Venezuela - The Rough Guide to South America on a Budget - page 904

Phones Movistar/Centro de Comunicaciones Marcos,
C Zea between calles Roscio & Peña (Mon-Fri 8am-9pm,
Sat & Sun till 8pm).
Police The police station ( T 0289 995 1556; open 24hr) is
on C Akarabisis, a colourful building facing Ruta Salvaje
(see below).
Post Ipostel, in the orange brick building on C Urdaneta
west of C Roscio (Mon-Fri 8am-noon & 1-4.30pm).
Consider yourself lucky if you happen upon stamps.

landscape and was the inspiration for
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World
and the Disney Pixar film Up . The entire
region is filled with other magnificent
tepuis and waterfalls, separated by vast
expanses of grasslands.
One of the most famous waterfalls is
Quebrada de Jaspe , noted for its bright
red jasper rock. Other well-known
waterfalls in the region include the
105m-high Salto Aponguao , where you
can swim in the nearby Pozo Escondido ,
and Quebrada Pacheco , two pretty falls
with natural waterslides.

LA GRAN SABANA AND RORAIMA
he vast area that extends southeast to
the Brazilian border technically includes
Angel Falls and most of Parque Nacional
Canaima, although trips to the
35,000-square-kilometre GRAN SABANA ,
or Great Savannah, do not. At the triple
frontier of Venezuela, Brazil and
Guyana lies the area's principal attraction:
the beautiful and climbable MOUNT
RORAIMA , a flat-topped mountain with
400m-high cliffs protecting its summit,
which is renowned for its otherworldly

11

THE ORINOCO DELTA
A unique phenomenon, the enormous
Orinoco Delta is formed as Venezuela's
mightiest river reaches the Atlantic
below Trinidad, finishing its 2736km
course through the country. It is here
that it divides and seeps through a
44,000-square-kilometre area of jungle,

GRAN SABANA AND RORAIMA TOURS
The classic six-day trek to the top of Mount Roraima , considered by many to
be one of the best hikes in South America, costs US$400-600. Since the price is based on
distance rather than time, agencies are usually willing to add or subtract a day to fit your
schedule. Multi-day Gran Sabana tours cost US$90/day/person, typically with a minimum
of five people and with meals included. One- or two-day trips to El Paují , El Abismo ,
Salto Aponguao and other specific sites cost around US$100/day/person, meals included,
although prices drop as group size increases. If you want to visit multiple sites on the same
day, rates increase considerably. The following are operators in Santa Elena:

Ruta Salvaje Av Mariscal Sucre, at C Akarabisis
T 0289 995 1134 or T 0414 889 4164, W rutasalvaje
.com. From a hut beside the police station, Ruta
Salvaje sells art painted by the owner's family and
organizes adrenaline-boosting activities around the
Gran Sabana including paragliding (BsF500), rafting
(BsF600) on class I to IV rapids and paramotoring
(BsF1000) on all-inclusive day tours. Prices listed
are per person for a group of two; rates go down the
larger the group gets.
Turísticos Álvarez In the bus terminal T 0414 385
2846, W saltoangelrsta.com. Francisco Álvarez has
wallpapered his bus terminal o ce with information
flyers, and can be found inside organizing trips for
budget-conscious travellers. Sorting out bare-bones
packages, he also rents tents and offers trips to Gran
Sabana from just BsF250/day.

TOUR OPERATORS
Backpacker Tours Av Urdaneta T 0289 995 1430,
W backpacker-tours.com. The most expensive of the
bunch, but has a permanent guide staff, sells air
tickets and supplies its own equipment, including
high-quality tents, bicycles and trucks. Offers shorter
alternatives (Mantopai and Chiricayén) to the six-day
Roraima trek that costs BsF3500.
Mystic Tours Av Urdaneta T 0289 416 1081 or T 0289
416 0686, W mystictours.com.ve. Said to be along one
of the world's major energy meridians, which also passes
through Machu Picchu and Stonehenge, Gran Sabana
has caused many visitors to experience extremely lucid
dreams, spiritual rejuvenations and even to see UFOs.
Mystic Tours has built a solid reputation on its unique
mystical approach to the Gran Sabana and in particular
to Roraima - the owner is a scholar of the paranormal
and has written guidebooks on the area.