Venezuela's Mini Miracle - The Coromoto Virgin

Venezuela celebrates a miracle in the first week of September with pilgrimages and processions in honour of Our Lady of Coromoto (Nuestra Señora de Coromoto), the Patroness of Venezuela. The main focus for the faithful is a tiny yet miraculous piece of papyrus - just 2.5 cm high by 2 cm wide - that is as revered in Venezuela as the Guadalupe Virgin is in Mexico. According to believers, this is a true image of the Virgin Mary that was given to an indigenous chief in the 17th century to convince him to convert.
Colonial Conquest and Conversion
According to local lore - handed down for generations - on 8 September 1652 the Virgin Mary, holding a young child in her arms, appeared before the Cacique, or chief, of the Cospes Indians near Guanare. the capital of present day Portuguesa State.
The Cospes had fiercely resisted the Spanish conquest and conversion to Catholicism for over 100 years. The radiant young lady told Coromoto to go to the church and accept conversion. The chief, awed by this apparition, took his tribe to be converted but stubbornly refused to be baptized himself.
Second Apparition of the Virgin
That night, as he rested in his hammock, Coromoto was again visited by the Virgin. At first he grabbed his bow and arrows, but when the Virgin held out her arm as if to embrace him, he dropped them, leaning forward to push her out of the door of the hut. As he tried to grab at the sleeve of the radiant image his hand began to burn, as if on fire, and the Virgin suddenly vanished. Left in his clenched fist was a small image of the Virgin and child on cotton paper. The unlucky chief, startled by the strange events ran hurtling through the dark forest until he fell headlong into bushes where he was bitten by a venomous snake.
Knowing his days were numbered he made his way to a path, where a passing Spaniard agreed to baptise him before he expired. Coromoto's final wish was that his people should build a shrine and forever venerate the Virgin Mary and the miraculous image she had left behind.

Modern Sanctuary
Today, the tiny, sacred image of the Virgin Mary is preserved in a gold reliquary in a purpose-built church, the Basilica Sanctuary of the Virgin of Coromoto. An uncompromising combination of concrete and stained glass, the sanctuary has a spacious central aisle that can hold some 2,500 worshippers. Designed by Venezuelan architect Erasmo Calvani, this space-age sanctuary was inaugurated by Pope John Paul II who on 10 February 1996 held a Mass here to bless the Virgin. Every year, thousands of believers make the pilgrimage to Portuguesa State on the days leading up to and after 8 September to pay their respect to the Patroness of Venezuela.

Getting There
The sanctuary is located 12 km from the city of Guanare, capital of Portuguesa State. Buses and taxis from Guanare regularly make the 20-minute journey.

Where to Stay
The best accomodation option in Guanare is the comfortable Nuevo Hotel Coromoto, which has a good restaurant, coffee bar and swimming pool. For more information visit the hotel's website or Twitter account.

Paragliding in Merida, in the Venezuelan Andes

Author of the Bradt Guide to Venezuela Takes to the Air in Merida

On October 26, while taking part in the Venezuelan International Tourism Fair (FITVen2013) in Merida, I did a tandem flight from Tierra Negra with local paragliding legend Jose Albarran, better known by his nickname "Piojo" (Flea).

Jose has been flying from Tierra Negra for more than 15 years. When not paragliding you'll find him taking tourists hiking and mountain bilking all over Merida State with Fanny Tours, which he runs with his Swiss wife Patrizia.

If you want to fly tandem from Tierra Negra, or would like more information on the adventure sports available in Merida State, contact Jose at www.fanny-tours.com.

For full details about this and many other amazing adventures you can experience in Venezuela purchase my book: the Bradt Guide to Venezuela.

For a full description of what it's like to fly tandem in a paraglider from Tierra Negra, read an account of my first paragliding experience.

Animal Planet: Giant Anacondas in Venezuela

Local Venezuelan guide Juan Carlos Ramirez of Akanan Adventure and Travel recently took scientist-explorer Niall McCann on a hunt for giant anacondas in Los Llanos and the Rio Caura for the programme "Biggest and Baddest" on Animal Planet.

The pair started their search in Hato Cedral, a working cattle ranch in Los Llanos that is one of the best places in Venezuela to see birds and wildlife.

Apart from hundreds of species of raptors and wading birds, Hato Cedral is blessed with rivers full of cayman alligators, red-bellied piranhas, and herds of large, toothy rodents called chiguires (capybara).

It is also a place where you can guarantee an up-close-and-personal experience with an anaconda.

I once had to walk in front of the car and drag the anacondas off the road as we made our way out of the hato to the main road.

But those were small anacondas, no more than 2 metres in length. Nothing like the 5-metre beasts that have been found here.

Juan Carlos and Niall had even more success in the Rio Caura, a tributary of the Orinoco River and one of the most pristine jungle river systems in Venezuela. There, they traveled up to the mighty Para Falls, which separates the Upper Caura, heartland of the Yekwana indigenous people, from the Lower Caura.

Finally, they found their monster, a 5 metre 50 cm long anaconda, with a girth of 64 cm, although it's a baby according to the local Yekuana and Sanema (an indigenous group from the same family as the Yanomami).

For more information about anaconda watching in Los Llanos and the Rio Caura, contact Juan Carlos Ramirez at Akanan Travel and Adventure.

Further reading:
An Account of my Visit to the Yekwana Village of Nichare for a Big Fiesta That Included Copious Amounts of Yuca Beer

Some photos of my trip to Para Falls on the Rio Caura

Mariano Rangel: Merida Sculptor Carves Life into Wood

Mariano Rangel is a Venezuelan folk artist from Tabay, Merida, and something of a local legend. Born in 1944, he is completely self-taught. He worked as a farmer until 1984, when one day his wife asked him for help to finish a wood carving of the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception.

The idea of creating the image had come to her in a dream, she said. The Virgin had appeared to her in person, so this was no mere whim, but an obligation that needed to be met.

Mariano was working in the fields at the time, driving a plough with oxen and pulling potatoes out of the soil with his big, strong hands.

After work he would try and help his wife with the carving. Neither of them had ever carved anything before, but she was determined it must be done, and he seemed to have a natural instinct.for working the wood.

By the time the Virgin was finished and painted, Mariano realized he had a natural affinity for carving and wanted to do more. Over the years he gradually perfected his skills, took on larger and more ambitious projects, and his makeshift workshop became a magnet for national and international collectors of folk art.

Mariano's sculptures have been exhibited as far away as France, Japan and the USA.

The inspiration for his art has barely changed over the years. He still focuses on the saints and virgins of the Catholic Church, and 19th century independence heroes like Simon Bolivar, with his trademark mutton chop sideburns, bright blue jacket, white trousers and riding boots.

Mariano likes to leave a section of bark showing on his sculptures so that when you handle them you get a tactile sense of the wood. He's also keen to mark the difference between his own work and ceramic figurines.

This October, Mariano's sculptures were featured as part of the International Tourism Fair, FITVen 2013, which this year was held in his hometown state of Merida. I had seen his work before in exhibitions of popular art in Caracas, but it was a great honour to finally meet the man in person and shake his massive gnarled hand. It was even more impressive to see how delicately he carved a figure of Simon Bolivar with his tools of choice, two stubby kitchen knives that he had filed down for easier whittling.

He told me that he never imposed a figure on the wood, but just handled it until the shape and contours inspired him to carve. That's how he achieves figures that seem to have an inner life, a sense of movement, something which sets them apart from many other carvers who display their works in Merida,

Mariano's success has now inspired his children and grandchildren to take up carving and there is a recognized "Rangel School" of carving.

If you are in Merida try and visit the family workshop where works of all sizes are displayed. From Tabay head for Mucuy Baja and ask for "Taller Mis Principios".

Merida Cable Car to Re-Open Mid-2014 as Mukumbari

This short but enlightening film, "En lo Mas Alto", shows exactly the working conditions I encountered on my trip on the cable car at the end of October as part of the FITVen2013 press trip with the Tourism Ministry (MinTur). 

It used to be known simply as the teleferico (cable car) but in mid-2014 when work finishes in the Andean city of Merida on a huge project to completely rebuild the longest and highest cable car in the world, the teleferico will be known as Mukumbari.

This is a major moment for the people of Merida who relied on the cable car to attract tourists to the so-called  Ciudad de los Caballeros (City of Gentleman) ever since the first cable car system opened to the public in 1960.

Back in the 1950s it took some 25 European companies three years to put together the towers, winches and wires that took cable cars from Barinitas in Merida (at 1,640 metres above sea level) to the stations at La Montaña (2,436 metres), La Aguada (3,452 metres), Loma Redonda (4,045 metres), and finally Pico Espejo (4,765 metres).

This time, the work is being undertaken by the Austrian firm Doppelmayr in conjunction with the Venezuelan government and the project is much more ambitious, not just replacing the old infrastructure but creating a completely new cable car system with completely new installations that will offer greater access to the mountain and allow wheelchair access.

The work has not been easy, and the dismantling of large concrete buildings at such a high altitude while respecting environmental concerns has proved difficult, It also represents a physical challenge to the more than 500 local men and women who have been toiling away on the project over the last few years, sometimes in severe weather conditions that include high winds, freezing mist and snow.

The video shows the conditions the workers have had to endure better than I can ever describe them, as well as the investment that local people have made in the success of this project.

For the local guides, known as baquianos, who take travelers on horses and mules from the Loma Redonda station on the four-hour trip through classic paramo vegetation to the picturesque mountain town of Los Venados, the reopening of the cable car cannot come soon enough.

As one of the Austrian supervisors told me when I traveled to Pico Espejo "this is the highest and longest cable car in the world, by it's very nature it's a challenge to achieve this but we have the cables in place, you can travel to the top now, and we just have to finish the buildings. It will be ready in June 2014, trust me".

Riding with the workers in an open-sided car that left nobody in any doubt that we were suspended on a wire with a huge drop below us, I was able to corroborate that the cables do indeed take cars all the way to the top.

 I also had the privilege of traveling down the final stretch in one of the shiny new cable cars, decked out in the colors of the Venezuelan flag and with ample viewing room. The new cars can carry 60 passengers compared to the old cars that carried 40. Once fully functioning the system will be able to take 500,000 passengers a year to the top, explained Jose Gregorio Martinez, the head of the Merida Cablecar System.

That's why Mukumbari is such a fitting name for the rebirth of Merida's greatest tourist attraction. An indigenous name for Pico Bolivar, the highest peak in Venezuela, Mukumbari means "place where the sun is born".

FITVen2013 - Talking Tourism in Venezuela

After writing a tour guide and book about living in Venezuela it was good to spend time talking tourism at Venezuela's International Tourism Fair, FITVen 2013. I even got interviewed a few times by the local media. 

Venezuela is so blessed with natural treasures that it's hard to understand sometimes why more people aren't visiting the country. Where else can you find the world's highest waterfall, Angel Falls, which cascades down from a heart-shaped mountain in a jungle setting that is so lush and wild and untouched by man that it looks like it comes straight out of the movie Avatar? Where else can you sit on the porch of a stilt house surrounded by water and watch the night sky lit up by fiery arcs of electric lightning like you can in Catatumbo? 

With more Caribbean coast than any other country, Venezuela has more than its fair share of beautiful, unspoiled beaches, islands, mountains, lakes, waterfalls, and tropical rainforest.  

The seasonally flooded Llanos, or great plains, are so teeming with anacondas, capybaras, caymans and piranhas that getting up close to the wildlife is as easy as opening the door of your lodge and stepping outside. For birdwatchers' the ranches of Los LLanos are the best kind of paradise. 

Sure there are issues that affect tourism, some of them political, some social, some economic, and others that come down to how much marketing you do in what is a very competitive battle for the tourist dollar, but the raw material, the natural attractions, are all in place.  

And so when I was invited by the Venezuelan Tourism MInistry (MinTur) to attend FITVEN 2013, Venezuela's International Tourism Fair, I jumped at the chance to visit Venezuela again and to talk tourism with people in the industry. 

This year the even was held from 24-27 October in the Andean city of Merida, at the Cinco Aguilas Blancas Complex.

Merida is a great place to start any tour of Venezuela and an extreme sports and hiking destination that is worth a few days at least to explore.

It was good to hear Tourism Minister Andres Izarra began his inaugural speech  by emphasizing the importance of tourism to the Venezuelan economy.

After oil and the agro-industry, tourism comes in third place, he said, pledging greater resources for tourism promotion and a boost to tour operators and hotels with a scheme offering access to cheaper credit lines.

Minister Izarra was open enough with the international journalists to acknowledge that crime and insecurity and distortions to the economy created by the black market for dollars were problems that have to be overcome for Venezuela to become more attractive to foreign tourists.

The minister also acknowledged that in recent years investment in tourism had been low, but said that a new plan is being developed to increase promotion and boost tourist numbers. This Plan Maestro (Master Plan), includes the development of Margarita as a central tourist hub, with more incoming flights and greater links with mainland destinations like Angel Falls, Merida and Barinas.

Other plans include the long-awaited termination in mid-2014 of the fully revamped cablecar in Merida, known locally as the teleferico. 

World-renowned for being the longest and highest cablecar system  in the world, the teleferico was always a key tourism magnet for the Andean city and Minister Izarra said that tourism had fallen from a million annual visitors to about 500,000 since it ceased to function in 2008.

The new system is being built by the Austrian firm Doppelmayr and is nearly 80% completed. When it is finished it will be able to transport 500,000 tourists a year to Pico Espejo (4,765 metres, 15,633 ft) at the foot of Venezuela's highest mountain Pico Bolivar (4,978 metres, 16,332 ft).

Luckily, as part of the trip to FitVen2013 I was allowed to travel up to the cablecar station at Pico Espejo with the other invited journalists, and it was amazing to ride with the workers in their open-sided cars and see them engaged in the backbreaking work of dismantling the old concrete infrastructure at such a high altitude.

More than one of the workers had the telltale stains on the teeth of the strong local chewing tobacco, called chimo, that has been used since ancient times in the Venezuelan Andes to keep out the cold and stave off hunger and exhaustion.

It was reassuring to see that the cable system is all in place and operational, leaving the construction of the concrete stations as the last major infrastructure task facing the workers.

Another plan announced by the minister is the completion of the cablecar system on the Caribbean side of the Avila mountain in Caracas, which would allow passengers to travel from Caracas up to the Humboldt Hotel (at 2,140 metres above sea level) and then down to the beaches of Macuto. The Caracas-Macuto journey time - on a day with no lines to wait in - is estimated at 45 minutes. 

The cablecar is expected to be operational by 2015, and in the meantime the government is planning to reopen key hotels, such as the former Melia Caribe, and Macuto Sheraton. 

This is the 8th edition of Venezuela's annual FitVen tourism fair, and it attracted large crowds to the three pavilions. One showcased tourism in Venezuela and the different regions and states were represented; another focused on International Destinations with stands from Germany, Ecuador, Spain, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Colombia, France, Japan and Russia; a third was for tour operators to hold business meetings and there was another area where food and handicrafts from Venezuela were on sale to visitors. 

It was certainly busy, final figures on the last day showed some 58,000 people passed through the doors of the Cinco Aguilas Blancas Complex. 

Having traveled so extensively in Venezuela to many places that my Venezuelan friends at the time considered to be no more than "monte and culebra" (scrubland and snakes), it was refreshing to see so many young Venezuelans eager to learn more about the tourism alternatives in their own country.

For more information about visit the official FitVen2013 website here:

Venezuela Guide on Instagram - FITVen2013

INSTAGRAMEANDO ANDO YO...

In October 2013 I was invited to travel around Venezuela on a Press Trip organized by the Tourism Ministry (MinTur) in the run up to the FITVen2013 International Tourism Fair.

As I lost my laptop and camera en route to Venezuela I was forced to improvise. Armed only with an HTC One S mobile phone with an 8 megapixel camera, I decided to document my trip on Instagram.

Through trial and error, I learnt how to get the most out of a single shot and train my eye to find images that would work in a square. The filters I just responded to depending on my mood that day. The feedback on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter has been really encouraging.

I am pleased with the results.

The restrictions of Instagram forced me to be more creative and think carefully before taking each shot, which helped me to see Venezuela in a different way.

I came home with some great new images of Caracas, the islands of Margarita, Coche and Cubagua, rafting in Barinas, paragliding in Mérida and the folk festivals of the Pueblos del Sur, remote villages in the Andean mountains south of Merida.

To see more of my Instagram images follow me at @Venezuelaguide - http://instagram.com/p/gJ0qZdNZZG/



Street Theatre: In the area around Plaza el Venezolano and Plaza Bolivar in the centre of Caracas, actors recreate key scenes from Venezuela's history by bringing to life famous characters from the past who tell the story of their time. Here, the dictator Juan Vicente Gomez takes a stroll with Independence hero Francisco de Miranda.  



Whitewater Rafting: On the Rio Acequias in Barinas, adventure tour company Arassari Trek took us on a bumpy, adrenaline-pumping ride down a Grade III stretch of foaming rapids. It helps if everybody rows together. For more details of rafting in Barinas contact Arassari Trek

Remote Andean Villages: Just outside San Jose de Acequias, one of the so-called Pueblos del Sur, we came across this tiny chapel dedicated to San Isidro Labrador, the patron sain of farmers. 

Vibrant Folk Festivals: The Locainas de Santa Rita are gentlemen who dress like ladies for a day during the festivities in honor of San Isidro, as Santa Rita in popular lore is the wife of the saint. As their name suggests, these ladies can get quite "loco" during the festivities held on 21-22 May, and after dancing with their sticks they try to liven up the festive mood by flirting with the men in the crowd.





Paragliding in Merida: Tierra Negra, close to the Andean city of Merida, is one of the best paragliding spots in Venezuela. Jose Albarran of Fanny Tours is one of the pioneers of paragliding in Venezuela and a great pilot for a tandem flight. Known to his friends as "Piojo" (Flea), due to his uncanny ability to scale sheer rock faces, Jose is one of the founders of the paragliding school in the nearby village of Las Gonzales, close to the landing site. The youngsters of La Gonzalez are now being trained to become the paragliding champions of the future. Watch a video of me paragliding with Piojo here

For more details of paragliding in Merida contact Jose at Fanny Tours

Bradt Venezuela author at Globetrotters Club - 1 Oct 2011

Exploring Venezuela: A Land of Natural Wonders

Russell Maddicks, the author of the Bradt Guide to Venezuela will highlight some of the most fascinating areas of Venezuela to visit and what you can expect to see and do. Drawing on his experience of adventuring in Venezuela for more than 20 years, Russell will take you to:

* The “Lost World” mountain of Roraima and the unique ecosystem of its summit
* The unique thunderless lightning phenomenon in the south of Lake Maracaibo known as Catatumbo Lightning
* The magical mountain of Sorte where devotees of Maria Lionza practice a syncretic religion unique to the country
* The record-breaking and awe-inspiring waterfall of Angel Falls, known as Kerepacupai-meru to the local Pemon people.

One of the 17 most megadiverse countries in the world, Venezuela is home to Caribbean beaches, dense rainforests, high Andean valleys, mysterious table-top tepui mountains, and seasonally-flooded plains that are literally teeming with birds, beasts and creepy-crawlies.

Venezuela is also alive with the sound of folk music, from the Afro-Venezuelan tambores of the coast, to the harp-driven Joropo songs of Los Llanos and during his talk Russell will present several examples of the music to be found in the regions he discusses.

Rona Cant — Just do it – become the best you can be!
Once an unexceptional, single parent she took part in the BT Global Challenge Round the World Yacht Race (the toughest yacht race in the world); two days later she embarked on the West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island (one of the world’s toughest), encountering bears and cougars. Rona helped organise and was on The Nordkapp Expedition, dogsledding in the Arctic Circle to the northernmost tip of Europe, a trail thought to be impossible.

Rona tells how she has achieved her goals using stories from her childhood, her marriage, how she entered into a life of adventure, her diverse adventures and what she has accomplished.

For more information see: http://www.ronacant.com

Globetrotters Club Venue details:

London meetings of the Globetrotters Club are held at 2.15 p.m. at The Church of Scotland, Crown Court, behind the Fortune Theatre in Covent Garden (WC2B 5EZ).

Admission: Members £3.00 - Non-members £6.00

Tickets are not sold in advance. Entry is payable on the door on a first come first served basis. For more information call (+44) 0207 193 2586 or use the Globetrotters online contact form.

Hato Masaragual, Los Llanos and Orinoco Caiman on BBC

Veteran BBC presenter Jonathan Dimbleby visits Hato Masaguaral, a ranch in the plains of Los LLanos Venezuela, that breeds an endangered species of crocodile commonly know as the Caiman del Orinoco, as part of a BBC series called "South American Journey with Jonathan Dimbleby" that airs on 25 September at 8 p.m.

In the hour-long documentary the broadcaster happily strokes a three day old caiman but the larger ones prove to be more challenging. The breeding males live in cages on their own and can grow up to six metres long.

Killed for fun or for their skins, this crocodile only exists in Colombia and Venezuela. It is critically endangered which is the highest risk category for wild species. This means it's numbers will decrease by 80 per cent within three generations.

Dimbleby also explored the music of Venezuela, visiting the studio of Desorden Publico - a ska band that has been at the top of the charts in Venezuela for over a quarter of a century.
Playing to audiences of up to 150,000 people, Desorden Publico are not mere entertainers but have a profound political purpose invariably challenging the status quo.
As Jonathan stomps his feet to their energetic beat, Horacio Blanco, the lead singer is worried. He tells Jonathan that Chavez's 21st century Socialist revolution has polarised the country.

The full documentary is being shown on BBC 2 at 8 p.m. on 25 September and will be available on the iPlayer for a week after broadcast.

Out of the Wild: Venezuela - surviving Roraima

Could you survive on Venezuela's remote Mount Roraima if you were flown to the top of the mountain by helicopter with a group of strangers and a few supplies?

That was the challenge set on US reality show "Out of the Wild", produced by the Discovery Channel.

Basically, nine ordinary US citizens were taken to the border between Venezuela, Brazil and Guyana and helicoptered to the top of Roraima with the aim of getting off the famous table-top mountain, known as a tepui in the language of the local Pemon tribe, and making their way back to civilization.

The show is not like "Survivor" or "I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here", nobody was voted off by the public, but anybody could leave at any time if the challenge got too tough for them by activating a button on their GPS devices.

The lack of food, damp conditions and gruelling 70-mile hike down the mountain, across the savannah and through dense jungle put even the toughest participants to the test.

US Army Captain Nick Albini, a combat veteran, lost almost 30 pounds during the nearly three weeks it took to complete the trial.

He said afterwards, that it was a much tougher adventure than he had ever dreamed:

"I ate bugs for eight days straight without eating any meat - insects, worms, grasshoppers, spiders, grubworms, scorpions..."

Veteran travel journalist Ryan Van Duzer was also put to the test, calling his time in Venezuela "the most difficult mental and physical challenge of my life," although he said he enjoyed "stretching my limits... to the max."

Could you do it?

Part 2


Part 3


Killer wasps


Juicy Guava

Venezuela at top UK adventure tourism event

Showing off the new guide with Adrian Phillips, Bradt publishing director and guidebook author, at the Bradt book stall at the Adventure Travel Live show in London.


This Sunday, 30 January, from 15:00 till 15:45, I'll be giving a talk about travelling in Venezuela at the Adventure Travel Live tourism fair at the Royal Horticultural Halls in Victoria London. 
The event brings together all the major adventure travel companies, guidebook publishers and specialist magazines for a three-day bonanza aimed at publicizing off-the-beaten track destinations, specialist wildlife destinations and once-in-a-lifetime travel experiences.
This is a great opportunity for me to promote Venezuela as a travel destination, especially Los Llanos, Catatumbo, Angel Falls, Mount Roraima, Los Roques and cool places like Choroni.
It's also the perfect venue to talk about my new book - The Bradt Guide to Venezuela.
Here's the description of the talk from the Adventure Travel Live website:

Venezuela: Wildlife Wonderland - Russell Maddicks

One of the 17 most megadiverse countries in the world, Venezuela, perched at the top of South America, is hot, tropical and home to Caribbean beaches, dense rainforests, high Andean valleys, mysterious table-top tepui mountains, and seasonally-flooded plains that are literally teeming with birds, beasts and creepy-crawlies. 

From the anacondas, capybaras and crocodiles of Los Llanos, to the jaguars, monkeys and tarantulas of the jungle, a well-planned trip to this fascinating country can reap rich rewards for wildlife watchers. In this talk, Russell Maddicks, who has been adventuring in Venezuela for more than 20 years, will highlight the main wildlife areas to visit and what you can expect to see. He will also give practical tips on how to minimize your impact on these fragile environments, travel responsibly, and give something back to the local communities you stay with.

Special advance price:
Adults: £6. Under 16s free.Order online at adventuretravellive.com or call 0871 230 7159 and quote “PV4”.

On door price:
Adults: £10. Under 16s free.

Show opening times:
Friday 28 January 6pm to 9pm
Saturday 29 January 10am to 6pm
Sunday 30 January 10am to 5pm

On the Rio Caura to Para Falls - Trip Photos

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