Venezuela - Roraima Trek - Days 3 and 4

I got up at 5.15 to watch sunrise at the base camp. As the sun rose above the horizon, it lit up the walls of Roraima and Kukenán from crimson red to a brilliant golden orange. It was incredible scenery, particularly as clouds moved through the valley between the two tepuis. Wished you were here - you would have loved it too :)


The trek today was hard. As soon as we left the camp we were already hitting almost vertical climbs and had to scramble our way up. The route to the top was simple - get to the wall of the cliff then follow a steep "ramp" along the side of the wall all the way up. For the first two hours we were forever trying to get closer to the wall; we were always so close yet so far away. Brice had already disappeared ahead after 5 minutes; I was mainly walking with José, Maria and Norman, with Flavio, Daniel and Marisol behind.

The steepness gave us plenty of opportunities to take short breaks and look at the flora and fauna, with explanations from Norman, our resident biologist who came on this trip to document plant species.

Then after two hours of hard climbing we finally got to the wall. It stood as tall as ever and we felt no closer to the top than we had been two hours before. We continued nonetheless. Along the ramp there were two 'viewing platforms' where we had a panoramic view of the valleys below us - it was incredible. The base camp looked so small now.

Marisol instructed us to wait for her at the second viewing platform, which we did (I didn't want to defy her again after the river crossing). From there we could trace the route all the way to the top now, which involved walking under two waterfalls. Although the reality was having heavy rainfall for about 3 minutes, it was quite cool and fun. Whilst everyone had their ponchos, I had to use my umbrella and was told later that I was being English :)

From the start of the ramp to the top took another 3 hours - mostly consisting of almost vertical climbing. After the waterfalls we split up again. I was slightly faster so I followed a porter up, while Marisol and Daniel stayed back with Flavio, who had a knee injury from a cycling competition before the trek.

The sun was replaced by mist by the time I got to the top. It looked like a completely different world. The landscape was formed by black volcanic rocks of different shapes and sizes, with patches of plants growing on softer swampier ground. There was no trail anymore so I had to follow the porter closely to avoid getting lost.
We camped at Hotel Principal under the cover of a giant rock formation, which was incredibly fortunate as it rained quite heavily after lunch in the afternoon (lots of groups had to camp out in the open). It was already 4pm when the rain finally subsided, so we decided to go up to the summit which was just opposite our campsite. Despite the persistent clouds we were treated to a great view of the valleys below. 

As we started to make our way down, I suddenly felt really fortunate and grateful to be where I was. And it was only possible because of my parents and my family. But I've never thanked them. I've never thanked them for bringing me up, for sending me to school and uni, for the hard long cold hours they had to endure at the Chinese takeaway, for giving me the opportunities to go on my travels and everything else that they've done. I've never thanked my sisters either for their support of my endeavours.

I felt guilty and emotional. I promised that I would thank them when I got back down the mountain. I missed them.


Day 4

At 4am I got up to use the toilet, and saw a beautiful full moon when I came out of the tent, so I decided to stay out to take photos. By 5am the sky was changing from dark blue to light blue with a tinge of red. Then I saw the most incredible sunrise with reflections from the tepui ponds.

Marisol took us for a wall to the Kukenán Window before breakfast - cliff and vertical drop with other tepui across and clouds below. The view was out of this world. Unbelievable. Gobsmacking. Magnificent. No words nor even photos could do it justice. You HAVE TO see it for yourself.

After breakfast we went out again, but the weather changed quickly from glorious sunshine to mist/cloud rising up from the cliffs to heavy fog to heavy rainfall. All in the space of 5 minutes. I quite liked the mist and rain - the eerie and mysterious atmosphere added to the deserted alien landscape.

Through the rain and mist Marisol took us to see quartz crystals (apparently lots of these have been taken by tourists in the past), some interesting rock formations (at one point I was sure I was in a Star Wars film set), and plants indigenous to Roraima along the way. We ended at a (relatively small) waterfall not too far from the Kukenán Window, where a few of us took a shower under the freezing cold water but man how exhilarating and refreshing! The water fell hard and cold on my head but it felt so good - if only there was also a hot pool or sauna to jump into! Flavio had a waterproof case for his iPhone and managed to take a photo of the four of us :)


On the walk back we passed another cliff face but it was not quite as spectacular as our earlier visit because of the mist. Before heading back for lunch we had a stop at the 'jacuzzis' - pools of cold water where visitors use to bathe in (or bomb-dive into). I didn't want to get wet again but the others had a great time.


By the time we finished lunch it was past 3pm and the weather had turned for the worse. The incessant rain kept us in the camp for the rest of the day. It was quite nice to have some time to rest and bond with others. As darkness fell the rain and dampness gave the camp an eerie atmosphere, complemented by my albatross soup mystery (which spooked myself out more than it did the others) and Flavio's paraffin lighters that served as our 'camp fires'. The rain was still going when we went to bed at 9.