There is a place on Earth where the world’s tallest waterfall drops for almost a thousand meters, in a magic world surrounded by pre-historical mountain plains locally called “
tepuyes” where some rare and mysterious creatures live. It is a place that captivated and inspired many expeditions and adventurers to explore its thick jungles in an ambitious search for precious metals, some of whom never returned. This wonderful place is the Canaima National Park, in Venezuela, located in the State of Bolívar, established as a natural park on the 12th of June, 1962, and declared a Unesco World Natural Heritage Site in 1994 owing to its high biological and cultural diversity.
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The great Canaima, as the Venezuelans call it, is considered the largest natural reservation in Venezuela and the sixth largest in the world. Covering 30 thousand km2, this park extends to the border with Guiana and Brazil, occupying 3.27% of Venezuelan territory. Canaima is also considered by Science to be one of the least studied forests in the Amazon, containing astounding samples of biodiversity, such as the world’s oldest mountain plateaus, dating to the Pre-Cambrian era. In the tongue of the native Pemón, its name means “Mountains”.
The
tepuyes are mountain plateaus with vertical walls and almost flat summits, formed by eroded and weathered sandstone, and on whose surface areas important geological vestiges are to be found, such as animal and vegetable fossils that reveal how life on Earth was millions of years ago.
The origin of these plains goes back to more than 3 million years ago, to the time when America and Africa formed a single mega continent. After their separation process, these natural mega structures were formed, some of which reach a height of up to 2810 meters. An example of this is Mount
Roraima, one of the tallest
tepuyes among the 115 that exist in Canaima.
Among the best known
tepuyes is the
Auyantepuy with a height of 2535 meters and a surface area of 700 km2. It is the place from which the Angel Falls drop. Others, like the
Kukenan,
Chimanta and the
Roraima were successfully scaled to their peaks, where extraordinary discoveries were made of endemic animal and plant life, such as the black frog (
Oreo frainella) much studied by biologist Adrien Warren (
The Lost World,
Venezuela´s Ancient Tepuys). This species is considered to be much older than the dinosaurs and its origin is placed at the time when the continents were still together, since it’s more similar to the African frog species than the South American. This specimen was smart enough to have survived through millions of years. Also found were several species of orchids, bromelias and “carnivorous” plants such as the
Nepenthes cincta, whose red and green colors lure insects who are soon stuck to be slowly digested. In view of these important discoveries, Science wonders about other species that could yet be found in the unexplored
tepuyes. But the answer only time and human ability may bring. Meanwhile, these mysterious mountains will remain hiding their many undeciphered enigmas.
The Pemón
They are the largest indigenous group of the Canaima National Park and of the city of Gran Sabana. It is estimated that they amount to 30 thousand individuals, distributed between Venezuela, Brazil and Guiana. From this ethnic group three main groups are distinguished: the
Taurepan, who live on the border between Venezuela and Brazil, the
Arekuna, found northeast of the State of Roraima and in Kavanayén Valley, and finally the
Kamarakoto who live west of the Karuay, Caroní and Paragua Rivers and in the Kamarata Valley. Jesus, our guide through this journey, belonged to the
Kamarakoto.
The Pemón live in houses built from sticks and mud with dried palm leaf rooftops. Among their main subsistence activities are handicraft and ecotourism, as they produce baskets which are then offered to local tourists, and they also offer themselves as tourist guides working for the various local tourism companies. In this manner, before Canaima came to be seen as an international tourist destination, this tribe dedicated itself to hunting, fishing and agriculture for subsistence. One of the main cultivated items is manioc, considered to be the basis of their diet, from which some derivatives are obtained such as
“casabe”, a type of bread with a fine dry texture that is shared by the whole family. This is a typical produce that accompanies Venezuelan food and it is found in several city markets such as Caracas, Valencia and Bolívar City.
A very interesting thing I was able to witness in my brief stay with the Pemón was the innate relationship they have with the environment. With no appearance of modernity and with much calm they told me
"...this place (Canaima) is the most beautiful on Earth, it is our home and we take care of it. All human beings should take care of nature, since it is everybody’s home, isn’t it?...", as conveyed to me by Jesus, our guide, with a distinct glimmer of pride in his eyes as an inhabitant of Canaima himself. Such words made me painfully realize that in the big cities, because we are so worried about economic and technological development, we have left behind all reverence for the natural world.
Carrao River
Our visit to the Pemón had come to an end, so we boarded a curiara to begin traversing the Carrau River, which would take us to the
Auyantepuy encampment. The
curiara is a rustic canoe handcrafted from wood extracted from local trees. It is regarded as a very important symbol for the Pemón, since it is the only means of transportation for reaching the majority of their communities. About a meter wide and almost ten in length, this craft is very similar to those used by other Amazonian tribes in Brazil and Peru.
A very peculiar trait of the Carrao is the red ochre tint of its waters in different areas of the river, caused by tannin, an acid exuding from certain leaves and roots that rot after falling into the water. In this manner, this is a very important aquatic ecosystem inhabited by a great variety of fishes and amphibians.
During the ride on a
curiara one can note on both sides of the river a dense and exuberant vegetation typical of Amazonian tropical forests, where one can see some wild animals observing us with curiosity all the way from their treetops, like the howler monkey, spider monkey, squirrels, otters and a great variety of water birds (herons, kingfishers, etc.), who, aware of our presence, openly fix their gazes upon us and cause a racket that is heard from a distance. They were likely cautioning other animals of the presence of intruders in their territory. There is no doubt that wherever we look, Canaima doesn’t stop amazing us with its incredible biodiversity.
The Angel Falls
Done with our water course through Carrao, we arrive at the
Auyantepuy encampment, or “
Montanha do diabo” in the Pemón tongue. From there we can see the splendid Angel Falls dropping from a height of 979 meters. The waterfall received its name from its discoverer, pilot and excursionist Jimmy Angel, who discovered it accidentally in 1935, lured by the many stories of explorers who’d found gold in some of the rivers in Canaima. Angel had the crazy idea of landing his plane on the
Auyantepuy. a choice that almost cost his life, and those of his mates, who after searching the place decided that their quest had been a failure. With the plane’s engine destroyed, and saddened for not having found gold, but happy for being alive, these intrepid adventurers spent another 11 days to descend from this
tepuy.
Voted in 2009 as one of the world’s seven natural wonders, the Angel Falls is currently considered one of the greatest international tourist attractions in Venezuela, dazzling all visitors who arrive there. It was also the source of inspiration for a Disney animation called “UP” that revolved around the story of an old man whose dream was to lift his house with balloons and to alight on the Angel Falls.
Amazonian tropical forests such as Canaima are the most important heritages of the human race and the time has arrived to acknowledge their importance. There is still time to save it from its heralded demise and begin to value the multiple environmental functions they perform for us, such as: carbon sequestering, helping reduce the effects of climate changes, climate regulation, water storage, scenic beauty, biodiversity haven, ecotourism destination, among many others.
Once my expedition to Canaima and my return to the great metropolis of Caracas were accomplished, within me remained a restless desire to conquer the forest, something the Pemón call “
la manigua”. However, I understood that it is the forest that conquered me, for the memory of Canaima will remain forever in my thoughts.
