Americas

[Visited: April 1999]

Often, getting to a destination is more important than the destination itself. While we were sitting on a boat, plying the river from Canaima to our camp in the middle of the bush, we concluded that even if we would not see a drop of Angel Falls the next day, our trip was already a success. Imagine: a huge highland, plateau, with spectacular cliffs at the ends, dropping down some 1000 metres, and rivers surrounding these highlands. And as far as you can see, the land covered by an enormous and seemingly endless carpet of trees. From all sides, water falls down for hundreds of metres, but since we are on our way to the highest waterfall in the world, these waterfalls are neglected. In many other countries, each and every one of those would be the highlight of a trip.
Life at the camp is easygoing, there is a huge roof under which some 50 hammocks are hanging for the customers. This is a small island in the ocean of enormous trees. Food is remarkably good, all the guys working here are remarkably friendly. And as always other tourists are a sight in itself. The river proves to be a perfect swimming spot. The view on the mountain ranges is fantastic, as is the view on the stars later in the evening. As we leave for Salto Angel, as the falls are called in Spanish, the sky seems to be closed forever. It is not possible to see the top of the table mountains.
While normally a visit to the falls by boat is not possible in this time of year, we have been lucky because it has been raining a lot. Just a week before it was not possible to make this trip! We are even more lucky, since the sky opens up before our eyes. It is incredible how our steersman drives the boat with high speed centimetres from trees, rocks, small waterfalls, without any mistake. At the end of the boat trip we still have to climb around an hour in the virgin forest to reach a viewpoint and a pool in which we can swim while looking up to the highest waterfall in the world. It is incredible to see the water fall from its highest point all the way down to where we are. The sights on the way back are as impressive as the ones of Angel Falls, Sometimes, getting to a destination is as valuable as the destination itself!

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Angel Falls (Venezuela)

Angel Falls > Venezuela > Americas

[Visited: April 1999]

Around the World in 80 Clicks