Lauren Haworth
Orinoco and Angel Falls Trip
November '02
Caracas | |
 | Downtown Caracas |
Maturín, Tucupita | |
 | Hanneke taking a sunset stroll in front of the Tucupita hotel |
Orinoco River | |
 | 8 hours by boat from Tucupita to San Francisco de Guayo One of our boats, called a ballahu (sp?) |
 | During our lunch break, Frances had to fight off hungry roosters. They didn't seem to have any objection to eating chicken. |
San Francisco de Guayo | |
 | Gino and Gina, our host family in Guayo (picture from Vivatrek web site) |
 | Our stilt house in Guayo (this is the sleeping area, there was a second main building for cooking, eating, and hanging out. (picture from Vivatrek web site) |
 | A view of the sleeping accomodations (all 12 of us together) |
 | The group took a trip by dugout canoe into the smaller channels. Here we are setting off. |
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 | We were almost back when the skies opened up. |
 | A local family paddles by |
Murako | |
 | We traveled out to a more remote village called Murako. |
 | The walkways were composed of small logs. Some attached, some moved around, and some were rotten. Very tricky walking! |
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The Atlantic Ocean | |
 | We took a trip out to the very edge of the Orinoco Delta, to see the Ocean. |
 | A Warrao man pulling in a fishing net. I don't know how he could keep his balance while standing in a dugout. |
 | Straight ahead, Trinidad. Turn right to Guyana. |
Warrao dancers | |
 | A group of Warrao dancers came by to entertain us |
 | Here they're doing the snake dance. We later joined in on this one. The object of part of the dance is for the woman in the middle (the snake) to stomp on the man's foot. |
 | Everywhere we went, Hanneke had pictures taken by the last group which she handed out. These were quite popular. |
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Flight to Kamarata | |
 | We flew in small 5-passenger Cessnas from Cuidad Bolivar to Kamarata |
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 | Our first tepuy view. These table-top mountains are very old. |
 | My first view of Angel Falls |
 | Coming in to Kamarata. That tiny white line on the right is the dirt airstrip. |
 | Our plane, heading out again from Kamarata |
Kavak Canyon | |
 | To get to the waterfall at Kavak, you swim across a pool, scramble over some rocks, and then swim this narrow channel between the canyon walls |
 | The waterfall at Kavak. More dramatic than this photo shows. This was probably my favorite part of the whole trip. |
 | Another waterfall at Kavak |
 | Hanneke and our guide climbed up about 100' to pose at the midpoint of the waterfall. |
Akanan and Carrao Rivers | |
 | Aboard the two huge dugout canoes (with outboards) heading off on the Akanan. |
 | Small settlement, one of many along the river on our first of 3 days traveling to Angel Falls |
 | The sleeping accomodations at our first camp, Iwana-Meru. They've just started stringing the hammocks. |
 | Each boat had a captain running the engine, and a prow man up front providing steering at the trickier parts of the river. |
 | We moved from the Akanan to the Carrao river, but all of the way along both rivers, Auyan Tepuy was looming above |
 | Our second camp at Arenal. The dining area is to the right in the background. |
Churun River | |
 | We turned off the Carrao and headed up the Churun to Angel Falls. They dropped off extra fuel and the spare motor to save weight. They also switched to beat up propellers before heading up the shallow Churun. |
 | The canoes had to go up a number of rapids, most with barely a foot or two of water. |
Angel Falls Camp | |
 | Our first view of Angel Falls from the ground. |
Angel Falls Hike | |
 | We climbed a steep trail to this viewpoint below the falls. |
 | My photographic masterpiece of the trip. This image is built from three separate photos that have been blended to show the top-to-bottom view. |
Canaima | |
 | Our last view of Angel Falls -- a misty morning vista. |
 | Packing up to leave Angel Falls. You can see how brown the tannin-stained water is if you look in the left foreground. |
 | Canaima Lagoon. Crowded camp (all of us in hammocks in a small round hut -- strung the hammocks like spokes on a wheel). Great shopping! |
Chichiriviche | |
 | Flew from Canaima to Caracas (commercial flight, this time). Then we drove two hours along a bumpy road to the beach town of Chichiriviche. |
 | Our first view of Chichiriviche (photographer Frances took this one) |
 | The view back toward the beach from where I was snorkeling. |
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