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".

British climbers scale Venezuela's Autana Tepuy

By Russell Maddicks
A British expedition led by UK climber Leo Houlding has made the first successful ascent of the east face of Venezuela's Cerro Autana - a remote, flat-topped tepuy mountain in the Amazonas region that is considered sacred by the local Piaroa people. 
The higher 700m South West Face of Autana was climbed by Jose Pereyra and John Arran in 2002. 
The 2012 team was sponsored by Berghaus and made up of British climbers Houlding and Jason Pickles, US speed climber Sean "Stanley" Leary, award-winning climber and filmmaker Alastair Lee, and local climbers Yupi Rangel and Alejandro Lamus. 
They scaled Cerro Autana's east face between 28 January and 5 February 2012 and named their route The Yopo Wall (400m, E6 6b, A1).
A spectacular high-definition movie of the expedition shot by Lee will be released as a movie and DVD in August 2012, including: footage of a ceremony with a Piaroa shaman involving psychotropic "yopo" snuff to bless the venture; extreme trekking through the forest, the arduous climb; and the five nights the team spent in the magnificent caves that cut right through the centre of the mountain. 
This is quite a remarkable feat and something many other climbers have tried and failed to do in the past, mainly because it is illegal to climb Venezuela's tepuis. 
Houlding and his team not only had to battle blood-sucking insects and other rainforest perils before they climbed Autana's sheer walls, they also had to sneak in all their climbing and filming equipment and pay a considerable sum of money to a local Piaroa group to allow them the privilege of being the first up the east face.
They chose this route because it is remote from the other Piaroa communities in the area and offered less chance of the climbers being discovered by the authorities and the expedition being stopped. 
That payment - reportedly some $10,000 - has angered local climbers, who say that by paying so much to the Piaroa, Houlding's well-sponsored foreign team have put the mountain out of reach for others.
Adolfo Madinabeita, a pioneer in Venezuela of tepuy clmbing, claims that when he approached the same Piaroa group in February 2012 to climb Autana they told him they would not allow him access to the mountain for less than $20,000, making the total cost of any expedition just too expensive for him to undertake.
The spat has generated so much heat in local climbing circles in Venezuela that Houlding has released an open letter explaining why his team took the decision to pay such a large sum to climb Autana. 


Letter from Leo Houlding to Adolfo Madinabeitia 
Dear Adolfo,
We are very sorry to hear that the Piaroa Indian community asked for such an expensive fee and that you were again unable to climb Autana.
As I told you at the Mendi film festival in Vitoria in December, when they asked us for $10,000 we too almost changed our plans to climb Acopan or Amuri where the local Pemon Indians are more accommodating to climbers and trips are cheaper. However as you said to me over dinner if they were to open a trail, provide boat transfers, accommodation and food in the village, equipment portering services, guiding and general expedition support then it is not only a fee for permission it is a total cost for all services.  As you are somebody for whom I have great respect, I am also sorry that you are so upset that you have felt it necessary to attack our expedition publicly without contacting our mutual Venezuelan friend Yupi or myself first to find out the facts.
Please allow me to present to you some more information about our expedition.
As you know climbing all Tepuis is illegal in Venezuela. After Yupi climbed Salto Angels last year with a Brazilian team they were arrested and much of their gear was confiscated.
Autana is recognised and protected as a national monument further increasing the illegality of climbing it and increasing the chance of getting caught.
Climbing Autana is further complicated by it's geographical location in the State of Amazonas close to the Columbian border.
Columbian FARC and ELN have been found hiding in Amazonas. Oil and gas pipe lines have been blown up and massive arms shipments have been discovered.
Combined with the illicit smuggling of cheap Venezuelan petrol to Columbia and Columbian Cocaine to Venezuela, the state of Amazonas has a heavy and visible military presence with many road blocks and general increased security checks everywhere.  This greatly complicates getting to Autana with big wall climbing gear, especially for Gringos as all the military officers know climbing Autana is not allowed.
Obtaining official permission to climb Autana is impossible. Obtaining the local Piaroa Indians permission and support is complicated, expensive and not guaranteed, as you know from your unsuccessful attempt 3 years ago.
Unpaid fees from an unsuccessful Russian expedition in 2007 greatly exaggerated an already fragile situation.
The Piaroa are suspicous of outsiders and not interested in allowing people to climb their sacred peak.
At the beginning of December Venezuelan climbers Yupi and Alejo went to meet the community taking gifts of food, medicine and tools and explained to them our intentions.
They set up a small cinema with a laptop computer and showed the whole village our film The Asgard Project, which the Indians loved.
They told them we wanted to climb only for adventure, about our link with Jose Luis Pereyra who they remembered and that we wanted to make a film like the one they had just seen.
They made friends with the villagers and their leader, Juan Pablo and convinced them that we could be trusted.
The community decided they would be willing help but said it would be difficult, complicated, risky for them and expensive for us.
They would not agree to let us climb the west face as we wanted because it could be seen by the other communities. (especially head torches at night)
If they found out we were there we would have to pay all 6 communities the same fee.
However the East face cannot be seen by any communities they would allow us to climb there as long as we promised to keep our presence secret until we had left. 
They knew climbing Autana is illegal and that they would be breaking the law. Government officials and military checks would have to avoided or bribed.
We would have to smuggle all of our equipment and supplies in at least a week before we arrived. We would then travel as tourists. 
They would transport it at night via secret river ports, open a trail and porter all our gear to the East face in secret.
They made a list of all the things they wanted in exchange for their support. The list included tools, agricultural seed, medicine and other goods to be equally distributed to every family in the small community.
The cash equivalent came to US$10,000 and they wanted it all in advance. They were not open to any negotiations.

When we first met Juan Pablo and Alberto in Puerto Ayacucho out of respect for their Piaroa beliefs we undertook a Yopo ceremony with their Shaman to seek blessing and spiritual permission to climb their sacred Tepuy. 
It was an extremely powerful, terrifying and amazing hallucinogenic experience, more memorable than any of the climbing on our route, The Yopo wall. The Shaman was happy our intentions were pure and our new Indian friends were more trusting and close to us following the ceremony and our journey it their beliefs.

The Piaroa are a fascinating culture of tolerance, peace and fairness. 
We taught Alberto how to jummar and brought him 200m up the wall to camp with us in the amazing Cuveo Autana.
The first Piaroa ever to climb to the sacred cave. (the others went by helicopter or astral projection).

We did have some problems with communication, planning and their portering.
They only carried small loads and would arrive on the wrong day or take things to the wrong place.
On the way out we had to two loads ourselves as most the Indians would not come back as they had heard a Jaguar in the area of which they are terrified.
However we left on very good terms with the whole village turning out to see us off and warm, respectful friendships established.

We knew you were planning to go right after us. Yupi even mentioned he may go with you.
I thought the Indians would probably charge you much less than us as we had already done so much work establishing good relations with them.
We had already paid them to open a trail, they had tested the secret access plan and you were only 2 people compared to our 7. 
However I think that they felt that it was too difficult and risky for them to help two foreigners they don't know or trust. 
Your accusation that we paid extra to stop them allowing you access is ridiculous and offensive.
This can only be explained by your frustration at us succeeding where you did not and some personal resentment towards sponsored climbers and high production value adventure film?

In all the Piaroa community provided our expedition with about 100 man-days of work including six 10 hours boat journeys and many 20+ hour days.
They were an essential part of the joy and success of our adventure and in retrospect I think what we paid reflected the effort and risk they invested.
We are not concerned with a price per meter as you suggest. For us Autana, Tepuys and expeditions are about more than just rock climbing.

Nobody is allowed to climb Autana. Not Sponsored Gringo's, Middle class Venezuelan's or Spanish legend's.
We have not established an unreasonable price closing Autana to local climbers as you suggest.
It was already closed to everyone. There is no fair price. It is illegal. Climbers are not welcome and nobody climbs there.
That is why Acopan is so popular and Autana has only been climbed 3 times ever and not for 10 years.
We have opened the dialog for negotiations and have shown the Piaroa that some outsiders are honest and trust worthy.
It is for the Piaroa community to decide who they will help and what it will cost, not the Venezuelan climbers, not me and not you.

Better than to accuse and argue about what is a fair bribe to pay somebody to break the law on your behalf is to try to change these pointless laws for every bodies benefit.
There is some progress in Caracas and the Venezuelan climbing community with the support of people like you, me and Desnivel perhaps we can encourage the Venezuelan government to review it's stance on Tepuy climbing? Then fair prices can be established for fair, legitimate work not the illegal smuggling of outsiders into sacred, off limits areas.

We drilled no holes in Autana and left nothing but our rappel stations.
We respected the Piaroa traditions and helped them to buy medicine and tools to the benefit of their poor community.
We have done no harm to anybody and will hopefully bring entertainment and inspiration to many with our film - Autana.
We feel completely comfortable ethically and morally with our actions.

Congratulations on your new route on Acopan and good luck with your future expeditions.

From the Yopo Wall, Autana team.

Leo Houlding
Sean Leary
Jason Pickles
Alejandro Lamus
Yupi Rangel 
Alastair Lee
Dave Reeves

Hugh Hefner conditions in notorious Venezuelan jail - NYT report

New York Times reporter Simon Romero and photographer Meredith Kohut went inside Venezuela's notorious San Antonio prison on Margarita Island to produce this video report on the amazing conditions they found, including a swimming pool, a dance floor and private rooms for conjugal visits.

"Bikini-clad female visitors frolic under the Caribbean sun in an outdoor pool. Marijuana smoke flavors the air. Reggaetón booms from a club filled with grinding couples. Paintings of the Playboy logo adorn the pool hall. Inmates and their guests jostle to place bets at the prison’s raucous cockfighting arena," writes Romero in his report. 

He also interviewed Paul Makin, a British national who was arrested at Porlamar airport in Margarita on 16 February 2009 with 24 kilos of cocaine concealed in his luggage.

According to Makin, who says "it's the best jail in the world", the unusual privileges are down to Teofilo Rodriguez, known as "El Conejo" (The Rabbit), a convicted drug-trafficker and top dog at the prison.

Read Romero's fascinating article in the York Times: "Where prisoners can do anything, except leave"

A gripping new book by two British lads who spent four years in Venezuela's violent Yare prison has just been published: "Banged Up Abroad: Hellhole"

A video tour of Venezuela's top tourist spots

The latest tourism campaign in Venezuela tries to widen the scope from the usual Margarita, Merida and Angel Falls combination to take in some of the other top destinations in the country.

It's a great way to get a quick overview of the country and the subtitles in English give a fairly good description of the places featured.

Bradt Guide to Venezuela - come and meet the author

Writing a guidebook can be a lonely business, hours and hours checking facts and then even more hours writing them up to make sure your guide is as up-to-date and useful as possible.

So it's nice to have a chance to meet your readers and get some feedback on what they like about the book and what they think you could add.

That's why I'm so excited about meeting my public at an event being planned for 7 July at Bolivar Hall, the Venezuelan cultural centre in London.

It's designed to appeal to anybody interested in travelling to Venezuela as well as those who simply like to see beautiful images of unique destinations, such as Los Roques, Choroni, Los Llanos, Canaima, Angel Falls and Mount Roraima.

The main focus of the evening will be illustrated talk covering my favourite places to visit, what to see and do and some background on history, folk music, gastronomy, fauna and flora.

But we'll also have some excellent Venezuelan rum to get everybody in the mood and music from Los Llanos to bring a little bit of Venezuela to London.

The date is just provisonal for now but as soon as it's confirmed I'll post something here with the full details.

Catatumbo Lightning - a Venezuelan mystery

Anybody who has travelled to the houses on stilts in the south of Lake Maracaibo to witness firsthand the mysterious natural phenomenon known as Catatumbo Lightning, or El Relampago del Catatumbo in Spanish, will understand the awe that these great arcs of thunderless lightning inspire.

The lightning can be seen on an average of 160 nights a year, with the electrical storms lasting up to 10 hours and with up to 280 lightning flashes an hour.

One of the first to pen an account of the phenomenon, and so bring it to the attention of the wider world, was the German scientist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt, who described the powerful and sustained lightning flashes as "electrical explosions that are like a phosphorescent gleam".

Humboldt referred to the phenomenon as "El Farol de Maracaybo", or "The Lighthouse of Maracaibo", because navigators on the lake are "guided by it as by a lighthouse".

"The distance, greater than 40 leagues, at which the light is observed, has led to the supposition that it might be owing to the effects of a thunderstorm, or of electrical explosions which might daily take place in a pass in the mountains," wrote Humboldt in his famous book "Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America."

While it can be seen from hundreds of miles away, the main area in which Catatumbo Lightning is produced is in the sky over the mouth of the Catatumbo River as it empties into the south of Lake Maracaibo, known in Spanish as Sur del Lago.

Most tourist trips organized from Merida start at the small fishing village of Puerto Concha, on the shores of the Sur del Lago, from where boat trips can be arranged to houses on stilts in the Las Cienagas de Juan Manuel National Park, where the best views are available.

Congo Mirador is a community of some 120 stilt-built shacks reached in two hours by boat from Puerto Concha.

As the documentary suggests, there is still no accepted single cause for the phenomenon, which remains a mystery, although most theories are linked to the atmospheric conditions that result from heavy winds blowing down from the Andes Mountains in Merida, which then collide with ionised gases - specifically the methane created by the decomposition of organic matter in local marshes.

One of the companies offering Catatumbo trips from Merida is

Fanny Tours and Adventures

FitVen2009 showcases Venezuela´s natural treasures

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.

Video: Cueva del Guacharo

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: