Venezuela - Roraima Trek - Days 5 and 6

Day 5

This was the toughest day of all. I've always enjoyed the ascent much more than the descent; I find the latter much harder work to keep stable, and more fatal if I took one wrong step. The only two blisters that I got from the entire trek also came from the descent. Ah well, tough shit.

The route down was identical but in reverse as the route up, except it was quicker so we did the equivalent of Days 1 and 2 all on Day 5, camping at Tök. The water at Rio Kukenán wasn't as high as before, so we were all able to walk across the boulders, with Marisol's help. No need to swim and no rope (and splinters) this time!

Marisol told us at dinner that one of the people who had been on the way up earlier in the day had slipped when they passed under the waterfalls, and was likely to need helicopter rescue the next morning due to a potentially serious head injury. We were all thankful that we only came away with insect bites and blisters.

According to Marisol three tourists have died on Roraima in the past - two of heart attacks, and one under unknown circumstances. Apparently the guy had commented "this isn't a bad place to die". He then insisted on staying an extra day at the top, while the rest of the group went down (after signing a disclaimer for his own safety etc). On the way down the guide had a bad feeling, so he sent a porter and the man's nephew back up, only to find him dead for no apparent reason. I was glad that Marisol left these chilling stories til after we left.

The last day

It was sad to leave Roraima. I looked back several times as we approached the gateway to the ramp, part of me wished we had more time to explore at the top, but I was also happy that we made the most of the time we had. I felt extremely grateful to have made it. And I realised that every step I took was not only of my own effort, but also the effort and help of the stones and rocks and branches and trees that supported me, stopped me from tripping or slipping, and helped me reach the top. I used to think about 'conquering' mountains, but now I realise how small I was. Even a small stone along the path has been there for millennia before me, and will be there for millennia after me. It has seen everything, and I was only a fraction of a nano-second by comparison.

Roraima was an incredibly humbling experience. She was hard work but beautiful, tiring but humbling. She was incredible in every detail. She was magnificent.

On the drive back to Santa Elena we stopped briefly at the Jasper Creek - the red colour of the riverbed is due to the colour of the mineral rock. It was very pretty :)

One last bit of drama, though it wasn't us this time. Another of the 4x4's had broken down so our driver stopped to help. We ended up towing them all the way back to Santa Elena for an hour on a loose rope. It was a good thing that their brakes were still working...