Daily Itinerary
Day 1
Arrival at Caracas, pickup from the airport, overnight stay in a small, clean and safe hotel close to the airport.
Day 2
Transfer from the hotel to the airport. Flight from Caracas or Margarita to Maturín. Transfer to the Port of San José de Buja. Here our tour begins into the Orinoco Delta. We will negotiate our way through the river on our journey to the Orinoco Eco Camp.
When we arrive, there will be a small tour of the camp to familiarise yourself with your surroundings and we will provide you with a presentation explaining the aims, goals and achievements of our ecological camp inside the delta. After you have made yourselves at home, we can provide you with poles and bait the hooks with raw meat to fish for piraña. If you catch one, our kitchen can prepare it for a snack.
After lunch we take a boat and explore the surrounding jungle. We will take you through some of the small channels inside the delta where you can get a feel for the natural habitat. There will be many opportunities to observe the wildlife in the area. There are macaws, toucans, howler monkeys, dolphins and butterflies with a variety of colours. There is also a collection of flora indigenous to the Orinoco delta.
Towards the end of this trip we will stop the boat at an ideal location and serve some refreshments as you enjoy a beautiful sun setting on the horizon of the Orinoco delta. After sunset we take you back to the camp for dinner and socialising. There will be an option for a night trip to search the nocturnal world of alligators and snakes. This will be available before or after dinner depending on river conditions.
Day 3
In the morning, after breakfast we take a full day travelling around the delta by boat. We will visit the Warao indians and learn about this native South American tribal community. After a light lunch, a Warao guide will locate an ideal place in the jungle where you will take a walk and get a feeling of life inside this unforgiving environment. You will notice pungent odours weaving their way through a tapestry of crawling plants and giant trees racing towards the sky for sunlight. A perfect non-human system in an imperfect human world. At sunset we will return to the camp for dinner.
Day 4
Early in the morning we are often woken by the calls of howler monkeys communicating across the jungle. At this time we will give you the chance to go on the river in a hand crafted dug out canoe. Here we will give you oars and a pilot to assist you in a short venture where you can experience the dawning of a sunrise on the Orinoco delta. This is a time when the environment prepares itself for the coming heat of the sun and is often the best time to observe the wildlife.
Our camp is the only camp located on a natural reserve and inside virgin jungle. Whereas 3/4 of the delta is savanna and gallery jungle. After breakfast we will take you to see this landscape. Here you will get the chance to visit a small farm and increase your perspective of the delta environment. You can observe a different wildlife including egrets, water buffalo, horn screamer´s, black ibis etc.
We serve lunch and after a short rest we return to San José de Buja. From there we will take you by car or van to a hotel placed in the Colonial part of Ciudad Bolívar.
Day 5
Early in the morning we will pick you up from the hotel to the airport of Ciudad Bolívar, from where you will take off in a small aircraft to Canaima. The flight takes about one hour and on a clear day you have excellent views over Gran Sabana. After you leave your bag in your accommodation near the airstrip, you begin to explore the incredible Canaima Lagoon. We will cross the Lagoon in motorized dugout canoes closely to the four waterfalls that empty into it. After a small walk we will reach the Sapo Falls where we will go behind the huge curtain of water falling into the Sapito Lagoon.
Later in the day, you have a hot meal in your hostel by the lagoon and relax in preparation for the trip to Angel Falls the following day.
Day 6
After an early morning light breakfast, the excursion begins with a four hour trip along the Carrao River in a motorised Indian canoe. In the dry season is it possible that you will have to carry the boat for a little where the water level is low. As you enter the Devil’s Canyon you have stunning views of the flat-topped table mountains. Then the hike to the Falls begins at Ratoncito Island and after about 90 minutes, you arrive at the base of the world’s highest waterfall – Angel Falls. You eat lunch by the river and you can swim in the refreshingly cold water that forms a pool at the bottom of the falls. After exploring for the rest of the day, you have a hot dinner and spend the night in a hammock in the camp opposite the falls.
Day 7
After breakfast back to the village of Canaima by dugout canoe. After lunch take off to Ciudad Bolívar and night bus to Santa Elena de Uairen.
Day 8
Arrival in Santa Elena. Checkin in the hotel. Day off, recommendable to visit the Brazilian border and in the late afternoon briefing for the treck.
Day 9
You leave Santa Elena around 8 am for the 2-3 hour journey by jeep to the Pemón village of Pareitepuy, where visitors register with the National Park authorities and where the porters pick up the equipment. After a light lunch, you start the 4-5 hour trek across open savanna, eventually arriving at the Tek Camp where you will spend the night in tents.
Day 10
After breakfast you set off for another 6 hour hike. Today you cross the Tek and Kukenan rivers, which can be quite a challenging experience if there has been heavy rainfall. Passing by fields of orchids, in the early afternoon you stop for lunch at the Military Camp. Then the trail climbs for a few hours, taking you to the base camp at a height of 1,800m near the foot of Mount Roraima, where you spend the second night.
Day 11
This is the most difficult day’s hiking. After breakfast there is a steep trek for a couple of hours through lush, beautiful cloud forest to the wall of the mountain, marked by a slope of huge boulders and a waterfall. The trail rises along this natural stone ramp that runs from right to left through the jungle and up the side of the cliff face, the only accessible route to the summit, which takes about 90 minutes. After a light lunch you can begin to explore, and enjoy the tremendous views across the Gran Sabana from a height of 2,700m. On this night you sleep on the top of Mount Roraima, sheltered by a natural rock overhang known as “los Hoteles”.
Day 12
The plateau of Mount Roraima is around 70 square kms and offers bizarre rock formations, flesh-eating plants and black frogs that are unique to this eco-system. After breakfast you spend around 8 hours exploring the summit, hiking to the valley of crystals; the Triple Point obelisk marking the border between Venezuela, Guyana and Brazil; and to the El Pozo waterhole and cave system.
Day 13
After breakfast you set off down the mountainside for a full day hike that will retrace your steps and take you back through the jungle, over the savanna, and across the two rivers to the Tok camp. You can enjoy a refreshing swim in the river at the end of this 7-8 hour trek.
Day 14
On the final day you hike back to the village of Pareitepuy. Here – after leaving a good tip – you say goodbye to your guides and meet your jeeps for the journey to Santa Elena after cold drinks and lunch. On the way you will stop at the Quebrada de Jaspe – a natural formation of water and beautiful red stones. Back to Santa Elena facility to take a shower. With night bus to Puerto Ordaz.
Day 15
Arrival in Puerto Ordaz. With car to the airport. Take off to Caracas or Margarita or any other big city in Venezuela.
