la gran sabana

As if I haven't had enough adventure during the short amount of time that I've been in Venezuela, the four days that I spent in La Gran Sabana (the Grand Savanna, a.k.a. Canaima National Park) opened my eyes to yet another great part of Venezuela. Located in the southeastern part of the country, La Grand Sabana is a national park known for landmarks like Angel Falls (the world's tallest waterfall) and Mount Roraima (a tepuy which is believed to be one of the oldest land formations on Earth) which people from all over the world come to experience. We were only able to cover a small area of the park, which is said to be the fourth largest national park in the world.

Cesar and I set out last Wednesday after work driving about 2 hours to Puerto Ordaz where we stayed the night at Cesar's grandparents' house. We woke up bright and early the next morning to drive more than six hours to reach the park itself. It was amazing to see the change in landscapes as we drove, from farmland to mountains to rain forest and finally savanna. Our original plans involved visiting El Pauji, but the rain and dirt roads did not permit, so instead we stayed at Kama Meru, a place along the main road that Cesar has been to on each of his visits to La Gran Sabana. Here we set up camp and met up with some of Cesar's family friends. In the height of the tourist season, it was very crowded and it was hard finding the right spot to place our tent among all the others.

Our second day we enjoyed swimming and taking pictures of the huge waterfall at the camp and set out in the afternoon on a short hike near the camp. Upon returning from our hike we met some friends who were brave enough to take on a trip to Mount Roraima.

The third day we enjoyed a nice big breakfast and made our way to the Brazilian border, which was a relatively short drive away from where we were staying. We crossed just long enough to take some pictures and buy a few souvenirs. I can now check off another country from my list of places to visit!! And to keep with the international theme of the day, we stopped at an authentic Chinese restaurant to eat dinner on the way back to our camp. We stopped along the way back to camp to see the sun set - incredible to see all the colors across the savanna. Upon returning, we found that the campsite had calmed down quite a bit as many campers began heading back home.

Our final day in La Gran Sabana began with a big breakfast and then packing up to make our way back to Maturin. We couldn't resist making a final stop along the way to go swimming at a site that has a much smaller waterfall and swimming hole.

Altogether this was another amazing trip and I hope to return to La Gran Sabana soon because there is so much more to do. Anyone like to join??