Salto Angel

So, the last part of the road trip. Look I know it is the tallest waterfall in the world but WOW- that salto is huge! Even better than seeing it was getting there- We started in Ciudad Bolivar. This town loves its paint- many buildings had many colors- it made Choroni look drab. From here we flew by small plane to Kavak and spent the night in beds. I tried to enjoy this as afterwards we would spend the next three in hammocks.

Kavak is tiny- like 10 huts and a landing strip tiny- but they do have a little canyon we could hike into and swim and jump in the water- we were happy

Don't let her smile fool you, Lisa is cold.

 

the last part we had to hike thru the river to get to the falls- cool stuff

Beware the carnivorous "sundew". Not a very scary name though

From Kavak we loaded up in an indigenous canoe and took to the river. It was like a raft trip... sort of. Instead of dry bags we just carried the food in...bags. Always good to be on the river. And the hammocks were comfy as well.

 

Our guide was Alex and his wife Cruz helped cook. He was great- very mellow, took Luca fishing, and put mosquito nets around our hammocks.

 We started on the Akanan river, then joined the larger Carrao before turning onto the Churum river where Angel Falls is. Each day had a nice mix of river cruising, hiking, and hanging out at camp.

The story on this plane is that it crashed because the pilot had loaded it up with too much beer.

Here I am contemplating how much beer is too much beer.

 We finally arrived at the Salto Angel campsite- and the first glimpse was awe inspiring. We waited until the next day to hike to the base- it was cloudy but when we arrived the clouds just blew away- not sure how Alex the guide did it but I was impressed. I only included one photo because really... you just gotta see it yourself.

cool trail

 

At the bottom of the falls is a pool. Our guide said that due to the high water level swimming was not a good idea. Wilder and I nonetheless had to seize this opportunity. We stayed safely on the side but all that water misting down from the falls... lets just say that it is much colder than you would expect for a waterfall in the rainforest.

and thats enough-who brought the towels?

 Our last day we went to Canaima to fly out and stopped at one more waterfall- Salto Sapo. This one was unique because you could walk behind it- powerful to behold and took care of my showering requirement for the day.

Then we once more took to the air and were on our way- amazing road trip- amazing country. You really should come down to visit- we have two extra hammocks in our living room just waiting for you.

If you were interested in our route- we started in Kavak and followed the white squiggly line to the bigger white squiggly line the flew home

Venezuela road trip 2014- Morrocoy

Venezuela road trip 2014

After a great first year in Venezuela we decided to tour around a bit before heading home. The first part of the trip was inspired by the Griswold family vacation- We left Caracas with surfboards (instead of grandma) strapped to the roof of the car. We stopped at Colonia Tovar, Choroni, Chuao, the Henri Pittier National forest and El Limon, Morrocoy, Bejuma, and back to Caracas. The second part was Inspired by Arthur Conan Doyle's book "the Lost World". To see if there really were dinosaurs living on the Tepui's we flew to Ciudad Bolivar and then Kavak. We explored canyons, journeyed by indigenous canoe, and slept in hammocks at the base of Angel Falls- didn't find Conan Doyle's creatures but had an amazing time. Will try to do justice to each of the legs of the journey- enjoy!

Morrocoy

This was what we needed. We had enjoyed the last two spots but they weren't the "awesome" level that we were hoping for, so it was with a bit of trepidation that we drove into towards Morrocoy and the Los Cocos posada. I knew everything would be alright as we drove past the town of Moron. "Are you serious?" Lisa asked when I said to pull over for a photo- yes, yes I was.

Morrocoy is a series of islands that you get taken out to by boat. Once there you pretty much just sit around and find your happy place- snorkeling, reading, playing in the sand... we pretty much found them all.

The posada was amazing as well- cool buildings and great food- we were very well taken care of- the most amazing hatch of mosquitos as well on day 2- holy blood donation! 

Furio- the nicest guard dog in the world

But back to the beach already!

he's playing I swear.

awww how cute- the kids are playing bartender.

that is one Calvin and Hobbes look if I have ever seen one!

Warning- graphic content to follow!!

remember those pictures of the PAN swimsuit? well you knew it had to lead to this- don't say you weren't warned.