Angel Falls Expedition: Part 1

Making Cuidad Bolivar our first stop on our three month tour of South America was definitely jumping in the deep end. We had arrived in Caracas after a long flight from Madrid and had flew directly to Bolivar from there. As timing of these things always go, of course we arrived into the tiny little airport late in the night. The place was empty. There were a few men standing around, presumably taxi drivers and hotel operators, but having just arrived and being exhausted, your imagination runs away with them having much more sinister intentions. Also at the airport were a group of five or six soldiers wielding large automatic rifles. Having them there made us feel slightly safer but it was also slightly disconcerting to think that they may be necessary…
We had arranged to be picked up from the airport but were not surprised to find that our ride was not any of the people loitering around the airport in the middle of the night. Shortly all the other people off our flight had found their pick-ups waiting for them the airport was closed. Great.
So we were now locked outside the terminal, with the soldiers, and the taxi drivers, praying to God that our man arrived soon. We were starting to think we had bit of more than we could chew! So we waited and waited, sweaty and exhausted in tropical heat in the middle of nowhere. What the hell were we going to do if he didn’t show up?


But of course after a long wait a truck rolled into the airport and we had a flicker of hope. He had come for us! With a quick ID check to make sure we weren’t boarding the express kidnapping bus, we jumped in. To be honest at this point we probably would have jumped in with anyone. We still had no idea what was going, the town seemed chaotic and confusing in the darkness as we were taking further and further out of town along bumping roads, as the city gave way to forest and we turned down roads, that became narrower, and potholes that became bigger and we found ourselves winding between little walled of compounds. Finally though we arrived to a large gate and we entered the compound. We had made it!! The 2.5m wall around it was a little worrying but through our exhausted eyes it seemed like the right place and we hurried off to bed and were sleeping before we knew it.

The morning brought great clarity and calmness, and the excitement of being in on the adventure we had spent so long dreaming about. The Posada El Casita was a beautiful place to stay and we were amazed at the tranquillity inside those walls compared to the chaos outside. With the pool, and huge communal area it was a great place to relax after the long journey to get there. First place we have stayed with an honesty policy for the bar, where you simply write down what you have had and pay later. It is it’s own little paradise. Gardens, fresh fruit and exotic animals are around and it was a great place to wake up to. They served delicious meals and really looked after us and were always friendly and helpful.

We spent a few days there before leaving to head into Canaima and for Angel Falls but would have happily wasted away many more days by the pool and swinging in hammocks.

And one good one!
This cute little animal was actually a cheeky, thieving monkey who after I wanted to take a picture and feed him a biscuit he grabbed my finger and tried to steal the camera.
After that he got put in the cage.
Do the crime, do the time.

But we had come here to see the tallest waterfall in the world and that meant venturing out back into the craziness of Cuidad Bolivar. The traffic and noises are at the same time terrifying and exhilarating! Most of the cars are old American V8’s churning through litres of petrol, and so rusted they are almost shaking themselves to pieces as they drive. It is amazing to see cars so damaged still running. We went through town back to the airport again to fly into the jungle village of Canaima.

We were getting deeper into our adventure…

To be continued…