip. The food served was surprisingly excellent. It was a nice mix of western cuisine such as spaghetti and fried eggplant, with more traditional Pemon food such as cassava bread and fish stew.

Try to bring a few extra shirts or hats to leave with them as gifts.

Kavac means "parrot" in Pemon, which is appropriate since there is always a scarlet-red parrot perched on one of the side of one of the houses. The village is larger than Uruyen, with at least twenty separate houses/huts.

Our whole group stayed in a large, open-air hut with a thatched-roof. We all slept in hammocks that were tied to large wooden posts. There is a bathroom about 20 yards away and when you ask for the shower, you will be directed towards the river. There is nice pink sandstone on the riverbank, with which you can give yourself a natural facial. The food here is excellent, again with a nice combination of western and traditional Pemon dishes.

It's one of those places that everyone should try to see once in their lifetime. It's very different from the other famed waterfalls of the world: Niagara, Victoria, and Iguassu. Not only is it distinct in it's incredible height 3,000 feet (15-20 times the height of Iguassu and Niagara, respectively.) It is also distinct in its striking setting: the falls originates atop the vertical cliff of the Auyan-Tepui mesa. Down below is verdant rain forest.

Seeing the falls by air is spectacular. It is also important to see it by land. After a boat ride of varying lengths (depending upon place of departure), you will need to hike for roughly an hour and a half through the jungle. It is amazing to find no trash, no signs, no plaques, and very few other tourists. Towards the end of the trail lies a fantastic vantage point of the bottom and top of the falls.

You can follow the trail to a mini-falls below the area where most of the water collects at the bottom of Angel-Falls. You can take a refreshing dip under these falls, but be careful with the strong current.

This a new tour company started by Englishman Paul Stanley and Antonio Pestana, a Portuguese/Venezuelan guide who has an impressive knowledge of the area and the Pemon language/culture. They are extremely professional, but also a ton of fun.

They are one of the few companies to offer the complete tour of Canaima and they stress the interaction with the Pemon, to whom they donate 5% of profits. They are the only group that stays in the village of Uruyen and they employ all Pemon guides and cooks.

The company also runs excursions to Venezuela's other hot spots such as the Orinoco Delta, the Los Roques marine reserve, and Isla Margarita. But as their name suggests, Canaima and Angel Falls are their real passions.