When taking overnight buses, make sure you bring a fleece and sleeping bag. The air conditioning on long distance buses is very powerful and it gets really cold. Keep all your valuables with you.
Also bring enough food and water, the bus does not stop for dinner or snacks. There is a toilet on board but it's quite disgusting. The lights go out pretty much as soon as you set off, and the reading lights don't work, so there's not a lot to do for 12 hours.
Not far into the trail you will be attacked by puri-puri, small flies that bite and leave a red round mark / dot. They are much itchier than mosquitoes and they are not afraid of DEET! I had another bug repellent (Care Plus from Decathlon, active ingredient Citriodiaol 19.2%) which did work. Having a head net also helped (but I got lots of funny looks from other people).
Pack warm and waterproof gear (jacket, gloves, hat, poncho). The weather changes more regularly and abruptly the closer you get to Roraima. Temperatures drop as well as you go higher up, especially when the sun is gone. The persistent mist/fog at the top also makes it feel colder. You'll also have to walk under a waterfall on summit day, so bring a poncho (I had an umbrella but that meant I couldn't use one hand, which could have been disastrous on a slippery climb). Have a rain cover for your rucksacks.
Bring a couple of pairs of spare socks. You'll need to cross two rivers and the rocks are very slippery, but having socks on helps.
Your agent will tell you this before you set off - put an extra plastic bag liner inside your rucksack, in case the rucksack falls into the water from the river crossing. If you have dry bags that's even better.
There was no electricity at all for 6 days so bring extra batteries for your phones and cameras. It gets pitch dark by 6pm (in November) so we just went to bed after dinner. The upside was I woke up naturally quite early everyday, around 5am, which was perfect for seeing sunrises.
Always pee away from water sources. For no.2, your porters will dig a hole in the ground at the camp sites below the mountain. At the top you should be using a plastic bag provided by the porters, who will also give you white powder to line the bag (I couldn't work out what the powder did but I didn't spend too long investigating either). Tie the bags up and the porters are supposed to take them down the tepui to be disposed of. Never leave your waste in at the top or in the open, and insist on your porters follow the rules (sadly I saw lots of human waste left behind).
There are lots of quartz crystals at the top. They are beautiful but don't take any away. Sadly lots of people do this. Not only is it illegal it is also immoral.
When trekking especially coming down try not to use trees for support too much - quite a few young ones are already loose and on the verge of being pulled out by tourists holding onto them for balance or support. It's bad for the trees' health but also dangerous for the trekker.
If you see any litter on your way up, mark them outso you can pick them up on your way down.
Itinerary
Day 1
Arrive in Caracas and overnight hotel - US$35pp
Day 2
Internal flight to Puerto Ordaz (8am) - US$25
Transfer to Cuidad Bolivar (9.30am, 60 minutes) - US$15
Night bus to Santa Elena (5pm, 12-16 hours) - US$10
Day 3
Arrive in Santa Elena (7-10am), overnight in posada - US$10
Day 4-9
Roraima Trek 6D/5N (5 breakfasts, 6 lunches, 5 dinners) - US$245
Day 9
Afternoon back from trek (3-4pm)
Nightbus to Puerto Ordaz (5-6pm, 12-16hours) - US$10
Day 10
Arrive in Puerto Ordaz (7-8am), overnight in Posada - US$10
Day 11-13
Angel Falls 3D/2N - US$245
Day 13
Flight back to Puerto Ordaz (9-10am)
Flight to Caracas (5pm, 1 hour) - US$20
Overnight hotel - US$35
Day 14
Transfer to international airport
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