In Humboldt's Footsteps

"Chevere, pana!" - Speak like a Venezuelan

dogzbolox@hotmail.com (Russell Maddicks) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:25:00 +0000

FitVen2009 showcases Venezuela´s natural treasures

dogzbolox@hotmail.com (Russell Maddicks) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:43:00 +0000

Caracas: Venezuelan Tourism Minister Pedro Morejon pledged a greater emphasis on promoting national and international tourism at the opening of the annual International Tourism Fair (FitVen 2009) in Caracas on 1 October.

The aim of the event, which was organized by the Ministry of Tourism (MINTUR), was to showcase Venezuela's most popular tourist attractions, including Angel Falls, the highest waterfall in the world, the crystalline waters and unspoilt beaches of Los Roques and the tranquil Andean mountain villages of Merida State.

This year, the tourism fair was held from 1 to 4 October in the spectacular setting of the Hotel Humboldt (2,105 metres above sea level), on the top of the Avila mountain, overlooking the Caracas valley on one side and the Caribbean sea on the other.

Visitors were able to wander among the colourful stands representing the different states of Venezuela at the installations of the Waraira-Repano cable car station, which houses an artificial ice-skating rink and a newly-inaugurated convention centre.

In total some 600 tour operators and airlines took part in the event and countries such as Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba, Mexico, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Japan had stands promoting their own tourist treasures.

The tourism minister made several important announcements at the opening of the fair, saying that the Venezuelan government is "running over 140 projects for the construction of hotels, guesthouses and tourist services."

He also said that the difficult problem of crime and insecurity will be tackled in part by a new tourist police, which is being set up within the framework of the National Police.

The Tourism Ministry also plans to refurbish the iconic Humboldt Hotel (see below), an architectural jewel built in 1955 that looks like the set of a James Bond movie with its sixties furnishings. Sadly, it hasn't operated as a hotel since the 1970s.

The project would see a complete overhaul of the defunct cable-car link to Macuto on the Caribbean side of the Avila, which would allow visitors from Caracas to reach the beaches there via the mountain.

Getting to the fair was an adventure in itself as all the visitors, exhibitors, performers and reporters who attended the four-day event arrived in one of the 70 new cable cars, which take no more than 18 minutes to travel the 3.5 kilometres from the base of the mountain in Mariperez, Caracas, to the Waraira-Repano station on the Avila.

Inaugurated in September 1955 by then Venezuelan president General Marcos Perez Jimenez, the cable car system fell into disuse in the 1970s and had to be completely overhauled in 2000 by a private concession called Avila Magica.

In 2008 the cable car system and the installations on the mountain returned to the state and are now run by the government tour operator Venetur.

La Gran Sabana - Spectacular slideshow of images

dogzbolox@hotmail.com (Russell Maddicks) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:16:00 +0000

Angel Falls a finalist for New 7 Natural Wonders

dogzbolox@hotmail.com (Russell Maddicks) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 17:45:00 +0000

It's official. The highest waterfall in the world and Venezuela's greatest tourist attraction, Angel Falls, has been announced as one of the 28 finalists in a competition to find the New Seven Wonders of Nature.

The final 28 were unveiled on 21 July in Zurich by the Swiss-based non-profit organization the New7Wonders Foundation.

Angel Falls, or Salto Angel as it is known in Venezuela, was chosen from among 77 natural wonders that had been whittled down from 261 suggested global landmarks following an online vote and a final decision by a panel of experts.

Led by the ex-director general of UNESCO, Federico Mayor Zaragoza, the panel made their selection using criteria such as natural beauty, ecological importance, historical importance and geographical location, to have an equal distribution by continent.

Cascading spectacularly from the top of flat-topped mountain Auyan-tepui into the Churun River below, Angel Falls is a worthy candidate for the New Seven Wonders of Nature.

Located in remote jungle more than 100 km from the nearest town, Angel Falls drops 979 metres from the top of the mountain - with an uninterrupted drop of 807 metres - and is 19 times higher than Niagara Falls.

The only way to get to the base of the falls is by navigating the Carrao and Churun rivers in a two day trip by dugout canoe from the jungle camp of Canaima.

Other succesful finalists include The Amazon rainforest, Australia's Great Barrier Reef, Ecuador's Galapagos Islands, The Grand Canyon in the USA, Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa and the Dead Sea.

In the final phase of the competition, the public will now have the chance to select their top seven from the list of 28 natural wonders.

The succesful seven will be announced in 2011.

The man who came up with the idea, Swiss-Canadian filmmaker and aviator Bernard Weber, says his goal is to raise awareness about the natural treasures of the planet and the need to conserve them.

The foundation's slogan is: "If we want to save anything, we first need to truly appreciate it."

Critics have questioned the fact that some governments have led high-profile media campaigns to get people to vote for their natural wonders, given the clear tourism benefits that this kind of competition can generate.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, which has its own list of Cultural and Natural Heritage Sights, has definitely not welcomed the initiative saying that the list of the New Seven Wonders finalists "will be the result of a private undertaking, reflecting only the opinions of those with access to the Internet and not the entire world."

And skeptics might wonder why well-known landmarks like Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world, didn't make the list.

But casting aside the scientific basis of the competition, or whether it's fair or even representative, the only way to get Angel Falls on the list of the New Seven Wonders of Nature is to get voting on the New7Wonders website:

Video clip of Angel Falls from David Attenborough's BBC series "Planet Earth"

Report on Jimmie Angel and the "Discovery" of Angel Falls

Spectacular video clip of oldest base Jumper to leap from the top of Angel Falls

Auyan-tepui, Angel Falls and Pemon myths

Travel article: Cueva del Guacharo - Oilbirds and Elephant Ears

Will Angel Falls become one of the New 7 Natural Wonders?

dogzbolox@hotmail.com (Russell Maddicks) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:43:00 +0000

Newsflash! The results are in and Angel Falls is one of the 28 finalists vying to become one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature. Read about it here:

Will Angel Falls become one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature? It seems like the voting has been going on for ever but there's not long now before we find out if the world's highest waterfall and Venezuela's greatest tourist attraction has made it into the Top 28 finalists.

All voting is currently on hold, as the New7Wonders panel of experts considers the TOP 77 nominees from the second phase of the online voting that ended on 7 July.

The panel's decision on which of the 77 nominees make the list for the 28 Official Finalist Candidates will be announced on 21 July at seven minutes past midday gmt.

Angel Falls is the only Venezuelan natural wonder to make it into the Top 77 in the category for Lakes, Rivers and Waterfalls.

Other succesful South American candidates include the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador, Iguazu Falls shared by Brazil and Argentina, Kaietur Falls in Guyana, the Atacama Desert in Chile and Lake Titicaca shared by Bolivia and Peru.

After the 28 finalists have been revealed on 21 July, voting will then resume again to decide the final seven Wonders of Nature.

The organizers estimate that by the time the finalists are revealed in 2011 over 1 billion votes will have been cast.

Back in 2007 more than 100 million people from all over the world cast votes for hundreds of architechural gems in a search for the 7 New Wonders of the World.

The final seven were Machu Picchu in Peru, the Pyramid of Chichen Itza in Mexico, Christ the Redeemer in Rio, Brazil, the Colosseum in Rome, Italy, the Great Wall of China, the ancient city of Petra in Jordan and the Taj Mahal in India.

Fingers crossed for Angel Falls on 21 July and thanks to all who voted.

Report on Jimmie Angel and the "Discovery" of Angel Falls

Video clip of Angel Falls from David Attenborough's BBC series "Planet Earth"

Spectacular video clip of oldest base Jumper to leap from the top of Angel Falls

Auyan-tepui, Angel Falls and Pemon myths

Travel article: Cueva del Guacharo - Oilbirds and Elephant Ears

The Dolphin People - Novel set in Venezuelan jungle

dogzbolox@hotmail.com (Russell Maddicks) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 13:58:00 +0000

A small plane crashes deep in the Venezuelan jungle. A family fleeing the post-WWII nightmare of occupied Germany is captured by a warlike tribe living far from civilization. Fortunately for the blonde-haired newcomers the Indians believe they are magical river dolphins who have taken human form. Can the stranded Germans keep up the pretense? Or will they be discovered, cast out or killed?

A full-on survival story set in Venezuela's Amazonas region, Torsten Krol's debut novel "The Dolphin People" reinvents the Boys Own adventure yarn for a 21st century audience with some tongue-in-cheek twists that will have you laughing out loud or squirming in your seat.

The book starts with German teen Erich and his younger brother Zeppi leaving behind the ashes of a defeated Fatherland and setting sail for a new life in South America with their widowed mother Helga.

It's 1946 and Helga has agreed to marry her dead husband's brother Klaus, a doctor who has settled in southern Venezuela.

After a brief marriage in Ciudad Bolivar, Klaus takes his new family to the airport where they board a plane to a remote jungle camp. Flying into a storm over heavy jungle, the plane is buffeted by heavy winds and rain before crashing into a river, leaving Klaus, Erich, Zeppi and Helga cold, wet, lost and stranded, without food, shelter or hope of rescue.

The only thing Erich has managed to cling onto is the Iron Cross his dead father received from Adolf Hitler.

The family's adventure begins in earnest when Erich meets a group of naked men in the jungle, hunters from the Yayomi tribe, who believe these strange white people washed up on the river bank are mythical dolphin spirits in human form.

Before it is over, one unfortunate bather will be stripped to the bone by a frenzied school of razor-toothed piranhas, another will have experienced the excruciating pain of being entered by the insidious "willy fish", or candiru, and Erich will have grown from an innocent boy brought up with the certainties of Nazi Germany to a young man ready to fight for his survival.

In the meantime, Krol paints a caricatured but convincing portrait of his fictional Yayomi tribe, clearly based on the Yanomami given the specifics of their unique funeral ritual of eating the bones of the dead crushed into plantain soup.

By pitting Nazis against the Yayomi, Krol has created a novel that works on many levels. On the one hand it can be enjoyed as a traditional jungle adventure, but it can also be read as a critique of the "savage", "stone age" label so often applied when describing rainforest peoples.

Who are the savages here? The Yayomi, living in harmony with their environment, or the Nazi doctor Klaus, representing an ideology that engulfed the world in a brutal world war and justified the murder of 6 million men women and children because of their religion.

Klaus's certainty of his own racial superiority over the Yayomi rings especially hollow, knowing what we do of the Holocaust and the death camps.

This fast-paced page turner is a strong debut for Krol, who is better known for his second novel Callisto, a satirical sideswipe at Islamaphobia in the USA.

The author is something of a mystery himself. The publisher refuses to grant interviews with him, saying only that Krol is a reclusive Australian writer living in Queensland.

However, there has been speculation in the Australian press that he - or she - is an established author writing under a pseudonym.

From the Daily Telegraph - "50 of the Best Holiday Reads"
"Could this be the new Life of Pi? The Dolphin People is a madcap South American adventure story in the tradition of Robinson Crusoe, by the cult author Torsten Krol. A German widow and her two sons set sail for a new life in Venezuela, but become stranded with the stone-age Yayomi people, who fête them as reincarnated dolphin-gods. Unputdownable."

To buy "The Dolphin People" click here:

Pixar's "Up" takes video gamers to Venezuela

dogzbolox@hotmail.com (Russell Maddicks) — Tue, 26 May 2009 16:12:00 +0000

As cinemas across the USA prepare to show Pixar-Disney's new 3D adventure movie UP - set in and around Angel Falls and the majestic tepui mountains of Venezuela's Canaima National Park - gamers can look forward to "Up: The Video Game" by THQ, which takes grumpy septuagenarian Carl Fredricksen and his young sidekick Russell on a series of further misadventures through the "undiscovered jungles of South America".

All the characters from the movie appear, including Dug the speaking dog and the villainous Muntz, who has spent years trying to track down a living specimen of the prehistoric bird that Russell finds and nicknames "Kevin".

The aim of the game is for Carl, Russell and Dug to work together to navigate treacherous jungles and rugged tepui mountains, battle exotic beasts like anacondas and crocodiles and stop Muntz from getting his hands on Kevin.

The game is released in a range of formats, including Wii, Xbox, Nintendo DS, Playstation 3 and Windows Vista/XP.

Watching the clip, it looks almost as exciting as climbing tepuis like Roraima and Auyantepui for real, but without the downsides like itchy mosquito bites, drenching tropical downpours, getting lost in dense mist and spending shivering nights in a leaky tent.

To buy "UP: The Video Game" click here:

Venezuela: Paradise of Birds

dogzbolox@hotmail.com (Russell Maddicks) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 21:07:00 +0000

With its distinctive geographic areas encompassing Caribbean beaches and Andean mountains, and its location on a major migration route, Venezuela has a growing reputation as one of the most spectacular countries in the world for birdwatching, or birding as it is known to practitioners.

International twitchers flock to the Llanos to see elegant White egrets, prehistoric Hoatzins and giant Jabirus. Others visit the cloud forests of the Henri Pitter National Park, on the roads to Cuyagua or Choroni, to see Rufous-cheeked Tanagers and White-tipped Quetzals, or trek through the jungles of Amazonas State to try and catch a glimpse of a rare Harpy Eagle, a magnificent predator that can snatch a monkey or a sloth from the high canopy without missing a wing beat.

Few visitors can fail to be impressed by the Guacharo Cave in Caripe and the nocturnal Oilbirds that fly out en masse to feed as the sun sets.

So what is about Venezuela's bird life that's so unique? We spoke to British bird expert Chris Sharpe, who has been working in conservation and as a birding guide in Venezuela since 1988.

Venezuela has been described as a "Paradise of Birds". Is this because of the numbers of birds you can see in the country or the unique species you find there?

Both. An average two week guided trip to northern Venezuela will encounter 500 plus bird species - not far off the total number ever recorded in the UK. Unique species might include anything from the skulking Merida Tapaculo to the showy Northern Screamer, or from the diminutive and - until recently - almost unknown Scallop-breasted Antpitta to the stunning White-tipped Quetzal. Showy birds like our two Cocks-of-the-Rock, Scarlet Ibis, the three Hawk-Eagles, Solitary Eagle, Harpy Eagle and Red Siskin are more easily and regularly seen in Venezuela than anywhere else.

In terms of endemic species what are the highlights and where can you see them?

The main areas of endemism are the uplands: the Tepuis, the Andes and the Coastal Cordilleras. Venezuela has dozens of endemic species and, in addition to some of those mentioned above, they include the Pygmy Palm-Swift of the Maracibo Basin, the woodpecker-like Chestnut Piculet of the arid northwest, Merida's Rose-crowned Parakeet, the colourful Venezuelan Troupial, the cryptic Guttulated Foliage-gleaner of the Coastal Cordillera, and the aptly-named Flutist Wren and Red-banded Fruiteater of the Tepui region.

How does Venezuela compare to other countries in the region such as Colombia, Brazil or Peru?

Brazil, Colombia and Peru vie for the status of top country for birds, with over 1,700 species recorded in each. Venezuela boasts 1,340 species, making it number six on a world ranking. However, Venezuela is relatively compact and has a better transport network than any of the others, so it is ideal for the birders who pursue these species.

How long typically do most birders spend in the country and what is a typical itinerary?

The birders we assist spend anything from a day (tacked onto a business visit, for example) to three months, but two weeks is the duration of a typical trip for the nature tour companies we supply. Our most popular itinerary is Henri Pittier National Park, the Merida Andes and one of the Hatos in the llanos with about five days in each region. After that, people usually return for a fortnight to bird the Paria Peninsula, Oilbird Cave and Tepuis.

Where would you take somebody just starting out as a birdwatcher?

The Avila National Park, adjoining Caracas is a wonderful place to start. Over the years, I've taken many beginners there and we have observed anything from White-tailed Nightjars to Lilac-tailed Parrotlets and Foothill Screech-Owls to Ornate Hawk-Eagles!

What should people be aware of before they come birding in Venezuela?

The main thing to remember is that Venezuela is more of a challenge to the independent birder than, say, Costa Rica, Belize or Mexico. Few people speak English, permits to access birding areas are tricky to obtain, car hire is a nightmare and security is a concern. For that reason, most people engage a reputable local guide or form part of an organised tour.

Is there a "bible" to birding in Venezuela or do tourists need to hunt around for information?

Venezuela is one of the best known countries for birding and there is a long and distinguished ornithological tradition with a wealth of published information. The twin Testaments are Mary Lou Goodwin's "Birding in Venezuela" which advises on where to go and Steve Hilty's "Birds of Venezuela" which helps you to identify what you see.

What is your favourite place for birdwatching?

My favourite place is the Tepui region, especially the Canaima National Park, with La Escalera being about as good as it gets for me - anywhere in the world. I first visited the Tepuis in the 1980s and have had the pleasure to return many times since that and even work there. Sierra de Perija and Junglaven are close seconds.

When did you first come to Venezuela and why?

Together with three fellow students, I organised a zoological expedition for the University of Cambridge. Based above the village of Macuro, we studied the threatened endemic birds of the Paria Peninsula for BirdLife International and Flora and Fauna International. I became involved with Provita and the Venezuelan Audubon Society and stayed to work on conservation projects.

Was it a shock coming from your hometown of Yorkshire in the north of England to the tropical wilds of Venezuela?

No. It was a wonderful experience, not in the least shocking. I was so warmly received by the Venezuelans that I decided to stay.

Are there any birds in Venezuela that you still haven't ticked on your list?

Oh yes, there are probably hundreds to go. However, I am not a "lister", so I can't tell you just how many. I like the idea that there is always something new and unknown for me out there!

Can you describe your most magical birding moment in Venezuela?
Probably rediscovering the Recurve-billed Bushbird, a bird that had not been seen since 1964, during an exploration of the Sierra de Perijá. I had heard a song I did not recognise and knew it must be the Bushbird. I whistled an imitation and, after a short interval, a male and female dropped into the mist net. It was such a privilege to be the first ornithologist to set eyes on these birds for half a century.

Is there a single word that sums up the experience of birdwatching in Venezuela?

"Crippling" is a term that British birders often use - perhaps "astonishing" would be a fair translation.

For more information about birding in Venezuela visit Chris Sharpe's comprehensive website: http://www.birdvenezuela.com. Alternatively you can contact him direct by email at sharpebirder@gmail.com. Chris owns and runs Venezuela's premier bird tour operator, Birding Venezuela, which organises Venezuela tours for the major British and American bird tour companies. In addition to his conservation work, he leads bird tours throughout America, from Alaska to Argentina.

Click here for report about the Guacharo Cave in Caripe

Video: The Sights and Sounds of the Guacharo Cave

To see Steven L. Hilty's field guide "Birds of Venezuela" click here:

No carnival for British couple caught with cocaine

dogzbolox@hotmail.com (Russell Maddicks) — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 19:40:00 +0000

With sentences of 10-12 years for drug-smuggling in Venezuela, filling up your suitcase with several kilos of cocaine and trying to board a plane to the UK is not only stupid it's insane.

So it was sad to hear that a young British couple with four children on a First Choice package holiday to Margarita Island were arrested at Santiago Marino airport with 24 kilos of cocaine hidden in their luggage.

According to reports in the Venezuelan media, holidaymakers Paul and Laura Makin from the Liverpool suburb of Birkenhead were boarding a charter flight to Gatwick on the morning of Monday, 16 February, when three of the family's suitcases were checked by officers from the National Guard's Special Anti-Drugs Unit.

The officers broke open the suitcases and found 24 kilos of suspected cocaine hidden in secret compartments.

UK reports have put the street value of the seized cocaine at 1.2 million dollars.

The couple, both 31, were immediately arrested and charged with drug-trafficking. They have been remanded to San Antonio prison on the island - Paul in an open dormitory and Laura in a private cell.

Their two-year-old twins, and a seven-year-old boy and an eight-year-old girl from Laura Makin's previous relationship were taken to the Cuidado Ligia de Tovar children's home in Valle del Espiritu Santo.

Now, in a bizarre twist, Paul Makin has told British reporters that he thought he would be smuggling diamonds, not cocaine, and he takes full responsibility for what happened.

"When the officers sliced the cases open and peeled back the grey gaffer tape and I saw a white substance I was devastated," he told a reporter.

"As soon as I saw it I knew it was likely to be cocaine.

"I kept asking, 'what's the problem?' One of them said, 'It's cocaina.' "It was like someone had plunged a knife in my heart."

Makin is a bus driver who served as a soldier with the Chesire Regiment until 2002. He is wanted in the UK by British police after an arrest warrant was issued for him on 9 February for failing to turn up at Liverpool Crown Court to answer charges of affray and possessing a machete.

The couple's lawyer John Wheate has said that family members have flown out to Venezuela to see the children. The father of Jack and Megan, the older children, is reportedly on his way too.

It is hoped the kids will be able to fly home soon, but that all depends on the paperwork being signed.

This is a bad time to be locked up in Venezuela. The annual carnival celebrations are underway all over the country and will drag on for at least a week. Margarita tourist officials have said they expect tens of thousands of local holidaymakers to arrive and the authorities will be tied up with policing the beaches and music events.

The Makins will probably have to wait at least a month for their case to be reviewed as no paperwork will be undertaken until the island returns to normal.

And it's no holiday being locked up in Venezuela. Margarita may be a tropical paradise but the Makins cannot expect resort conditions in San Antonio.

Venezuelan prisons are dangerous, overcrowded places where drugs and guns are rife. You need money to pay for protection and get a good cell away from the overcrowded pavilions where most of the violence takes place. Everything you need has to be bought or bartered for and decent food is extortionately priced.

In March 2001, a 26-year-old British woman called Sarah Langton from Northampton who was doing a five-year stretch for cocaine smuggling died in a women's prison in Los Teques, near Caracas, after slipping into a diabetic coma.

Irene Campbell, a 53-year-old Scottish social worker with eight grandchildren was sentenced to six years and nine months in 2000 when eight kilos of cocaine were found in her suitcase at Margarita's Santiago Marino airport.

Like the Makin's she was held in San Antonio prison. Her daughter who visited her in jail said she had lost five kilos and had developed a heart condition from the constant stress of being incarcerated there.

The most famous recent case was the two young guys from Leicester, James Miles and Paul Loseby, who served four years in the notorious Yare prison after being caught at Simon Bolivar International Airport in Maiquetia with waistcoats filled with 10 kilos of cocaine.

The boys insisted they were innocent and had been made to wear the waistcoats at gunpoint. The judge didn't believe them and they were sentenced to four years, later increased to eight.

Miles was 18 at the time of his arrest and was on his first trip abroad. After arriving back in England he told an interviewer of the horrors of prison life: "The conditions were like hell. At first we were scared because everyone had knives. So we had to get knives as well."

Eventually, after being let out on parole, they managed to skip the country and fly home.

Loseby, who contracted Tuberculosis in jail, has suffered the effects since.

In 2007, out of some 1,500 foreigners in Venezuelan prisons 23 were British, the majority of them banged up for drug-smuggling.

According to a report in Britain's Sunday Mirror in 2002, Colombian drug gangs in the UK are increasingly targeting couples to act as couriers. Two reporters, who went undercover, contacted a man who said he was looking for people to courier drugs from South America to the UK.

He said they would be booked into a resort in Margarita for ten days or a fortnight and at the end of their stay the suitcases containing the cocaine would be delivered to them. All they had to do was bring them back.

They were also told that two or three couples would be coming back on the same plane as them, presumably, to increase the chances of getting the drugs through.

The couple were told they would earn 7,000 pounds each.

It must seem like easy money when you're in an English pub being told by some blinged up gangster how easy it is to get through customs, how many people get away it and how much money you're going to make. And there's also the appeal of an all expenses paid two-week holiday of sun and fun in a foreign resort.

But for those who get caught the results are life changing.

Click here to read Donald Macneil's gripping account of his time in San Antonio jail in Margarita: "Journey to Hell: Inside the World's Most Violent Prison System

Pixar movie "Up" explores Venezuela's Lost World

dogzbolox@hotmail.com (Russell Maddicks) — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:11:00 +0000

"There's adventure out there!"

Venezuela makes it onto the big screen this May as Pixar's latest animated characters explore the mysterious tepui mountains of the Gran Sabana in the comedy movie "Up".

The movie is billed as "a 3-D tale about a grumpy old man who ties balloons to his house and floats away with it to the South American jungle."

Some insider sources have suggested that "Up" is a loose adaptation of Miguel de Cervantes classic novel "Don Quixote", but it's more like the Wizard of Oz.

The story revolves around a curmudgeonly old balloon salesman called Carl Fredricksen (voiced by Ed Asner), a 78-year-old widower who promised his late wife Ellie that he would take her away to "Paradise Falls", the most beautiful and awe-inspiring waterfall in South America (based on Venezuela's Angel Falls).

When developers threaten to move him into an old people's home, he decides to fulfill his promise to Ellie and embarks on a barmy plan to explore the globe in his own house.

However, after tying 10,000 ballons to his home and sailing up into the sky he gets a nasty shock when he finds an 8-year-old Wilderness Ranger called Russell stowed away on his front porch.

A report in Entertainment Weekly quotes co-director Pete Docter - who directed Monster Inc. - saying the Pixar team initially considered a desert island for Carl and Russell's destination but finally settled on Venezuela's majestic tabletop mountains after visiting the highest waterfall in the world Angel Falls and climbing a tepui called Mount Roraima.

This area in the far south of Venezuela near the borders with Brazil and Guyana is known as "The Lost World" after a 1912 adventure novel of the same name by Arthur Conan Doyle - the creator of Sherlock Holmes - which tells the tale of a group of British explorers who climb a tepui only to find deadly dinosaurs and terrifying pterodactyls inhabiting its summit.

Conan Doyle based his imaginary Lost World on descriptions of Mount Roraima by the first people to climb it, Everard Im Thurn and Harry I. Perkins, who were on an 1884 expedition to conquer the mountain sponsored by the Royal Geographical Society.

Im Thurn described the summit of the flat-topped mountain as having "wildly extraordinary scenery" and "rocks and pinnacles of extraordinary shapes; seeming to defy every law of gravity!"

Anybody who's ever been to the summit of Roraima will instantly understand Im Thurn's wonder at the ancient black rocks of the summit and the strange shapes they have been worn into by eons of erosion by the rain.

The explorer marveled at "rocks ridiculous at every point with countless apparent caricatures of the faces and forms of men and animals, apparent caricatures of umbrellas, tortoises, churches, cannons and of innumerable other incongruous and unexpected objects."

The Pixar team have done an incredible job of recreating the strange summit of Roraima in Up.

To make sure they got the feel of such an otherwordly place, the director Pete Docter and 11 Pixar artists climbed Roraima in 2004.

"We hiked up to the top of the mountain and stayed there for three nights, painting and sketching," Docter says, adding "it was great" and "everybody made it out alive."

In another interview he described Venezuela's Lost World of tepui mountains as "a fantastic, weird place" with the "oldest rock on earth".

Ronnie Del Carmen, a story artist who worked on the film, writes on his blog that visiting Roraima was "the grand daddy of all research trips. Easily the most adventurous, rigorous trip I've ever been involved in (and I've been in a few. They are a walk in the park by comparison)."

According to del Carmen there was "danger at every turn: snakes, falling off cliffs, lethal bugs, spelunking under a crumbling cave ceiling... you know, fun."

"Up!" will be the first Pixar film to be presented in Disney Digital 3-D.

It is also the first animated feature to ever kick off the prestigious Cannes film festival - after it shared the limelight on 13 May with Quentin Tarantino's movie "Inglourious Basterds" and Terry Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus" - Heath Ledger's last movie.

Pixar's Up will go on US release on 29 May and a video game based on the movie came out on 26 May.

By Russell Maddicks

To buy "UP: The Video Game" click here:

Arthur Conan Doyle's epic adventure yarn "The Lost World" is set in Venezuela's Gran Sabana region

Related posts:

Report on Jimmie Angel and the "Discovery" of Angel Falls

Auyan-tepui, Angel Falls and Pemon myths

Video clip of Angel Falls from David Attenborough's BBC series "Planet Earth"

Spectacular video clip of oldest base Jumper to leap from the top of Angel Falls

Indigenous Pemon myth: "The Great Flood and the Creation of Roraima"

From Disney*Pixar comes "Up", a comedy adventure about 78-year-old balloon salesman Carl Fredericksen, who finally fulfills his lifelong dream of a great adventure when he ties thousands of balloons to his house and flies away to the wilds of South America.

But he discovers all too late that his biggest nightmare has stowed away on the trip: an overly optimistic 8-year-old Wilderness Explorer named Russell.

'Up' takes audiences on a thrilling journey where the unlikely pair encounter wild terrain, unexpected villains and jungle creatures.

From the Academy Award-nominated director Pete Docter (Monsters, Inc.), Disney*Pixar's "Up" invites you on a hilarious journey into a lost world, with the least likely duo on Earth.

Up will be presented in Disney Digital 3-D in select theatres.

Paragliding in Merida - On a wing and a prayer

dogzbolox@hotmail.com (Russell Maddicks) — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 21:15:00 +0000

Following his inner adrenaline junkie, Russell Maddicks overcame his fear of heights to fly high in the Venezuelan Andes with paragliding pioneer Jose Albarran of Fanny Tours.

After all the macho chat on the drive up the mountain, it was a sobering moment when I finally stepped into the harness and peered over the edge to the broiling waters of the Chama River in the valley far below.

The jump off point at Tierra Negra is at 1,500 metres above sea level, and I was now faced with the prospect of a 900-metre descent to the village of Las Gonzalez.

In a few minutes, I thought with a sinking feeling, I shall have to step off this mountain with only a flimsy length of brightly-coloured fabric tied to my waist to stop me plunging onto the jagged rocks of the Chama Valley.

Somehow, risking my life for a "cool experience" didn't seem like such a good idea. But I wouldn't be alone, thank god, I would be flying tandem, meaning a qualified paraglider would be taking me up and, hopefully, down in one piece.

It was a good idea to go tandem. Given the force of the wind up at Tierra Negra, If I jumped off this mountain on my own I'd probably be blown all the way to Brazil.

It had all started down in Merida, Venezuela's most popular tourist destination and a rapidly growing centre for adventure sports.

Passing by Fanny Tours I bumped into Jose Albarran, something of a local legend for his exploits as a mountaineer and a pioneer of paragliding, which is known here as "parapente".

Jose's wife Patrizia, a lovely Swiss lady from Lugano, was quick to assure me that Fanny Tours had nothing to do with naughty nights on the town but was in fact the name of the previous owner, a name they were now stuck with.

"At least it gets us noticed," she said.

Patrizia met Jose years ago, when he took her on a tandem flight that led to love. They now run one of the best adventure businesses in Merida, offering climbing tours to the highest local peaks, mountain biking through lovely mountain villages, canyoning, white-water rafting and, of course, paragliding.

Locally, Jose is better known as "Piojo" ("Flea") for his exploits on some of the hardest rock climbs in South America, the USA and Canada and I had heard great things about him from some extreme-sports fanatics I knew in Caracas.

A tall, thin guy with a ponytail and a winning smile, Jose was keen to show me the local paragliding scene, especially Las Gonzalez, which he called "el pueblo de los voladores" ("the town of the flyers").

I had flown tandem before with another pioneer of the sport called David Castillejo, better known as "Cafe" - they all have nicknames in Venezuela. The first time I had flown tandem was on a ridge above El Hatillo, near Caracas, and the second was close to La Victoria, on the road down from Colonia Tovar.

But I had only flown from relatively low hills and for short distances, just 15 minutes or so in the air.

Merida is a completely different prospect. Surrounded by jagged Andean peaks and wide glacial valleys, Merida offers paragliders strong winds and high-altitude launch sites.

And that means much longer flights, more pirouettes in the air and plenty of spectacular scenery seen from above - if you can bear to look down.

It also meant I would have to overcome my irrational fear of heights and the jelly-legs response that usually accompanies it.

"It's the closest you'll ever get to flying like a condor," Jose said, sensing my trepidation. "I've never lost a tourist yet," he added with a big smile.

And that was that. I mean, who doesn't want to soar like a condor over the Andes?

Up at Tierra Negra, the gusts of wind were strong enough to blow my hat off when we first arrived and it was about 20 nail-biting minutes before Jose felt the wind had calmed down enough for us to take off.

Then suddenly, it was all go.

Jose called me over and strapped my harness to his, the parachute opened above us as if by magic and before I could say "No Way, Jose!" we were up, up and away, my feet gliding over hundreds of metres of nothing but air.

Flying tandem is an incredibly exhilarating experience. Once I had settled back into the seat tied to my harness all I had to do was settle back and enjoy the ride.

Using the air currents gushing up the valley, Jose flew us parrallel to the ridge, back and forth in slow swoops that gave us plenty of time to take in the scenery.

The views of the mountains were spectacular and we could see the city of Merida spread over its flat plateau like an elaborate arrangement on a rectangular wedding cake.

But the best bit was seeing other paragliders gracefully soaring above and below us, although it was hard to imagine that we were doing the same thing.

The only sound was the wind in my ears as we did the turns.

I have to admit, I had a few white knuckle moments as we shifted our weight to turn and the parachute seemed to give a little, but Jose was great and made it all seem easy.

That said, after 45 minutes in the air all I wanted was to get my feet back on solid ground. I also wanted a drink of something strong that would warm me up, get the circulation going and put some strength back into my wobbly legs.

Luckily, Jose's friend in Las Gonzalez makes his own chuchuguaza - the strongest cane-alcohol homebrew I've ever tried.

To be honest, I could have done with some chuchuguaza before I put on the harness and jumped off the side of the mountain but a few shots of jungle juice certainly hit the spot when I did get down.

The landing was as unexpected as the takeoff. As we circled down towards the valley floor Jose told me to slip out of my seat and get ready to run, but in the end he simply pulled the chords tight, the parachute opened and closed and we landed softly in a heap on the ground.

All in all, it had been an unforgettable experience and I had overcome my fear of heights, albeit temporarily, thanks to Jose.

Adenaline junkie? Eat your heart out Jack Osbourne.

To contact Fanny Tours, visit their webpage:
Fanny Tours and Adventures

Venezuelan poetry: Rafael Cadenas - Las Paces

dogzbolox@hotmail.com (Russell Maddicks) — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 14:38:00 +0000

The results of the 2008 Stephen Spender Prize for Poetry Translation were published today in The Times newspaper and, unfortunately, I didn't win.

I wanted to raise the profile of Venezuelan poetry and in particular the work of Rafael Cadenas, a poet from Barquisimeto who has produced a really outstanding body of work.

I'll have to try again next year with some more Venezuelan poetry.

In the meantime I thought I might as well post my entry to the Stephen Spender Prize for anybody interested in learning a bit more about Cadenas.

Commentary

With so much great poetry coming out of Venezuela and so many poets from the past and present to choose from it was hard to narrow my selection to just one text, but I was determined to translate a poem from Venezuela because so few works are accessible to non-Spanish speakers.

In the end, this piece by Rafael Cadenas (born 1930, Barquisimeto) stood out from the rest because it illustrates quite beautifully the sometimes fraught relationship between the poet and his creation.

Cadenas often uses internal dialogues like this in his work, sometimes as observations on his surroundings or imaginary conversations.

In some cases these are reduced to enigmatic or disjointed phrases but this poem is more immediately accessible and illustrates the poet's playful side.

The title "Las Paces" is shorthand for the Spanish phrase "hacer las paces", which means making peace or making up after an argument or a tiff between lovers.

Cadenas uses the "tu" form throughout, which is typical in informal conversation in Venezuelan Spanish and illustrates the closeness of the relationship Cadenas has with his poem, which he talks to as if it were an old friend.

It is also clear that the poet is at the end of his tether when he says: "We have wrestled so much", and then "free yourself from me now".

The creative process is a difficult one, as anybody who has stared at a blank white page will know. Frustrated by his attempts to create something inspired, Cadenas urges the poem to take over and "force your course on the writer".

The final line is almost pleading. It can be read in a number of ways: quietly, like a lover so tired by squabbles and fights that he wants the whole thing over; or loudly, like a woman in labour screaming for the baby to emerge.

On a universal level, the poem expresses the eternal battle between the creator and his or her creation, which if successful, takes on a life of its own.

Las Paces - Making Peace

Let's make a deal, poem.
I won't force you to say what you don't want to
and you won't be so resistant to my wishes.
We have wrestled so much.
Why this insistence on making you in my own image
when you know things I don't suspect?
Free yourself from me now.
Flee without a backward glance.
Save yourself before it's too late.
Because you always outdo me,
you know how to say what drives you
and I do not,
because you are more than yourself
and I am only someone who tries to recognize himself in you.
I have limits to my desire
and you have none,
you just go where you wish
without seeing the hand you move
and which you think is yours when you feel yourself emerge from it
like something that springs forth.
Force your course on the writer, he
only knows how to hide you,
to bury the novelty,
to impoverish you.
What it shows is tired
repetition.
Poem,
leave me.

("Poemas selectos" 2004)

Las paces

Lleguemos a un acuerdo, poema.
Ya no te forzaré a decir lo que no quieres
ni tú te resistirás tanto a lo que deseo.
Hemos forcejeado mucho.
¿Para qué este empeño en hacerte a mi imagen
cuando sabes cosas que no sospecho?
Líbrate ya de mí.
Huye sin mirar atrás.
Sálvate antes de que sea tarde.
Pues siempre me rebasas,
sabes decir lo que te impulsa
y yo no,
porque eres más que tú mismo
y yo sólo soy el que trata de reconocerse en ti.
Tengo la extensión de mi deseo
y tú no tienes ninguno,
sólo avanzas hacia donde te diriges
sin mirar la mano que mueves
y te cree suyo cuando te siente brotar de ella
como una sustancia
que se erige.
Imponle tu curso al que escribe, él
sólo sabe ocultarse,
cubrir la novedad,
empobrecerse.
Lo que muestra es una reiteración
cansada.
Poema,
apártate de mí.

("Poemas selectos" 2004)

Make Angel Falls one of the 7 Wonders of Nature

dogzbolox@hotmail.com (Russell Maddicks) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 20:22:00 +0000

Newsflash! The results are in and Angel Falls is one of the 28 finalists vying to become one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature. Read about it here:

After the success of the 7 New Wonders of the World campaign in 2007, the organizers have now launched a similar internet search for the Seven Wonders of Nature and Venezuela's Angel Falls could be one of them - if enough people vote for it.

Back in 2007 more than 100 million people from all over the world cast votes for hundreds of architechural gems.

The final seven Wonders of the World were Machu Picchu in Peru, the Pyramid of Chichen Itza in Mexico, Christ the Redeemer in Rio, Brazil, the Colosseum, in Rome, Italy, the Great Wall of China, the ancient city of Petra in Jordan, and the Taj Mahal in India.

This time it's all about natural treasures and, apart from Angel Falls, Venezuela has seven other candidates, including the Los Roques Archipelago, Auyantepui Mountain, Mount Roraima, Pico Bolivar, Sarisarinama Mountain, the Guacharo Cave, the Gran Sabana and Canaima National Park.

The voting system is simple, you just have to visit this page and introduce your email and a few details that they promise will not be used for any purposes apart from the voting.

Basically, every vote counts, so please get in there and give the Venezuelan candidates some votes.

Angel Falls, the highest waterfall in the world, has a good chance of making it into the final 21 if we all mobilize our friends and families to make their votes count.

On 29 September, Angel Falls was 29th on the the live ranking list of the 77 top candidates, with Asia dominating all the spots in the top 10. That's a pretty cool result, considering that Mount Everest is at number 12.

And there's a long way still to go.

Voting for the nominees will continue through to 31 December 2008, when the candidates will be whittled down to one per country, with only the top candidate from each country being allowed to proceed.

Then on 7 July, 2009 the New7Wonders of Nature panel led by Professor Federico Mayor, former Director-General of UNESCO, will review the top 77 nominees and choose 28 finalists, to be announced on 21 July 2009.

Those 28 finalists will then be put to the popular vote.

But before that it's important that the Venezuelan entries get official support. Angel Falls has support from a sponsoring body in Venezuela but it has not been officially recognized yet.

Meanwhile, Iguazu Falls has the full backing of Brazil and Argentina.

Rather ominously, a note on the new7Wonders website for Angel Falls says that unless the issue of sponsorship is resolved Angel Falls "will be eliminated from the finalist section".

But don't despair. Get voting. And lets get all the Venezuelan entries high on that top 77 list, where they deserve to be.

By Russell Maddicks

Report on Jimmie Angel and the "Discovery" of Angel Falls

Video clip of Angel Falls from David Attenborough's BBC series "Planet Earth"

Spectacular video clip of oldest base Jumper to leap from the top of Angel Falls

Travel article: Cueva del Guacharo - Oilbirds and Elephant Ears

Snake handler killed by python in Parque del Este

dogzbolox@hotmail.com (Russell Maddicks) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 23:21:00 +0000

A Venezuelan snake handler was killed by a Burmese python after he broke security rules to visit the 3-metre snake alone at night.
Shocked workers who found the python trying to swallow him headfirst the next day had to fight the snake to make it surrender its gory meal.

It sounds like something out of Weird Tales. An assistant animal handler at the Terrarium in Parque del Este was found by horrified co-workers on the morning of Saturday, August 23, in the cage of a Burmese python that had killed him and was trying to swallow his head.

According to initial reports the workers had to beat the 3-metre (10 ft) snake to get it to release the body of the young man, Erick Daniel Arrieta Marquez, who had entered the snake's cage at night when he suffered the fatal attack.

Two wounds on his left arm suggested the snake had bitten him first and then wrapped around him, slowly crushing the air out of his body before starting to swallow him.

The fire service were called at 7:10 in the morning but when they arrived, the man was dead.

Arrieta Marquez, 29, was a biology student from Santa Barbara in Zulia State, who was working at the Terrarium while he studied at the University of the Andes.

His job entailed giving guided tours of the snakes, spiders and scorpions in the Terrarium, which is run by a concession in the park called Zoocriadero Ecopets.

Based on a petting zoo, visitors who take the guided tours are allowed to handle some of the non-dangerous snakes.

Arrieta Marquez had recently returned from holiday and was doing night shifts.

However, mystery surrounds his death, as he was not supposed to enter the cage of the python while alone at night.

The director of Parque del Este, Javier Hernandez, told Venezuelan daily El Universal that "the young man underestimated the animal's instincts" and had broken the security rules.

Burmese pythons are not native to South America. The snake had been found by hikers a few months earlier on the Avila mountain, near some electricity pylons.

Knowing it was not native to the park they had brought it to Parque del Este and donated it to the Terrarium. It is believed to be a pet that got too large and was released in the dense forests of the Avila to fend for itself.

It was being kept in a restricted part of the Terrarium for observation and study.

Co-workers said Arrieta Marquez had developed a fascination for the animal and liked to feed it with rodents.

Another strange element to the story is that the police believe the young biology student stripped naked before entering the snake's cage.

Dayana Mendoza - Queen of the Universe

dogzbolox@hotmail.com (Russell Maddicks) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 18:10:00 +0000

Venezuela has done it again. In front of a TV audience estimated at over one billion people in 180 countries, 22-year-old Dayana Mendoza took the coveted Miss Universe crown in Vietnam on Monday, becoming the fifth Venezuelan to win the prestigious beauty prize.

Maritza Sayalero first won the competition for Venezuela in 1979. She was followed by Irene Saez Conde in 1981, Barbara Palacios in 1986 and Alicia Machado in 1996.

Famously, Machado was almost stripped of the title after she binged on junk food after the contest and ballooned dramatically in weight.

Venezuelan beauties have also won the Miss World crown five times, a record unmatched by any other country.

Monday's final at the Crown Convention Center in Vietnam's beautiful beach resort of Nha Trang turned out to be a close thing although Mendoza was the bookies favourite from the start.

The biggest upset of the evening was when Miss USA, Crystle Stewart, took a tumble after tripping on her long evening gown. The ungainly fall definitely cost her a place in the runners up.

In the end, four Latinas joined Miss Russia in the final five - Miss Venezuela, Miss Mexico, Miss Colombia and Miss Dominican Republic.

But Mendoza had looked like a winner from the start, and after nervously holding hands with Miss Colombia for a few tense minutes, she was declared the most beautiful woman in the universe by hosts Jerry Springer and Melanie B, aka Scary Spice.

Mendoza was crowned Miss Venezuela in 2007, where she represented Amazonas State. Her other, less glamorous claim to fame is being the victim of an "express kidnapping" in Venezuela 18 months ago.

“It’s something that happens in my country. You don’t even have to have money to be kidnapped," she told reporters after her victory, "that’s why I wanted to raise my voice and tell the world that violence is not the answer."

Avoiding the usual cliches of world peace and making children happy, Miss Venezuela said she would use her year in the spotlight to focus on humanitarian issues.

Now she's won the title, Miss Mendoza might also want to brush up on her interview skills. Asked by one of the judges if she thought men or women had it easier in life she said in English:

"Well actually God made us to share and to have difference, but big difference between women and men, doesn't matter whether kind of life they live, is that men think, that they think that the faster way to go to a point is go straight. Women know that the faster way to go to a point is go to the curve and fix in every curves."

But why go for a straight answer when you've got curves?

Cerro Autana - sacred mountain of the Piaroa

dogzbolox@hotmail.com (Russell Maddicks) — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 19:26:00 +0000

In the next few weeks I'll be travelling down to Puerto Ayacucho, the capital of Venezuela's Amazonas State.

The plan is to jump in a canoe and travel up the Orinoco and Autana rivers to the base of Cerro Autana, the sacred mountain of the Piaroa, a native tribe.

I hope to take photographs of the people and wildlife I meet along the way to post here.

So wish me luck, or buena suerte, and I'll try and bring you the highlights of my travels.

In the meantime, anybody planning a trip to Cerro Autana should contact Vicente Barletta, one of the most experienced and trusted guides in the Amazonas region.

I have travelled with Vicente and was really impressed with his knowledge of the region, the people, the river and his organization.

Vicente's company is called Terekay Adventure and operates out of Puerto Ayacucho.

Terekay Adventure
Web page: http://www.terekay.com.ve/web/
E-mail: terekayadventure@hotmail.com
Phone: 0414-4872123 or 0416-8385637

On the Rio Caura to Para Falls - Trip Photos

dogzbolox@hotmail.com (Russell Maddicks) — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 19:46:00 +0000

The Yekuana village of Nichare seen from the river

Blessed with acidic, tannin-rich water that keeps mosquitoes to a minimum the Caura River is an eco-tourist's dream, with enough wildlife on display to keep budding David Attenboroughs glued to their handycams - and birders in raptures.

Throw in the indigenous villages of Yekuana and Sanema Indians and the largest untouched rainforest in Venezuela and you soon realize you're navigating through National Geographic country.

The tarantula that came to visit in the night

Judging from the numbers of visitors, very few people know about it. So it was a real revelation when I travelled from Las Trincheras to Para Falls, stopping at the indigenous village of Nichare to meet the Yekuana.

The sandy beach of El Playon at the base of Para Falls

Most tours start from Ciudad Bolivar and head by road to Las Trincheras where you transfer to a dugout canoe with an outboard motor for the two day trip upriver to El Playon, the base for a trek to the top of the Para Falls.

Yekuana kids selling baskets and beads at El Playon

The first night is usually in a jungle camp in hammocks, although some operators have more luxurious accomodation. On my trip we spent the second night in hammocks in the Yekuana indian village of Nichare and the third night in El Playon.

Trip Report: A fiesta on the Caura River: Yekuana, Yarake and Yellow Clay

The Rio Caura: Yekuana, Yarake and Yellow Clay

dogzbolox@hotmail.com (Russell Maddicks) — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 18:14:00 +0000

A trip up the Caura River in Venezuela's Bolivar State to the thundering majesty of Para Falls is everything you could want from a jungle adventure and more.

So what could be better than stumbling across a Yekuana Indian fiesta in full swing and being invited to try the local homebrew? That's what happened to Russell Maddicks, who enjoyed an unforgettable night with his new-found chug-buddies in the Yekuana village of Nichare.

Yekuana, Yarake and Yellow Clay

By Russell Maddicks

After an eventful first night on the Caura River that included an encounter with a massive tarantula, some noisy howler monkeys and a delicious feast of roast chicken, our second day brought us to the small Yekuana village of Nichare, home to some 90 people from seven families.

There were ten of us on the trip, seven foreign tourists, myself, the boatman and our guide, Juan Carlos Ramirez of Akanan Tours.

My first impression of Nichare was of a neat collection of picture-postcard huts with mud walls and palm-thatched roofs. The village was reached by a steep slope of yellow clay that led from the river bank.

As we got closer, a group of kids appeared and showed off by diving into the river and clowning about, sliding down the slippery river bank into the water and then swimming up to our bongo - a traditional dugout canoe carved from a single tree trunk.

These kids didn't beg for sweets or biros they just smiled and ran about excitedly as we gingerly made our way up the bank.

As we entered the village it was good to see there was no litter. Everybody was barefoot, the men wearing a pair of shorts, women in a skirt and T-shirt.

Unlike indigenous communities in other parts of Venezuela, there was no sense of poverty here, just a seemingly comfortable co-existence with the jungle and the river.

But Nichare is a place of contradictions. Only four hours boat ride from the road at Las Trincheras it is the closest Yekuana village to "civilization," and hence straddles the border between two worlds: the more traditional Yekuana villages above the Para Falls, and the criollo world to the North.

The villagers have been sending their children to study High School in Maripa or Ciudad Bolivar for years, and it has brought major changes, some good and some bad.

Purists lament the fact that traditional dress is now only worn on special occasions - the few times of the year when the bamboo flutes and monkey-skin drums are dusted off and the sounds of old chants and songs once more fill the forest.

They might also complain about the loss of traditional healing practices to modern medicine, epitomized by the rather ugly breeze block dispensary.

Even the baskets and wood carvings for which the Yekuana of Nichare are famous have changed over the years, affected by the tastes of big-city buyers who order in bulk, favouring the number of animals on a basket, over tradition and authenticity.

But the villagers seem unfazed by all the fuss about their vanishing traditions and seem to have adapted to the encroachment of the world outside without losing their sense of cultural identity or pride.

They still speak Yekuana among themselves. They give their children Yekuana names, although they are rarely divulged to outsiders. They hunt with blowpipes and fish with barbasco, a plant toxin that suffocates the fish and brings them to the surface. They also make the best curiaras in the country, justifying the name "Yekuana", which roughly translates as "canoe people."

More importantly, and perhaps the key to their survival, they show no signs of the inferiority complex that afflicts many other tribal groups, and seem to have been able to take from Western Society only what they need, like medicines and power generators, and leave what they don't.

Party People Love the New Yuca

At first it looked as if we wouldn't be able to stay because the village was celebrating a three-day festival, "not for New year," as the village headman German Rodriguez explained, "but for the new yuca," the root vegetable that provides the Yekuana with most of their sustenance.

But eventually room was found for us to hang our hammocks in the huts Rodriguez uses as a kitchen and workshop.

As night fell the celebration kicked off in the palm-thatched roundhouse at the centre of the village and the sounds of merriment drifted over to where my fellow travellers were bedding down for the night.

Curious, I strolled over to investigate and found young couples shuffling back and forth to a merengue beat that crackled unevenly from two speakers. The sound system was hooked up by a few bare wires to a car battery that also powered the single bulb that lit the scene.

Most of the young men were standing around drinking out of round gourds. The girls, adorned with strings of blue and white beads tied tightly above the ankle and below the knee, walked through the crowd refilling the men's gourds with something that looked suspiciously like watery porridge.

No sooner had I entered the hut when a smiling face pushed a brimming gourd into my hand and told me in Spanish to drink:

"Cerveza indigena. Muy buena!" my new friend said, nudging his mates to make sure they caught my reaction to the local brew.

This was the "new yuca," which had been grated, mashed and left to ferment to make the Yekuana drink called "yarake".

It was a strange taste for somebody used to Stella, Fosters and Polar Ice and it didn't help that my new Yekuana chug-buddies were miming a chewing and spitting action to explain how it was made.

But when in Nichare do as the Yekuana do is my motto, so down the hatch went the yarake, much to the amusement of my new friends.

Copious amounts were being consumed and it wasn't long before a sweet smell of spoilt fruit started to pervade the hot, crowded room.

As the night wore on the party got surreal. The merengue music was playing at a third normal speed because the car battery wasn't powerful enough and the shuffling rhythm of the dancers feet was so loud it became hypnotic.

Except for the girls who silently refilled every gourd as it was emptied, everybody was either shuffling or drinking, or shaking my hand, or slapping my back, or stepping outside to make room for more yarake.

It was at this point that the festivity took on an indigenous life of its own, (and maintained it for three days).

The trappings, like the clothes and the music, were no different from any other bash held down river in the criollo villages of Trincheras, or Maripa, but the monotonous shuffling of those feet, the feeling of community that filled the high-ceilinged roundhouse, the slow-building effect of the yarake was definitely Yekuana.

Stepping out of the sweatbox of the hut and into a cold jungle mist it became immediately clear that the yarake was not as weak as I had thought. My head was spinning and for some reason I thought a refreshing dip in the river would put me right.

Wrong.

Vaguely remembering Juan Carlos' advice that we should shuffle into the dark waters of the river to warn the electric eels and stingrays we were coming, I decided it would be best to take a running dive straight in.

In normal circumstances that would have been no problem, but I was barefoot on wet clay, a little unsteady on my feet and my judgement of distance was less than perfect.

Somehow, before I even got to the edge of the bank I was on my back, moving at speed towards the water in an exhilarating yet somewhat scary bobsled position that propelled me into the river with a mighty splash.

On the positive side, I was immediately refreshed. The water was warmer than I expected and because of all the tannins had a silky feel on the skin that was not unpleasant.

However, I had not reckoned on the difficulties of getting out of the river and it was only after what seemed like an hour of failed attempts to get my wet self up that slippery slope that I finally managed to stagger back to the village, past the party hut, still throbbing with life, and collapse into my hammock.

The next day I woke up in classic big-night-out style. Dry mouth, temporary amnesia over the events of the night before and complete confusion as to why my fellow travellers, who had chosen to pass on the Yekuana fiesta, burst into giggles every time they asked how I was.

But worst of all I could not understand why I was completely covered from head to foot in a dry yellow crust, or why the cacique kept giving me the thumbs up and with a toothy grin offering me "mas cerveza indigena."

Trip photos: On the Caura River to El Playon

Veniños: Round-USA cycling challenge for Venezuelan street children

dogzbolox@hotmail.com (Russell Maddicks) — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 17:28:00 +0000

On 1 March 2008, Lisa Tylee set off on the challenge of a lifetime when she left Houston, Texas, to embark on a 9,000-mile cycling tour round the USA to raise money for Venezuelan street and shantytown children.

If all goes to plan she should be arriving back in Houston in October.

"Cycle Challenge USA 2008 / Bici Sin Rodilla" is a huge physical ordeal for anybody to attempt, but for Lisa it will be especially gruelling as she will be doing it with just one foot pushing the pedals of her specially-adapted bike, because she was born without a knee in her left leg.

It's already been challenging. Lisa celebrated her 40th birthday on 4 March after cycling in driving rain and a night in a grotty motel. But as Jane Blake, a trustee of the charity says, it can only get better.

Her circular route will pass through 24 US states and Washington D.C. and will take Lisa through freezing mountain ranges and hot deserts as she pedals "from sea to shining sea."

It will be a far cry from the conditions in her native Caversham, a small, sleepy town on the banks of the Thames River in Berkshire.

But it won't be the first time Lisa has endured a gruelling physical adventure to raise money for charity.

In 2005, she walked the length of the United Kingdom, from Lands End in England to John O'Groats in Scotland. The 1,300 mile walk took her 4 months to complete and raised over 10,000 pounds.

Lisa, a co-founder of the charity Veninos (Venezuelan Children In Need), is undertaking her latest challenge to raise money for community education projects in Venezuela and as a way to increase awareness of Veninos' work to improve the life of urban street and shantytown children.

In 2000 she was honoured for her charity work in Venezuela by Queen Elizabeth II, who awarded her with an MBE (Member of the British Empire).

Lisa will be cycling an average of 50 miles a day during "Cycle Challenge USA 2008 / Bici Sin Rodilla" and will spend at least 171 days on her bike.

The journey will take her to: Houston - Miami - Washington DC - Baltimore - Philadelphia - New York City - Pittsburgh - Cleveland - (Cincinnati) - Chicago - Denver - Salt Lake City - San Francisco - Los Angeles - San Diego - Las Vegas - Oklahoma City - (Tulsa) - Dallas - Austin - Houston.

Events will take place en route and Lisa is hoping to be able to speak to the local press, schools, corporate and community groups in all of the places she stops.

Veninos is a non-political, non-religious UK-based charity that is also registered as a not-for-profit, tax-exempt organisation in the USA.

Lisa can be sponsored by visiting: http://www.firstgiving.com/cycleusa2008 in the USA or www.justgiving.com/veninos in the UK.

For more details of how to support Lisa or to learn more about Veninos visit: http://www.veninos.org

Willie's Wonky Chocolate Factory brings Venezuelan cacao to UK

dogzbolox@hotmail.com (Russell Maddicks) — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 05:05:00 +0000

New Channel 4 Series: "Raising the Bar: Willie's Chocolate Revolution"

A new four-part Channel 4 series called "Willie's Wonky Chocolate Factory" aims to introduce the UK to premium Venezuelan cacao. The programme follows William "Willie" Harcourt-Cooze, who bought an old hacienda near Choroni about 12 years ago, as he takes viewers on a trip from the lush forests of his cacao plantation in the Henri Pittier National Park to Devon, where he is trying to market his Venezuelan Black cacao bars.

There's something a bit Monty Python about Willie Harcourt-Cooze. Perhaps its his upper class accent, or the fact he's tall and a bit gangly. Maybe it's the unquenchable enthusiasm with which he leaps into his latest obsessions, or the hit and miss results of his endeavours.

But if Willie looks a bit like a Michael Palin character from Ripping Yarns, there's no denying that his larger-than-life character is TV gold.

It was an inspired decision by Channel 4 to give him, his wife and their three kids their own reality series. The result is like something between "the Filthy Fulfords" and orchid hunter Tom Hart-Dyke's attempts to save Lullingford castle.

The premise is fairly similar too. About 12 years ago Willie and his wife Tania bought a run-down hacienda on the edge of the Henri Pitter National Park in Venezuela's Aragua State. A glorious place between the cloud forest peaks of the park and the popular beach-resort-cum-fishing-village of Choroni, it is reached by fording a river close to the windy road that wends its way down to the sea.

After several false starts and stalled projects to reactivate the hacienda they finally hit on the idea of planting cacao trees, which produce the cocoa beans that chocolate is made from.

Living just a valley away from the isolated plantation of Chuao, they very cleverly chose to plant the same strain of criollo cacao that grows in Chuao, which is considered among the finest cacao in the world.

Now, despite setbacks in Venezuela, including an eco-posada project that never really got off the ground, Willie's Venezuelan Black chocolate venture in the UK is going quite well. The 100 per cent cacao bars went on sale in Selfridges in London on 18 February and Willie says he took £700 on the first day. He's been supplying chocolate to his mate Marco Pierre-White, one of London's top chefs, who has been experimenting with it in a number of recipes.

The three bars in the “Venezuelan Black” range are: Carenero Superior, Rio Caribe Superior and El Tesoro.

Carenero and Rio Caribe are named after the cacao beans used to make them, while El Tesoro (Treasure) is the name of Willie's hacienda and contains 100 per cent Chuao cacao.

Thinking big, Willie is hoping to become one of the first Britons since Cadbury to grow and produce his own chocolate from bean to bar.

The four-part documentary on Channel 4 certainly won't hurt sales.

It's been quite a journey. I first met Willie and his wife Tania when they were living on the beach in Choroni. Back then they were trying to buy El Tesoro and some of the locals thought they were just another pair of posh hippies passing through, trying to live the South American dream.

Later, I visited the hacienda and was blown away by the sheer size of the place, a thousand acres that stretched from a river near the road all the way to the high valley wall that leads over the hills to Chuao.

Willie had gained a reputation as a bit of a gentleman farmer with his shotgun and his hunting dogs and his more eccentric ideas of how to make the hacienda pay. Tania, or the Honourable Tania harcourt-Cooze, to give her full title, seemed to be the sensible one, but then she was pregnant in Choroni, so sensible was probably good.

Tania's background is almost as fascinating as Willie's. Her father is the fifth Baron Coleridge and she is a direct relative of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the Lake Poet who penned Xanadu. She tried her hand at modelling and acting in Los Angeles in her twenties before marrying Willie and travelling to Venezuela.

At the height of her modelling career she appeared as the eye candy alongside George Michael in the 1988 video for his song "Father Figure" (just Youtube George Michael father Figure to see it).

Back in the mid-90s the plan was to set up an eco-posada and bring over high-end travellers who wanted to experience some the amazing plant and bird life of the National Park as well as the beautiful local beaches.

But incorporating the local tradition of cacao production and the internationally-recognized excellence of Chuao's criollo cacao beans into that mix is Willie's master stroke.

A few years ago, the economic downturn in Venezuela made things a bit tough for them on the hacienda. Tania's Coleridge connection brought the couple and their three children back to Devon, to The Chanters House, the Coleridge family's twenty bedroom estate in Ottery St Mary.

From there Willie was able to start buying the equipment he needed to process the beans into high quality chocolat, the basic ingredient in chocolate bars, cakes and hot chocolate, after sugar and milk are added.

So things are looking look good for Willie and Tania. From the amount of publicity the Channel 4 documentary is generating the business should do well and hopefully spark more interest in Venezuela and its natural treasures.

Meanwhile, I just can't wait to get my hands on some real Venezuelan chocolate in London.

Click here to see Willie's new Chocolate Factory Cookbook

Chuao: In Search of World's Finest Cocoa Beans

Choroni: Tambores, guarapita and midnight dips

Video: Drum dancing in Chuao

My Blog about Venezuelan Food and Drinks

How the Yare Devils Got Their Red Threads

dogzbolox@hotmail.com (Russell Maddicks) — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 21:53:00 +0000

1948 – The Year of the Dancing Devil

In December 1947, in a landslide victory, novelist Romulo Gallegos became Venezuela’s first democratically-elected president. To celebrate his inauguration in February 1948, poet Juan Liscano came up with the idea of a mounting an ambitious spectacle in Caracas that would bring together the most important folk traditions in the country.

The two-hour show, held in the Nuevo Circo bullring in the centre of Caracas, was called "A Festival of Tradition: Songs and Dances of Venezuela."

More than 500 dancers, singers and musicians were brought to the capital by plane, bus, boat and mule.

For the first time, Guajiro Indians from the deserts of Zulia State were to perform their sacred dances alongside Afro-Venezuelan drummers from the Caribbean coast.

And there was more: Foot-stomping Joropos from the Llanos, Chimbangueles in honour of the black saint San Benito, and the Dancing Devils of San Francisco de Yare.

The Red Devils

At first Liscano couldn’t get the Devils of Yare to attend: "I convinced them with the argument that we were doing this festival to show the foreigners that were coming that the Devils of San Francisco de Yare knew how to dance, something which they doubted."

More significantly, Education Minister Luis Beltran Pietro Figueroa, sent yards of red material so that the Devils could make new costumes for the event.

So this was the first time the Yare Devils were all be dressed in red. Before that, the arreadores (in charge of keeping order) and the cajeros (drummers) would have worn white suits and the other devils would have made do with whatever bright clothes they could find.

But it wasn’t going to be easy for Liscano to get the Devils to perform.

Two days by mule

Nowadays it takes just over an hour to drive the 78 km from Caracas to Yare but for the 35 members of Yare's Devil Dancing Society who made the trip in 1948 it took two days by mule. This was the first time any of them had been away from home and when they arrived they had second thoughts.

The Devils only ever danced on the Feast of Corpus Christi and were wary of performing without the usual preparations: attending mass, and having their masks blessed.

Liscano had to arrange for them to attend a morning mass every day they were rehearsing and performing. But he forgot to get permission from the mayor’s office.

The first day the Devils heard mass in a church in El Valle they came dressed for Corpus Christi. As the priest held up the Holy Sacrament they took their cue and began a frenetic dance in the entrance of the church.

The noise of the drums and maracas was so loud that it brought the local police, who promptly arrested the Devils for disturbing the peace and wearing masks outside of Carnival. Fortunately, they were soon released.

They do like to be beside the seaside

The Devils had another request for Liscano: "…one day they came to tell me of their greatest desire: to see the sea before returning to their home town."

It’s hard to understand the isolation of small towns like Yare back in 1948, but none of the Devils' had ever seen the sea before, and their bus trip to Macuto, on the central coast, was a revelation.

Liscano writes in his book Sacred Fires: "… when they discovered that great blue stain, under a wide, cloudless sky, they were seized with a kind of ecstasy, a profound feeling of respect for majestic Mother Nature who had made such beautiful things."

"… they entered the water in silence, in a state of reverie, and some of them plunged their hands into the water in a sort of ritual gesture."

The end of the festival, the start of their fame

The Festival of Tradition was a huge success. So many people turned up on the opening night that it had to be extended for four more nights. In total 25,000 people watched the show.

It was an event the like of which Venezuela had never seen and was never to see again. The party was soon over for Romulo Gallegos too, on 24 November 1948 he was ousted in a military coup and forced into exile for the next ten years.

For the Dancing Devils of Yare, however, it was just the beginning. Soon, the annual Corpus Christi celebrations in Yare would become one more attraction for tourists to visit, like the mountains of Merida, the spectacular Angel Falls and the blue Caribbean waters that had so captivated the Devils.

By Russell Maddicks

Click here for an article on the Dancing Devils of Yare in literature

Click here for a video of the Dancing Devils in the cacao plantation of Chuao

The Dancing Devils of Yare in literature

dogzbolox@hotmail.com (Russell Maddicks) — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 09:19:00 +0000

In 2008 the moveable feast of Corpus Christi falls on 22 May. On that day Devil Dancers in San Francisco de Yare in the Tuy Valley will don their horned masks and red outfits and dance outside the church to pay a promise. The tradition harks back to the conquest and Spanish traditions transplanted to the New World. African slaves found in this day of the devil an opportunity to transcend their status at the bottom rung of society, to take control of the streets, and to challenge the church. Not surprisingly, several authors have found inspiration in this unique expression of Venezuelan folk culture. The photos are by Edmundo "El Gordo" Perez, who visited Yare in 1948.

By Russell Maddicks

The first person to bring the Diablos Danzantes de Yare to a national and international audience was Venezuela’s most celebrated novelist, Romulo Gallegos (1884-1969), the author of “Doña Barbara”, “Canaima” and “Cantaclaro”.

Gallegos describes the Corpus Christi celebrations of Yare in a chapter entitled: “Diablos y Angelitos” from his 1937 novel “Pobre Negro” (“Poor Negro”). The book is set during the bloody Federal Wars that ravaged the country between 1859 and 1863 and is an excellent example of Gallegos’ ability to weave regional traditions and customs into his narrative:

“But at that moment two rockets went off announcing the arrival of the devils and the crowds rushed like a whirlwind on to the streets to wait for them, while the drummers standing in the porch of the church began the tam-tam that would accompany the dancing.”

“Devils from all over the region had come to pay promises, the majority of them made so that the Corpus Christi fiesta would lack neither the pagan nor the sacred.”

“The devils, red from their horns to their cloth tails, wore colourful adornments and rattles of every kind, as well as some who were draped in silk and bells, which represented a great investment of money..."

"They invaded the entrance to the church... where the Holy Sacrament was on show, just as the sacristan was closing the doors. Then they stretched out, face down, on the brick floor in two parrallel rows, separated by the same width as the big doors, while the drums stopped beating.

"The curveta and mina drums began again. One of the devils got up - the first in the lefthand row - turning a somersault on his hands that left him kneeling with his back to the church door, and then he got up, simulating the convulsive shudder of someone possessed, in order to shake the rattles he was wearing, and began a dance of jumps and swoops of extraordinary agility, pushing back his cloth tail in order to touch it on the wood of the door..."

"One by one... the devils took their turn, trying to repeat what the first had done, but each one making an effort to outdo the others in agility and skill.

"Now all the devils began their dance. The general dance, without rhythm or beat, just a chance to make a noise with the drums, a whirlwind of somersaults, swerves and squats that filled the space outside the church. It was primitive Africa, even though it was reproducing in America a scene from medieval Europe, and possessed by the farce, they now became frenetic...."

The other writer to draw inspiration from the Diablos Danzantes de Yare was the influential Cuban novelist Alejo Carpentier (1904-1980), who came to Venezuela in 1945 and stayed untilFidel Castro and his band of bearded revolutionaries ousted the dictator Batista in 1959.

His groundbreaking 1953 novel, “Los Paso Perdidos” (“The Lost Steps”), follows a musicologist on a journey to the source of the Orinoco River, which also takes him back to man’s lost cultural origins. Carpentier cleverly juxtaposes the Corpus Christi celebrations in Yare into his narrative in Chapter 3:

“... several devils appeared around a corner of the plaza, headed towards a miserable church of brick and plaster...”

“...they advanced slowly, in little skips, behind a kind of leader or master of ceremonies who could have played the role of Beelzebub in a Passion Play, of the Dragon, or the King of Madmen, with his devil’s mask of three horns and a pig’s snout."

"A kind of fear came over me at the sight of those faceless men... at those masks, out of the mystery of time, perpetuating man’s love of the False Face, the disguise, the pretense of being an animal, a monster or a malign spirit.”

“The strange dancers reached the door of the church and pounded the knocker a number of times. They stood for a long time before the closed door...”

“Then suddenly the double doors were noisily flung open and... the devils fell back in panic, as though seized by a fit, stumbling against one another, falling, rolling to the ground.”

When the solemn Church procession is over, Carpentier writes: “... the devils who were left outside began to run, lauging and leaping, turned from devils into clowns... shouting lewdly through the windows...”

Click here to see Alejo Carpentier's classic novel "The Lost Steps"

Click here for an article on how the Dancing Devils of Yare came to wear their distinctive red outfits

Click here for a video of the Dancing Devils from the famous cacao plantation of Chuao

Los Llanos: Hato El Cedral - Wildlife Paradise

dogzbolox@hotmail.com (Russell Maddicks) — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 17:06:00 +0000

Video: Cueva del Guacharo

dogzbolox@hotmail.com (Russell Maddicks) — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 15:36:00 +0000

There are no words that can accurately describe the experience of entering the dark cavern of the Cueva del Guacharo in Caripe, Monagas State, and hearing for the first time the riotous noise of the oilbirds squawking away like a flock of demented Daffy Ducks.

One of the guides told me that Alfred Hitchcock sent a sound crew to the cave in the early 60s to record the wailing laments, shrill cries and eerie clicks of the guacharos to add a sinsister edge to his 1964 movie "The Birds".

Instead of sticking with the sound of the Guacharos all the way through, this video has a really cheesy soundtrack but the stills give a good idea of what you will see on a trip to this fascinating cave.

Travel article: Cueva del Guacharo - Oilbirds and Elephant Ears

Click here for interview with birdwatching guide Chris Sharpe on Venezuela's top birding spots

To see Steven L. Hilty's field guide "Birds of Venezuela" click here:

Angel Falls - Base jumper proves age is no obstacle

dogzbolox@hotmail.com (Russell Maddicks) — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 01:26:00 +0000

Eric Jones - Base Jumping Off Angel Falls - The most amazing videos are a click away
Jimmie Angel famously crashed his plane on top of Auyan-tepui not far from the waterfall which today bears his name. But what about jumping off the top with just a parachute to stop you smashing into the ground 979 metres below?

Welshman Eric Jones proved age is no obstacle to adventure in 1998 when he became the oldest person to base jump from the top of Auyan-tepui, launching himself off a cliff edge above the highest waterfall in the world. He was 61 years old.

Asked how he felt before he jumped, he said: "Quite cool, really. I was very focused on what I had to do: I had to start tracking - flying away from the rock face as soon as I'd fallen for three seconds. This is so that when the parachute opens, you're as far away from the rocks as possible."

Sounds sensible.

When he's not scaling the North Face of the Eiger, base jumping in Mexican caves or leaping from balloons, the 70 year-old adrenaline junkie relaxes at his regular job: running a small climbers' cafe in Tremadog, North Wales, near the coastal town of Porth Madog.

He must have been some kind of nutter to jump from the top of Angel Falls, but I'm glad he did because the crew captured some awesome images of the falls and the Devil's Canyon on the way down.

Click here to make Angel Falls one of the 7 Wonders of Nature

Video clip of Angel Falls from David Attenborough's BBC series "Planet Earth"

The True Story of Jimmie Angel and the Discovery of Angel Falls