I was up early and ready to go when my mate arrived at the posada (B&B) to take me to the airport. Then we hung around. Everyone here is chatty and there’s always time for a shot of coffee and there’s always one available. It made me think about the tortoises that were wandering around in the garden next to me. I had bought my mate a couple of Aussie souvenirs that I knew he wanted. The main one was a kangaroo leather hat. I gave it to him. He was stoked. I put all the other things like the belt and flag and patches into an Antarctic tote bag and he was like a kid at a Royal Show. (I was happy to get all that excess stuff that I had been carrying out of my luggage). After a few photos with the owner of the posada we were off to the airport for another wait. Fortunately for me I have been trained in “hurry up and wait “when I worked for the Australian Antarctic Division.

The plane was about a 20 seater with most of the seats out and the rest filled with groceries and supplies. I was the only tourist. A couple of people in uniform and two locals I think. We were flying to Canaima which is the small town in the Canaima National Park and the gateway to the falls. You can only fly in and out to get there. It is a World Heritage site of about 30,000 square kilometres. Sixty five percent of the park is made up of Tepuis, which are huge table top mountains and the park is home to the Pemon people who have lived here for thousands of years. It’s not unlike the Kimberley but on steroids. It was less than an hour south of Porto Ordaz and despite the reasonable landing most of the supplies moved to the front of the plane which was amusing.

I was met by a nice young lady who escorted me the short distance to my accommodation called Posada Morichal. I was given a nice room and asked to come back for lunch once I had unpacked. I was only carrying a 7kg bag so it didn’t take long.Turns out I was in an indigenous ran hotel. With lots of local food. And just me.

The young girl spoke very little English and had a bit of trouble with my accent. But it seemed like I needed to eat my food and then we were off on a tour to see some waterfalls. I just nodded and followed along. We walked for 5 minutes to a flash looking hotel and then we had to wait a while. It was a pleasant wait as Canaima is on a big wide section of river, probably a lagoon, which is filled by several large waterfalls. It almost looks like it was digitally manufactured for a movie.

The young girl and I boarded a boat with people from the fancy hotel. And off we went to the waterfalls. Not just to them, but inside them. Everyone else obviously knew what was happening and had come prepared. I just went as I was, which was fine, as the weather was lovely. They would never let you do this stuff in Australia. One slip on the slimy rocks and you’re into the falls. They tell you to take off your shoes and just walk in your socks. And it was slippery. The guides did take your hand if you looked scared. Some people had brought special socks with them.

It was pretty cool though. The thundering noise of the water was scary and in parts the mist was so thick it was hard to see. We walked through several falls and up to the top of another. I don’t think we lost anyone. We went back to the boats and to the hotel and my young guide asked if I would like a coffee. I said no and she looked disappointed. I said I would drink something else and that made her smile. It turns out the hotel puts on a big spread for its returning guests and she was keen to partake. And it was a fancy spread. Savoury and sweet. She was keen for me to try everything, which I think I did. As did she. We then waddled back to our hotel where she informed me that dinner would be ready in half an hour! I negotiated dinner down to a traditional soup to be polite. All the meals are included in my package.

I had no real idea what the plan was for my trip to the Falls the following day, except that breakfast was at 7:15. I was tired from my adventurous day and so I went to bed early and so I was also awake early. Breakfast was an egg and chorizo scramble with a side of terrible cheese and 4 pancakes. And then a nice plate of fruit appeared. Also a nice juice. I was then escorted into town and handed over to a guide at a cheaper looking resort who spoke some English and asked me if I wanted coffee and then said wait here. 

It seemed to be a cheaper backpacker level of accommodation. Then a truck turned up and we all piled in. About 18 of us. It was then about a 15 minute drive to where a couple of boats were waiting.  The two boats were exactly like the ones from the day before but this time we all had a cushion. I had been told by someone at some stage that it’s a 4 hour trip and thought no more of it. The guys put everyone’s luggage at the back of the boat and covered it with plastic. All my gear was in my dry bag and so I kept it with me. I’ve carried the dry bag for the entire trip and so I was glad to finally have a good use for it. The boat was pretty loaded. No info or instructions. Off we went. Upstream. Downstream would have taken us over the waterfall we walked under yesterday. 

The Rio Carrao was a nice wide river and the little Yamaha 40 motors made good time for the first half an hour. We pulled into a small village and disembarked because there was a series of rapids and they wanted us out to take the boat through them. Turned out to be a kilometre walk via a local handcraft shop and past a church and a school.  This was the longest of several walk arounds we had to do. There were also a few sets of rapids that we took on fully loaded. At one stop they said fat people in the back. Skinny people in the front because it was fast water and the needed the boat balanced. I was sat in the back row! I was a bit surprised at some of the rough water we went through. And how much of it I wore. Ha. If only I had known what was yet to come. 

After a couple of hours we made a right hand turn into the Rio Churun. It was a much smaller river and seemed to flow a bit faster. And it was shallower. And had interesting collections of big round white pebbles as well as the odd sandy beach. 

They have the motor set quite high so that they don’t hit the rocks on the riverbed. Most of the time. The rapids were getting a lot more rapid and you could see the level of the river ahead, well above them. And it was getting skinnier. The big guy that was casually sitting on the bow for most of the ride was now starting to come into play. He had a monster oar and the arms to use it. 

At some points it was a sharp turn into fast water and he helped bring the boat around square. We also had to cut close to rocks or the bank and he made sure we didn’t connect. 

But then on one rapid we were almost through it and despite a screaming motor we started going backwards. He looked panicked and jumped out of the boat into the chest deep water and tried to stop it singlehandedly. That didn’t work. We were going motor first back into fast water. I zipped my phone into my jacket pocket and held a good grip on my dry bag. He then jumped back on the boat and used his big paddle as a rudder to navigate us safely backwards through the rapids, rocks, and fallen trees. 

No one was saying anything. Everyone was thinking that they’d rather be somewhere else.  After a brief pause we had another go at it. The guy on the bow using hand signals for directions. We almost made it again. Back we went. Third time lucky? It was slightly more comfortable going backwards the third time as we had sort of gotten used to the idea that we probably weren’t going to be tipped out and die. 

On the fourth attempt the big guy was paddling as well and we just got through to flat water. Everyone clapped and there was smiles and relieved faces all around. We continued upstream as the river narrowed yet again and almost looked like it disappeared in some places but we went left then right in things that looked like a stream and somehow ended up in a river again. 

We stopped off for lunch and to get a bit of bum respite. Pretty ordinary food but we were hungry. The boat captain took off the propeller and bashed it back to shape and gave it a sharpen with a stone. It was only twenty minutes further to the camp.

I swear some of the last bits looked so shallow that I could have walked upstream and only have been ankle deep. Apparently it had rained last night and the river was up. Sometimes they do have to walk and drag the boat. We reached our destination and pulled in alongside a couple of other similar boats. 

The camp was nice. Simple. Hammocks. A long table with bench seats for meals. But. It was the view across the river that was the one we’d all come to see. 

Up on top of Auyantepui (table top mountain) you could see Angels Falls. It was about 2kms away and to be honest it was so high that it was hard to get it into perspective. It is the highest waterfall in the world. It is 979 metres. But. I think it’s only 807 metres because that’s the distance of uninterrupted fall. The water starts at the top as water but less than halfway down it just becomes falling mist. It lands on some rocks and becomes water again and then heads over a more traditional looking waterfall into a pool and then resumes its journey as a river. And joins the one that I arrived on. 

Not much happened for the rest of the afternoon. I had a wander around and chatted to a few people who spoke some English. There was a lovely Iranian woman who was turning 40 next day and was travelling by herself. She said that in Iran your 40^th birthday is special and she wanted to spend it in a special place. There was a nice Romanian guy who was a guide for a small group of Romanian adventure tourists. And a Spanish couple who travel each year to obscure places that are not on the beaten travel path. And a nice young Venezuelan kid (20ish) who was travelling with his mum and sister. His English was great. He hoped to travel the world one day. I’m sure he will. I ate my nice dinner of chicken and rice and then got in my hammock. It was a long night. I’m not a hammock sleeper. I may have drifted off to sleep a couple of times, but I mainly just laid there listening to people snoring. It also rained all night which was good for the river level, I guess. 

As daylight arrived the rain left. I checked out the view to the falls but it was hidden in the low lying clouds. A bit later there was a break in the fog and parts of the falls peeked through and were bathed in bright sunlight. It looked fake. But beautiful.

We had breakfast on the long table and then left in our respective groups to get in the boat to cross the river and begin our hike to the falls. 

We had a young woman guide us. She was good and spoke okay English for me and the Japanese couple. It was a bit over an hour to the main lookout spot. A nice jungle walk but with heaps of tree roots everywhere. The guide said that because the soil was poor and on rock that the roots spread out in all directions in search of support and nutrients. I think I was the oldest but a couple of people found the walk a bit challenging. Lots of interesting plants.

The lookout was nice but the top of the falls still hidden behind clouds. We sat there for a while and then most of us continued on another 15 minutes to the pool at the base.

I reached the base quickly and had a few minutes there by myself. That was nice. Only a couple of us decided it was too cold to swim. But we hung around there for half an hour or so. Occasionally we got a glimpse of the top of the falls. It was a long way up. The odd helicopter zoomed past. 

It was then time to head back down just as another group arrived. The walk was nice and stayed dry. Back in camp we had lunch and then took our last photos and headed back down the river. It had been five plus hour trip up and ended up about four hours back down. The rivers had risen a little overnight with the rain which made it a bit easier. It was still exciting and we still got wet. And we still had to walk around a few of the main rapids. The views were just as spectacular on the way back. It’s a wild and beautiful place. 

We made it back just on dusk. A bumpy truck ride and a short walk and I was back in my camp. Food. Comfortable bed. And Wifi. 

Next morning I was flying back to Porto Ordaz but the departure time changed so many times I just gave up and played with my phone and did sudokus. Eventually I was taken to the airport which was only 100 metres away and given a ticket. I caught up again with the Iranian lady who was waiting for her plane back to Caracas. Sadly, I was called suddenly to my plane as it was about to leave and in the rush I left my cap, sitting on the table. I don’t like caps or hats but I know I need to wear them now and I was slowly getting attached to this one. Hopefully I can replace it somewhere.

There was only 3 of us on the flight. It was only about 45 minutes and I slept through half of it. My friend was there to collect me at the airport at Porto Ordaz. He dropped me back at the Posada Alonga. When you travel like me it’s nice to return to somewhere you know occasionally. It makes things simple.

After reuniting with my gear and checking out my bike the young guy at the posada rode with me to the petrol station to get fuel. Not that I really needed an escort but he just wanted to be helpful. The nearby station was just closing (early) and so we had the go to another one which was also closing early. They are government run and care more about closing early than selling fuel.  I tried the poor aussie traveller thing on the security lady and she let me join the back of the queue.

I chatted to the young motorbike guys in the back of the line as we slowly moved forward. They always want to know how much the bike costs. They were also interested in my trip. As we got nearer the pump it started to rain and the sent me forward to get out of the rain which was nice. I felt a bit guilty, but they insisted and then when I went to pay for the fuel the guy said it was free because the guys waiting in the queue had all chucked in and bought my fuel for me. I tried to say that they didn’t need to, but they really wanted to show their appreciation of me coming to Venezuela. It was so humbling. The rain stopped and I rode back to the posada with a smile on my face. What a lovely end to the day.

Tomorrow the plan is to leave early and head north to the Venezuelan Caribbean Coast.