HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: Travelling across the largest lake in the world in speedboats
BUMMER OF THE DAY: Tired after only 5 hours sleep
WORD OF THE DAY: Wildlife
Today was an optional excursion out to what is called Lightning Lake. 16 of us decided to pay the 80USD for the 2 day/ 1 night excursion. The others got the chance to sleep in and have an extra 2 days in Merida. We met our guide at 8am, Alan, who was going to be with us for the next 5 days. He seems really switched on and has lived and run tours in Merida and surrounds for the last 26 years, I think we are going to be in good hands.
So what is Lightning Lake? The Catatumbo Lightning is an atmospheric phenomenon in Venezuela. It occurs strictly in an area located over the mouth of the Catatumbo River where it empties into Lake Maracaibo. The frequent, powerful flashes of lightning over this relatively small area are considered to be the world's largest single generator of tropospheric ozone which refers to ozone that does not replenish the stratospheric ozone layer. It originates from a mass of storm clouds that create a voltaic arc at more than 5 km of height, during 140 to 160 nights a year, 10 hours per day and up to 280 times per hour. It occurs over and around Lake Maracaibo, typically over the bog area formed where the Catatumbo River flows into the lake. After appearing continually for centuries, the lightning ceased from January to April 2010, apparently due to drought. This raised fears that it might have been extinguished permanently. The lightning reappeared after a two month period and continues to be seen today.
The Catatumbo lightning usually develops between the coordinates 8°30' and 9°45'N and 71° and 73°W.
The storms (and associated lightning) are likely the result of the winds blowing across the Maracaibo Lake and surrounding swampy plains. These air masses inevitably meet the high mountain ridges of the Andes, the Perijá Mountains (3,750m), and Mérida's Cordillera, enclosing the plain from three sides. The heat and moisture collected across the plains creates electrical charges and, as the air masses are destabilized at the mountain ridges, resulting in almost continual thunderstorm activity. The phenomenon is characterized by almost continuous lightning, mostly within the clouds, which is produced in a large vertical development of clouds that form large electric arcs between 2 and 10 km in height (or more). The lightning tends to start approximately one hour after dusk.
This was going to be the highlight of the overnight trip, but there were also plenty of other things to see on our way there and back, so it was going to be an interesting 2 days and I was looking forward to it. We were dog tired but we were only going to be here once so we all sucked it up on the 5 hours’ sleep we had after a 17 hour day in the truck and got back on Rosita for the 2 hour drive to get us to the port for our 2 hour boat trip to the lake house. Allan is very switched on and after only knowing him for an hour or so he is certainly very passionate and up front with us which I like. He has been doing tours in and around Merida for the last 26 years and specializing in Lightning Lake and trying to get the word out about this phenomenon. He explained that there would be additional stops along the way at some points of interest, so the drive was going to take longer, which is fine as it gave us time to stretch our legs and to get in toilet breaks as well.
Our first stop was a lookout point over the Chama River. The Río Chama is one of the main rivers of the state of Mérida in Venezuela in the Andes Range and it’s outlet is at Lake Maracaibo. From the headwaters to an altitude of about 2500 metres above sea level, the Chama runs as a steep mountain torrent. As it progresses through the valley, it quickly becomes contaminated with sewage from the many towns that lie along its path. The river continues its journey passing at the foot of the plateau where the city of Mérida sits. Near the town of Ejido, the Albarregas river joins the Chama, dumping all the pollutants from the city of Mérida and thus reaching its peak of contamination. From there, the river continues in steep descent, through a very rocky river bed. This allows the water to become oxygenated and naturally purified from its organic contaminants. At the town of Las Gonzalez, the Chama, while still contaminated, is often used by white water rafters. It was a magnificent view and Allan calls it Cactus Valley as there are 100’s of them all through the valley and up the mountains with black vultures coming in and flying overhead it made for some great photo opportunities. Looking at the massive mountains that make up the Sierra Nevada de Mérida is the highest mountain range in the largest massif in Venezuela, the Cordillera de Mérida, which in turn is part of the northern extent of the Cordillera de los Andes (Andes Mountains). The Sierra Nevada de Mérida includes the highest peaks in Venezuela, Pico Bolívar, which has an elevation of 4,981 metres . From these mountain ranges is where people travel from all over the world to Paraglide 2100m above sea level. As we drove we saw some paragliders in the air and man it looked high. This was an optional excursion that we would have time to do on our free day once we were back in Merida, and also canyoning was also on offer and with them both at quire a reasonable price of 60USD each I was thinking about the paragliding option to throw myself out of my comfort zone and ‘just do it’ but after seeing just how high those guys were I just couldn’t do it, it was massively high and I just had to say no. As for the canyoning, you can forget that, climbing, hiking, abseiling and slipping down rocks in cold water? Who on earth calls that fun? Losers……. And to pay money!! Losers………
Lunch was at a chicken restaurant where they cooked and served, yep, chicken but it was amazing as it was BBQ’ed to perfection and the skin was just like Red Rooster does back home and it just kept on coming out on plates as required. They also served it with planteen and some other starchy thing wrapped in banana leaves, but for me it was all about the chicken. It was also a chance for us to get to know the new group as well with meeting Heather from the UK and also Matt from Perth. I am getti8ng a great vibe from the last group which makes a nice change from some of the other groups we have had that there has been a little of an ‘us’ and ‘them’ mentality. It is hard to believe that I have completed 17 group tours over the last 12 months and this is going to be the last one of my whole Odyssey. So to finish it with a good group for me would be icing on the cake and a nice way to finish. I am doing an independent tour of Easter Island and then visiting friends in the US and Canada and right about now, no matter how good the group is I am missing friendly faces and I am really really looking forward to the last 6 weeks of my trip with friends.
After a few more hours in the truck we arrived into the small town where we would be meeting our boats. It was a mission getting past the houses as their telephone and electricity wires hanging over the road so we had to nudge our way under the wires with Mark on one side and Allan on the other with brooms in their hands lift the wires so we could pass through without taking out anyone’s electricity. This has happened a lot as we pass through small towns and is nothing new for the ‘seasoned’ travelers but it still looks funny all the same. There were times leaving Caracas that weren’t sure we would fit through the multiple tunnels we had to pass to get out of the city. The truck is massive and I do feel like lady muck sitting in my window seat. I love it and it must look a sight as we drive through as we get a lot of stares and pointing.
There were 5 speed boats waiting for us when we got there and with our day bags in our hands we were divided up in 4 of them with the 5th boat used for our bags, food and supplies we would need out there for the night. It was a busy little terminal with a lot of Easter traffic heading out to the water villages and surrounding islands. On our way out of the channel we did some wildlife spotting stopping for Howler Monkeys, Hawks, the beautiful Egrets and we saw a few Iguana’s as well on trees. We had a 2 hour journey that crossed Lake Maracaibo where we were able to spot some dolphins on the way. Lake Maracaibo is a large brackish bay in Venezuela that is
connected to the Gulf of Venezuela by Tablazo Strait (55km) at the northern end, and fed by numerous rivers, the largest being the Catatumbo. It is commonly considered a lake rather than a bay or lagoon, and at 13,210 km² it would be the largest lake in South America. The geological record shows that it has been a true lake in the past, and as such is one of the oldest lakes on Earth at 20-36 million years old.
Lake Maracaibo acts as a major shipping route to the ports of Maracaibo and Cabimas. The surrounding Maracaibo Basin contains large reserves of crude oil, making the lake a major profit center for Venezuela. A dredged channel gives oceangoing vessels access to the bay. The General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge (8.7 km long; completed 1962), spanning the bay's outlet, is one of the longest bridges in the world. There was an oil spill around 1 month ago, well some Colombian Gorillas blew up a petroleum installation and the oil has contaminated a part of the Lake and Allen just wasn’t sure how far the crude oil had spread. There was a clean-up still in progress but in places you could see a sheen of oil on the Lakes surface, so it certainly had an impact that is for sure. We got to see a beautiful sunset as we motored over the world’s largest lake and again I have to pinch myself that I am in Venezuela and just how lucky I am.
The lake house was a basic concrete building over the water, but it was all we needed for the night. The house was located inside a lagoon next to a water village, and this was the same village that Allan tries to bring food for each time and we would be delivering the food packages tomorrow morning on our way out. We still had a little bit if daylight to have a walk around on the small beach that the house was attached to and there was black crude oil 3m wide all around the inlet. It was shocking to see and the water village must have been affected with the fishing and wildlife in the area. The sleeping arrangements were 8 beds in the single roomed house and then the hammocks were going to be erected around the outside of the house later in the night as we were using that area for eating and chilling to start with. It was going to be cool sleeping outside but I was a little worried about the bugs and if I slept with my mouth open how many bugs I would be swallowing in my sleep. So you can imagine my sigh of relief when they set up the hammocks that they were also getting a mosquito net getting added over the top of them. Dusk settled in and then the insects started to come out. They looked like small midges that were landing on my legs, 10 of them at a time, but they didn’t seem to be biting me, but there were mossies as well but I had on my deet spray and that seemed to keep them at bay. I did get a bite on my upper arm and on my elbow, but as long as it isn’t my feet, then I can handle a few bites, but man they were itchy as hell. Dinner was a simple fare of bbq’ed meat and 2 salads but there was more than enough and then we settled in for what we hoped was going to be a lightning experience. The ‘main’ show or the main lightning phenomenon doesn’t occur till the wee hours anytime from 2am-4am, so based on this knowledge I went to bed (hammock) and read for an hour or at 10pm and then snuggled in my sleeping bag to wait for the wakeup call to see this phenomenon.
I woke at 3.30am and there was not much action happening in the sky or in the house department, I have a feeling that we may not be getting the spectacular night show that we were hoping for. Damn Mother Nature for not playing ball for us tonight, it was only 3.30am, so maybe just maybe we are still in with a chance….maybe….. We got a wake up at 4.45am and we were up like a shot, but what followed was ‘it’s not much, but get up and have a look’ so I struggled out of my hammock, this is one thing I have not mastered, getting out of the damn thing, and sat on some chairs and watched some flashes of sheet lightning and we did see a handful of fork lightning, but nothing photographable. It was a shame, but like animals, Mother Nature can be just as unpredictable and unfortunately she didn’t want to co-operate today. We stayed up till 5am and then I hit the hammock till it was time to get up at 7am for breakfast and our departure.
Lightning Lake failed to light but it was certainly worth the trip and we did see a small tiny minuscule piece of action so we can say, loosely, that we saw the phenomenon.
No comments:
Post a Comment