The Orinoco is a huge river draining most of Venezuela. A few facts about the river are that is navigable for 300 kilometres by large ships and only has two bridges across it entire length all other crossings are by ferry. The tributary draining the Angle Falls area has the 4^th largest Hydropower station, which is used for a lot industry

The delta was very large and our lodge 1.5 hours boat ride from the edge after the roads finish. We are still 4 hour by boat to what the local refer to as the Atlantic. I was sitting in the shade typing this while waiting for lunch and the sweat was pouring off me, it’s only about 30C but the humidity is about 99% and every now and then we get spits of rain as the air reaches saturation point.

This resort is another example of the sad state of the tourists industry in Venezuela. This resort has fourteen rooms, with James and I the only 2 guests at the moment. We have been told they have 12 guests coming this month. Back in the good times it had 12 guest most days.

On the way in we left a major channel for a secondary one then tuned left up a channel twice as wide as the boat to the resort built above the tidal flood plain.

The Airport standards leave a little bit to be desired with the fuel being syphoned in to the pane out of a drum and one engine having a large oil leak. however it was good enough to get us from A to B.

On the way to the delta we stopped for our driver to purchase fuel. Fuel in this country is 0.7 cents per litre so it’s only charged out at a token rate. Until then I couldn’t understand how people so poor could afford to drive boats around the canals. The government gives people little bits and pieces from time to time but the 2 things in very short supply are food and toilet paper. One hotel we stayed at rationed the toilet paper to each room instead of a leaving the roll.

I know were all the old light planes of the world end up? In Venezuela! When we went on our Angle Falls over-flight the first plane we got on wouldn’t start so we picked another plane on the tarmac and used it. Make you feel real confident in the system.

The rampant inflation I spoke about in a previous post is not being passed on in the form of pay rises for workers.

We say goodbye to Venezuela today to head to Suriname too collect Penny and join the rest of the rally crew for a Sunday Departure.

Orinoco Delta

Day 1

For the people that know me, picking up and catching Pythons and harmless snakes is a regular at home.

James and I are in the Orinoco Delta at the moment, which is explained more in the next blog. Last night we went on a night time wildlife tour looking for Snakes, Frogs, Alligators and Birds.

We never saw an Alligator but found some nice Frogs, Owls and one False Lanshead Python. I ask the guide if it was harmless and could catch it? He offered to catch it but I declined the offer so proceed with the adventure. The snake was a bit grumpier then the carpet pythons of home and as I gently grabbed him he bit me on the hand, which is the first time a snake has ever bitten me. LOL. Everyone in the boat thought it was funny, including myself. It was the first time the guide has seen a tourist catch a snake.

During the afternoon we had done a jungle cruise watching monkeys and birds. The monkeys move through the trees with such grace and at times jump from one tree to land on a branch 4 metres away and 8 metres below them.

Plenty of Toucans were spotted along with numerous Parrots and most of the bird species in the area. The afternoon was completed watching the sunset and Freshwater Grey Dolphins.

Day 2

Started with heading out for a jungle walk. On the way to the jungle walk we stopped at a resort that has 80 rooms and has not had a guest in 3 years due to the massive downturn in tourism. This resort had an electric eel in a tank that we could touch and your fingers tingled like your tongue does when you lick a 9 volt battery.

Once we started the jungle walk we tasted Termites, which have a mint flavour that lasts quite a time in your mouth. Well at least till you eat fresh Palm hearts a bit deeper in the Jungle. Fresh Palm heart is nicer then the tinned product we had eaten at Canaima.

The morning ended with a very good close up of a very co-operative Toucan, before retiring back to camp for lunch and a nap ready for the afternoon.

The afternoon boating trip was a Piranha fishing trip for our dinner. We cruised through the delta to the Celmete’s favourite canal for fishing. In no time I’d won the bet with James and had the first fish in the boat. Luckily we didn’t bet on numbers as he caught 4 to my 2. With the tide changed and the water rising the fish went of the bit so we headed home.

The homeward journey was thwarted with a major problem, the wind and the tide had filled the entrance of our canal with a massive weed mat we couldn’t push out of the way and nor could we pull it apart. After talking to the local family that lived at the entrance it was decide the only way out was to drag the boat over the top of the weed mat. So it was in the water for the guide and I and with the help of the father and 2 sons we pushed the weed back under the boat and skull dragged the boat over 30 metres of weed mat. By the time we reach open water 20 mins later we were all fairly exhausted. After rewarding our helpers it was off home as the sun had already set, and when the sunsets close to the Equator it’s dark in no time. We arrived back at camp with just enough light to find our way up the small overgrown canal.

Dinner was a very nice feed of fresh Piranha, spuds and salad before sorting photos and writing some blogs before it’s all consigned to just a memory. I’m writing this blog to a chorus of howler monkeys, numerous different frogs, and birds that keep going all night.

Day 3

This was an early start day so we rose at 5.00am to be in the boat with the birds getting out of bed and were rewarded with good siting of Macaws none of which land it the correct tree for a photo shoot. We also caught a single glimpse of the Freshwater Pink Dolphin.

After breakfast and it was a visit to a local Waro village to purchase some handicrafts and see their way of life. So much of there life revolves around a palm tree referred to as the Tree of Life because its cut down for the fruit for a juice, fibre for weaving, a starch extracted from the heart to make bread and left to get grubs in which are a food source.

On the return trip to camp for lunch before departure we spotted another snake, this one was left to keep crawling around the trees,

We found out why we haven’t see any land animals, alligators and only a couple of snakes. If it’s catchable it’s a food source because food and money are so scares in the delta.

Last night while laying awake in the Hammock while trying to sleep during the biggest and best tropical storm you can imagine a lot of different names for this Blog post went through my head with some of the others being “ The Thunders Rolled up and down the Valleys”, “70 K’s up the River in a Tree” and “OMG what a Trip”. We will return to that later.

Well let’s start 2 days ago when we left Caracas and travelled to Ciudad Bolivor to start the trip to Angel Falls getting collected at the airport and driven the 100 k’s to the Posada for the night. This was along the best Dual carriageway in all of South America, it was built years ago for the traffic shifting and suppling the Steel and Aluminium smelters that were built to operate on the vast amounts of Hydropower that was available. This is all came crashing down around the Government because in about 2008 it decided to Nationalise all of these factories from around 50% ownership to total control by kicking out the joint venture partners, but didn’t realise that all the brain and management went with the partners and no one will come back due to the poor conditions and not enough salary. Due to the drop in traffic it’s still like the day it was built.

Early yesterday we boarded a 210 Cesena for the 65-minute flight to Canaima the base town for the trip to Angel falls.

Upon landing the weather was looking fairly clear so James and I elected to do the over flight option start away. This was a fantastic flight as it took us up along the river we would travel the next day. And up amongst the plateaus that have waterfalls coming of them everywhere.

Our view of Angle falls was less then ideal due to a bank of cloud against the cliff line that only revealed the lower 1000 feet and the top of the plateau. But all in all the flight was fantastic and as we looked down at the river we would journey up the next day we wondered how we would get up all the rapids we could see in a boat the next day.

The rest of that day was touring the falls into the lagoon at Canaima, which included being able to walk behind 2 of them along wide ledges and watch the power of these falls from a new angle.

This walk included some encounters with some very pretty grasshoppers and frogs.

The next morning we headed up the River for the angle falls visit. The trip is done in a real dugout tree about 40 ft long with a 48 horsepower outboard. The first set of rapids were a bit shallow so we all get out and walked the 500 metres up stream while the boat goes up with only the Skipper. Then its back in the boat to sit very balanced and still on hard wooden seat for the 4-hour journey. Luckily I had my Thermarest cushion that saved a lot of Numb-bum problems for me.

During the rest of the trip we literally drove the boat up numerous rapid up to about 3/4 metre high with the skipper knowing the deep parts that the boat fits through. We were told if the river was a bit lower we would need to get out and push the boat up some. At one time the river was full of house size blocks of sand stone that the boat was threaded trough with amazing skill.

We all agreed that the boat trip up through this remote tropical jungle amongst Sandstone plateaus towing 5000 feet above us was worth the entry fee even if we didn’t see the falls with out cloud. As we ventured further up the river it got more and more rainy with a view of the falls looking less likely.

At last we rounded a corner to see the falls falling out of the clouds. We disembark our tree and do the ¾ hour walk up to the viewing area with hope of the cloud clearing.

The Waterfall Gods were with because by the time we emerged from the tropical jungle hike to the rock ledge giving us the falls view all the clouds had lift to above the plateau to give a superb view of the falls with the rain from the day increasing the flow from when we flew past yesterday.

After swimming in a pool below the falls but not under the falls as it just drops on to rocks we retired to out overnight camp to spend the night before returning down the river in the morning.

The overnight camp was a shanty built in the jungle with a view of the falls. After being feed a great meal of chicken cooked over an open fire we retired for the night in Hammocks. I’m yet to be convinced that a hammock is a great place to sleep. Maybe I’m the wrong size to fit in to local hammock so after the first 2 hours sleep that was the end of it for night as I was woken up by the biggest thunder storm.

It was amazing to lie there and listen to the thunder roll up and down the valleys bouncing off all the 3000-foot high cliffs that form the valleys. One big flash would keep the thunder rolling back and forth for up to 10 seconds.

Laying there listening to the rain on the tin roof I knew that the river was going rise a bit and make the trip down river interesting. When we woke this morning to a river that had risen about 4 metres where we had camped.

The down river trip was very smooth with the river being so full you didn’t even know the rapids excited at all and the house size blocks where total submerged an we motored straight over the top where our skipper picked the gaps.

We still had to walk past the same rapid on the way down as yesterday. After returning to Canaima we boarded our plane for the trip back to Cuidad Bolivar ready for our trip to the Orinoco delta, which will be the next post.