Canaima National Park in Venezuela – photo, description, map
Venezuela conjures up a picture of a lost world, riddled with historical curiosities and heavenly landscapes that you want to merge with forever. The Canaima Reserve is that unique formation, every particle of which indicates that a person has fallen into another reality. Virgin pure nature, lush green forests, blue water – these beauties make you forget about everything.
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Where is the park
The park is located in South America, next to Brazil and Guyana. Its surroundings are spread over a vast territory of 30,000 km. Canaima is the oldest reserve, the year of discovery is 1962. Thanks to the unique flat-topped mountains called Tepui, it is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The purpose of the park is to protect the mountainous surroundings near the largest waterfalls.
The remoteness of the object from civilization leads to the fact that it is very difficult to get to the park by traditional routes. There are few roads connecting with settlements, so the most relevant are the means of small aircraft. Hiking and moving along the rivers with the help of canoes are very popular.
sights
The calling card of the place is undoubtedly Tepui. They are unique natural formations. Their second name is “table mountains”. And indeed, when you look at these outlines, it seems that someone's giant omnipotent hand has placed bizarre tables on the surface of the earth.
If we turn to history, we can get quite certain information about the origin. Tepui formed during a period when South America and Africa were elements of the same supercontinent. The mountains have an interesting relief: sharp and steep slopes, peaks that look like truncated pyramids. There are none like it anywhere else in the world. There are about a hundred of them in total, and each more than once became the object of conquest by climbers and gave such “dared souls” a fabulous view from a bird's eye view.
The locals of Pemona worship these formations, it is no coincidence that the literal translation of the word Tepui means “house of the gods.” “Table Mountains” have a sandy nature. The highest are Roraima and Auyantepui. The expedition of the scientist Robert Schomburgk to the top of Mount Roraima inspired Conan Doyle to create the legendary “Lost World”. More information about Mount Roraima can be found in our article.
The approach to Roraima is clearly felt for many kilometers; a huge cloud flaunts above its giant “tabletop”, because due to its height, the mountain becomes the center of concentration of moist air masses. It is also the cause of regular powerful thunderstorms.
Angel Falls
Another gem of the reserve is the Angel Falls. It is known from school geography textbooks as the highest waterfall in the world. Its height is 1054 m. It is even hard to imagine how much it is. Before touching the ground, drops in a powerful stream scatter into tiny particles and form fog.
Interestingly, the waterfall got its name in honor of James Angel, an American pilot. According to historical data, during a landing on Auyantepui, his plane was damaged and the whole team had to descend the mountain on their own, and the journey to the nearest settlement took 11 days. The fame of the courage and valor of the traveler spread everywhere and it was decided to give the waterfall his name.
The full-flowing rivers Churun, Carrao, Caroni and Yuruani attract with their cool lagoons of stunning beauty. They pull the weary traveler into their arms. They contain a huge freshwater supply of the planet. The water of the Caroni River has an interesting feature – a dark color, which is associated with an increased concentration of humic acids that end up in the river with humus from the coastal land. This river is also called “blackwater”, along with the Brazilian Rio Negro.
Nature
The Canaima Reserve is characterized by the South American nature of the transition zone from the plains to the mountainous terrain. The bases of the mountains have become the birthplace of the savannas, and evergreen forests can be found on the slopes. The flora is characterized by exceptional diversity.
The park is a real repository of endemic plants. More than three hundred species of them have been found here. But orchids are the most common, because here nature itself has created excellent conditions for them: a high level of temperature and humidity. There are overgrowths of moss and lichen. There are also rare Roraima sundews, related to insectivorous plants.
The fauna of the surroundings of the park also has many varieties, but these are completely traditional animals for the foothills of Venezuela: agoutis, chameleons, tapirs, jaguars, peccaries, cougars and, of course, fearsome, broad-faced caimans.
For a long time of his residence, the caiman has practically abandoned his hunting inclinations and basically does not hunt in the wild, but lives in ponds where peasants water their cattle. These animals become his prey. Fans of birds will be able to meet here such favorites as owls, parrots, hummingbirds.
pemones
The territory is the historical homeland of the Pemon Indian people, for whom local attractions are considered iconic – endowed with special power and energy. Aborigines are something like an integral symbol of the area, an element of national color. Therefore, they are employed in the field of tourism as guides to the beauties of the park, as they are well oriented in the area. It has already become a tradition for guests of the park to take a few photos with the representatives of the tribe and listen to their fascinating stories and legends.
The inscriptions found on the territory testify that this people settled in the vicinity of the reserve more than ten thousand years ago. Pemons prefer to live in the flat area of Canaima. They are traditionally engaged in gathering, hunting, have small gardens where they grow fruits and vegetables for food.
The tribe exists, as it were, apart from civilization; children do not attend school, there is no electricity. Aborigines do not use medical services, preferring to treat themselves with folk remedies and methods. Some residents have additional income through the construction of vernacular style huts. Visitors are willing to pay money for it.
How to get there
There is only one road for the entire reserve – from the city of Ciudad Bolivar. It is the only one with a gravel coating. There are no other roads. Mostly tourists get on their own, although it takes quite a decent period of time and can be dangerous for unprepared travelers.
Therefore, most of the guests arrive in Canaima by light aircraft from Caracas, or by canoe from the Orinoco Delta. Here the road will not take much time and will be exciting and memorable. There are no large cities around the park, which in principle is favorable for this area, because there is no pollution, nature retains its untouched appearance.
Several hotels are ready to accept travelers on the territory of the reserve. The most luxurious of them are Parakaupa Camp Lodge and Arekuna Camp Lodge. They look like small palm houses, surprisingly fitting into the surrounding landscape. Guests can not only relax in them, but also visit numerous restaurants, bars, cafes, where they will be pleased with the friendly atmosphere, friendly staff and delicious food.
Canaima National Park opens up to the traveler all the treasures, all the richness of its flora and fauna. Due to the inaccessibility, all this has been preserved almost in its original form. The staff of the reserve carefully monitors that guests observe the rules of conduct and protect nature. Only then will all the beauties remain intact and they can be admired for many years to come.
This area is definitely worth a visit, even despite the difficult path. After all, only by sailing along the river in a canoe, driving thousands of kilometers in a jeep through the savannah, passing through the dense wild jungle and, of course, climbing Tepui, you can appreciate and understand the powerful power of this place, the beauty of its exoticism, touch this lost civilization. A visit to the park will be remembered by every tourist with pleasant moments and will again beckon with its curiosities.
Do not miss a few more interesting places: Flinders Chase National Park, Port Campbell Park, Haleakala Park.