FLYING WITH ANGELS

WEATHER: Hot and 32C

HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: Seeing Angel Falls covered in cloud-beautiful

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Having an upset tummy

WORD OF THE DAY:  Just beautiful-the national park was amazing

We got a wake-up call this morning at 4am as the group was off to do a 2 hour walk round trip to see a different view of the falls from a viewing platform.  I didn’t bring walking shoes I only had my thongs and you needed closed shoes, so I stayed back at camp and read my book for 30 minutes before going back to sleep till 6.45am and got up to see the falls by myself in the morning.  I woke to a stomach ache and I have a bad case of diarrhea.  I am not sure what bought it on as we ate dinner so early last night if it was from that I would have thought that I would have had an upset tummy before then.  Anyway, as things always have a way of working it was just as well I didn’t go on the walk as it could have gotten really nasty that is for sure, with 2 more toilet stops, I was thinking about the 4 hour boat ride back this morning. Hmmmmmmmmm

As I was sitting there on my own just taking in my whole surrounds they guys started appearing on the other side of the bank.  They had made it back from the walk.  Mark attempted to cross the river and stay dry, which turned out to be hilarious as the current was so strong he ended up going all in with shoes and jacket, but he had left his camera on shore with someone.  Well Dom was giving him such a hard time and couldn’t stop laughing that he also gave it a go and also went in the drink, but as they had just completed a 2 hour hike they were happy to cool off, even if they were wearing all their clothes.

So after a cooked breakfast and a quick pack up it was time to hit the boats again for our 4 hour journey back to Canaima and our scenic flights to Angel Falls and then our flights back to Cuidad Bolivar.  It was going to be another long day.  We figured it would be a little quicker getting back as we were now going downstream.  The rapids were just as tricky going down them as up them and one of the first ones we went over, the boat got stuck. Yep stuck on the rocks, so our guide George asked us all to get out, so firstly the weight would be taken off the boat and then it could be walked over the remaining 15m of the rapid.  Yeah well that was easier said than done, the rapid was moving really fast (hence its name) and when I got out the water was almost to my mid-thigh.  If I wasn’t holding onto the boat I rekon I would have been swept of my feet.  In the end I had to walk over stones to get to the rickety that was in the middle of the river and walk down to the boat that the boys ended getting over the tricky bit.  Wendy and Kate also got a little stuck and at one point Kate nearly went in the drink as well.  I don’t think it was the smartest move of George to get us ‘all’ out, but no-one was hurt, we got over the rapid and back in the boat for the rest of the journey.  The scenery does look different heading back the other way and there were low clouds hanging around the top of the plateaus, so we were hoping that they would clear up by the time we returned for the scenic flights.  The downstream trip was quicker and only took 3 hours and 15 minutes.  Once we were back onto terra firma, we walked for around 10 minutes to a vantage point of the falls we saw as we flew in yesterday and then we boarded the open air bus for the airport.  The scenic flights were to be done in 3 flights based on numbers, so I put my hand up for the first flight while the others went back to the hall to have their lunch and then we would do a swapsie. 

It was a 40-min flight that took us to Angel Falls. We took off from Canaima in a small Cessna airplane, flying south along the Auyan Tepui into the Devil’s Canyon, where Angel Falls plunges from this tepui.  Angel Falls is located in the Guayana highlands, and it is just one of the five great adventure regions in Venezuela. The water comes in a free fall of 979 meters from the Churum river hovering of the edge of the "Auyantepuy" Table mountain, this the largest Tepuy (table mountain) in Canaima Venezuela.

This falls is named for Jimmy Angel, an adventurous pilot from Missouri, United States, who flew to the air circus Lindberg. James Crawford Angel (Jimmy Angel) is a modern legend. He saw the waterfall for the first time in 1933 with his partner while searching for the legendary McCracken River of Gold, or the Golden City.  James returned again in 1937 with his wife and his friend Gustavo Henry Gardener where they had an emergency landing on top of the Auyantepuy. The aircraft was able to reach safely to the top of the Tepuy and stayed there for 33 years until it was taken down by a helicopter.  Jimmy Angel and his three companions managed to descend from Tepuy and return to the civilization walking through the jungle for 11 days. Angel's plane is currently in the Aviation Museum in Maracay, and nowadays on top of the Auyantepuy you will find a replica of Jimmy’s airplane.

It was amazing to see Canaima National Park from the air and to retrace where we had just spent 3 hours in a boat only an hour ago as we followed the river back to the falls.  The landscape was shaped by breathtaking mountains called Tepuys, countless rivers, lakes, waterfalls, forests and savannahs spread like a green sea.  The park has 3 million hectares, making it the second largest protected area Venezuela and sixth in the world.   It is worth mentioning that only since 1990 the first travelers could visit Angel Falls making the falls a true virgin destination in the world.  Once again when we got to the falls 20 minutes after taking off they really weren’t that great, still my mind had not changed on that fact.  Plus I was sitting behind the pilot and he did 2 loops giving the right side of the plane a view and he didn’t figure 8 us to let the left side get a good photo.  Which it didn’t really matter too much as the planes windows were dirty anyway and even though the clouds had lifted it was still a little hazy out there.  I was sort of expecting that he would fly us over the top, but we only got the 2 loops and then back to the airport.  I am still glad I did the flight, as the black colour of the river against the never ending green jungle made for some great photos and it was worth the 70USD.  It was interesting to note what took us 4 hours to travel in a motor boat took 20 minutes in a plane. 

After lunch, we were back at the airport waiting for the last of the scenic flights to come back and then we had to wait for the planes to take us back to Ciudad Bolivar.  As we were grouped on different tickets, we were waiting for our names to be called to find out if we were going to be on the 1^st, 2^nd or 3^rd flight.  As we were last time, my group of 4 was hoping we wouldn’t be the last back.  In the end we were 2^nd to depart, which was perfect as it gave me some time in Bolivar to jump on the airports Wi-Fi to download Zeme’s latest message and reply back as the last group landed and we were all transferred by 4WD for the 20 minute ride back to the hotel.

So it was a busy 2 days.  No trip to Venezuela would be complete without visiting the falls.  It would be like going to Ayers Rock and not seeing ‘the rock’, going to Sydney and not seeing the Sydney Harbour Bridge, going to Rio and not visiting Christ the Redeemer…well you get my drift.  I have now seen Angel Falls from the ground and from the air.  They may not have been the most impressive, but the Canaima National Park was certainly worth the time, effort and the money so all was not lost on our journey visiting Angel Falls and flying with Angels.