Venezuela - The Rough Guide to South America on a Budget - page 900

Ángel, or Angel Falls . The park is
inhabited by roughly twenty thousand
Pemón Indians, made up of three major
tribes: Kamakoto, Arekuna and Taurepan.
Most live in small villages of between
100 and 200 people. At the centre of it
all is Canaima Village , originally a small
Pemón settlement that is now the hub of
a tourism industry vastly superior to
those you are likely to witness elsewhere
in Venezuela. The falls are a world-class
attraction without the accompanying
crowds - perhaps due in part to a
reliance on local guides and agencies
that have garnered reputations for
unprofessionalism.

Seeing the falls is one of the highlights
of a trip to Venezuela, and you can
arrange a visit through tour agencies in
Ciudad Bolívar (see p.902) and even
Caracas (see p.860). The first leg of
the trip is a three-hour, 70km and
very wet boat ride up the Caroní and
Carrao rivers from Canaima Village;
the second leg is an hour's hike through
the jungle, ending at the falls' principal
vantage point. The falls themselves are
generally fuller, and therefore more
spectacular, during the rainy season;
the trade-off is less visibility, as the top
of the falls can be covered in clouds
during those months.
In the dry season (Jan-May), low water
levels in the access rivers can complicate
the journey, sometimes requiring
passengers to unload and push the boat.
Tour agencies are usually diligent about
warning customers of such conditions,
but it's a good idea to ask anyway.

11

Canaima Village
The most visited village in the park,
Canaima is the principal base for trips to
Angel Falls. On the other side of Laguna
de Canaima from the lodges are four
postcard-worthy waterfalls - Salto
Ucaima , Salto Golondrina , Salto Guadima
and Salto Hacha - the latter being the
largest, discharging enough water to fill
an Olympic-sized swimming pool in
a single second. The lagoon has a sandy
beach and palm trees jutting out of
the water, at the end of which the
hydroelectric power station that supplies
the village and surrounding area with
electricity is visitable at all hours, but
usually seen on the way to the jetty
above the falls from where the boats
depart upriver.
Tour packages (see box, p.902) include
a short excursion to another nearby
waterfall, Salto El Sapo , which you can
actually walk right behind (make sure
you protect your camera properly, as you
will get soaked).

ARRIVAL AND TOURS
By plane Canaima is primarily accessed by small planes
and in most cases, moving on is simply a matter of
boarding your pre-arranged return flight to Ciudad Bolívar.
The airstrip is on the village's main road. The main airline is
Transmandu ( W transmandu.com); if you're arranging
your own transport expect to pay BsF1300 return from
Ciudad Bolívar. Tickets can be purchased at the airport's
various airplane desks. In theory you can charter a plane to
Santa Elena, although the high prices and five-passenger
minimum make the twelve-hour overnight bus ride (see
p.906) from Ciudad Bolívar a more viable option. There are
no direct flights to Caracas.
Destinations Ciudad Bolívar (4 daily; 1hr 30min) and
Puerto Ordáz (2 daily; 2hr).
Tour operators If you've come to Canaima on a tour,
a guide will have been arranged for you; if you're on
your own, seek out English-speaking Materson Nathaniel
( T 0426 997 2879, E [e-mail]) or Yosmary
López ( T 0416 852 1558, E [e-mail]),
who both run tours to Angel Falls and Salto el Sapo, as well
as to other lesser-known sights around the region.

Angel Falls
At nearly a vertical kilometre (980m),
ANGEL FALLS (Salto Ángel in Spanish)
is the world's tallest waterfall - around
sixteen times the height of Niagara Falls
and twelve times the height of Iguazú
Falls (see p.353). It is created by the
Churún River, which makes a dramatic
plunge from the edge of the enormous
Auyantepui and into the verdant
jungle below.

ACCOMMODATION
Like transport, accommodation in Canaima is included
in pre-arranged tour packages. All lodgings, save the
exclusive luxury ones, are campamentos of varying simpli-
city. On the excursion to Angel Falls you'll spend the night
in one of the various camps built close to the falls, usually
around an hour's walk to the viewing point. The cheapest