6 Days/5 Nights
(6 Pax mínimum)

We will depart from Santa Elena de Uairén to Paray Tepuy (native indian community belonging to Pemón etnia) located in La Gran Sabana. From there we will walk to el Roraima Tepuy, also named the Glass Mountain, using the same route that was discovered by the first explorers in 1884. We will sleep two nights in the top of the mountain and take some exploratory walks.

– Lenght of the trip: 6 days
– Includes: All terrestrial transportation needed in La Gran Sabana. Guide. All meals. Accomodation in campsite (tents). All the equipment camp do you need. Portable toilet. Communication equipment.
– Other: The average diary walk length will be of four hours. Personal equipment porters are additional.

The opcion To get to Santa Elena are:
o Take a direct bus from Terminal de Oriente. Trip length: 22h. aproximately. Price: Bs. 120.000,oo. per person, outward journey only. The same operation is needed to get back to Caracas.
o To make the trip shorter, you can travel by bus to Ciudad Bolívar (during the night), get to the airport and take a plane to Santa Elena early in the morning. Flight price: Bs. 400.000,oo (aproximately) per person, outward journey only. The same operation is needed to get back to Caracas.
o You can fly to Ciudad Bolívar, but will have to wait till next morning to fly to Santa Elena (so you must stay in a hotel that night).
o In your own car, any vehicle can get to Santa Elena, it does not have to be a 4x4 one.
It is always recommendable to get to Santa Elena one day before departing and have some rest the night before to be in good physical conditions. The price (Bs. 120.000,00) includes supper and breakfast per night and per person.

Itinerary
Day 1
Tek river
We will meet you in Santa Elena (you just have to say the hotel you are staying at). From the hotel we will take a vehicle that will take us to San Francisco de Yuruani. Most of the area (3 milion hectare) is considered as the Canaima National Park in order to protect the delicate flora and fauna (tepuyana), is the sixth bigger national park in the world!!!. In San Francisco we will take a detour that will take us, throug rivers and the savannah till Paray Tepuy de Roraima (native Indian Pemón settlement located at 1400 above sea level). In this two hours walk we will be able to enjoy and take some beautiful photos the beautiful tepuy mountain range made up of Roraima. Kukenam, Yuruani, Wadaka, Karaurin, Ilu y Tramen Tepuy. In Paray the porters are waiting form us as they will carry all our food, tents and cooking equipment. The walk starts way down where we will have to cross a brook and a forest where the Campanero bird (bell ringer bird) lives, native bird species very appreciated by the ornithologists. After a strong ascent we wil be able to enjoy a beautiful view, a wide savannah that we must cross to get to Tek river, the first big river before getting to the campsite. Finally, thirty half an tour more to get to Kukenam river. On the other side of the river we will set up the base camp. Car trip lenght: 3 hours. Walk length: 5 hours. Hight: 1.050 m. above sea level. (L/S)

Day 2
Base camp
We will get up early to enjoy the sunrise near the Kukenam and Roraima. After an energizing river bath and a delicious breakfast we have to get ready to resume the walk. The walk has a soft ascent that allows us to see details of Roraima wall and Maverick geological formation. At the end of the way we will find a group of hills that welcome us to the campsite. There is time to have a cold bath in the river and check out the best way to continue our way next morning. Walk length: 4 hours. Hight: 1870 above sea level. (B/L/S)

Day 3
The top
The tepuy ascent will be done following the same route Im Thurn y Perkins did in 1884, reaching the top of the mountain. During the ascent it is possible to see plant unique species as the big Brocchinia cordylinoides (the same biological family as the pinneaple) or Stegolepis guianensis (with a hight nutritional content) as we climb through a thick forest helping ourselves with roots and tree trunks. To get to the last part of the route it is necessary to cross a waterfall described by the first explorers. The price is worthwhile. You will be able to appreciate the gigantic ferns more than 300 years old. Once on the top, you will find yourself in an imaginary world only comparable to the moon surface. The strange rocky formations (created by the erosive effect of rain and wind) are covered with a black fungus. After another 30 minutes walk, we will get to the Hoteles (hotels). This is the name for some special rocky formations that offers us protection against rain and wind. This is the moment to set up the campsite. After that there is time to explore the jacuzzi zone and the window. Walk length: 4 hours. Hight: 2800 m above sea level. (B/L/S)

Day 4
Punto Triple-Valle de los Cristales (Valley of the Cristals)
Today the plan is to make some exploratory walks in the tepuy, time to discover some secrets of the Valley of the Cristals, (called this way because the quartz cristals emerge from the ground). We will visit the Punto Triple (Triple Point), the place where Venezuela, Brasil and Guyana meet. In our way back we will visit El Foso (The hole) where the giant swift inhabites. It is also possible to see some endemic carnivorous plants, as the Drosera roraima, that attracts its prey with its beautiful color and delicious nectar smell, and the Heliamphora nutants, also a insectivorous plant. Walk length: 6 hours. Hight: 2800 m. above sea level. (B/L/S).

Day 5
Tek river
Today we will say goodbye to the Lost World top and have the last chance to appreciate the Oreophrynella quelch (Roraima little frog), a small black amphibian that has managed to survive in these hard conditions. In our way back, we will stop in the base camp to have some rest, eat something and resume our walk crossing the Kukenan river till getting to the Tek river. Walk length: 7 hours. Hight: 1050 m. above sea level (B/L/S).

Day 6
Santa Elena
Our walk continues until Paray Tepuy settlement. We will have time to have a bath in a waterfall in the last river before arriving to Paray Tepuy. There, our lunch and the vehicle that will take us back to Santa Elena will be waiting for us. (B/L)
It is not included:
– Santa Elena accomodation
– Airport taxes
– Personal expenses as laundry or phone calls
– Personal equipment porters
– Meals, excursions and other services not described in the itinerary.
– Alcoholic beverages
– Tips for guides, porters or drivers
– Expenses due to flight delay or cancellation
Notes about the itinerary:
Eventhough we give the best of all of us in order to comply with the described itinerary, the programme could be subject to changes owing to reasons that scape our control as flight delays, weather, physical group conditions, river and road conditions.
Personal equipment needed:
– Backpack
– Sleeping bag
– Thermic mat
– Towel (one of those special for swimmers)
– Raincoat
– Poncho (cape)
– 2 light pants
– 2 long-sleeved shirts
– 1 short pants
– 3 T-shirts
– Swimming trunks
– Trekking boots
– Sun protection cream, hat, sunglasses.
– Socks and underwear
– Small light, a light bulb and batteries
– Sport shoes
– Personal medicines needed
– Insect repellent
– 2 lts. water container
– 1 Bag (capacity 150 lts. or weigth 40 Kg.
– Biodegradable soap
– Photographic camera, binoculars
– Sweater
– Gloves

Recommended bibliography
– La Gran Sabana, panorama de una región, Schubert - Huber.
– Guía de los Parques nacionales y Monumentos naturales de Venezuela.
– Islands in time, National Geographic Magazine, May 1989
– GEO Magazine, N.4, 1986
– Roraima, Charles Brewer Carias
– La Vegetación del Mundo Perdido, Charles Brewer Carias