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 South America |
 Venezuela: From Angel Falls to Angel Fish... The first doorway to European colonization of South America, Venezuela offers today's ecotourist a rich choice of soft adventures. By Rod Lopez-Fabrega |
 Simon Bolivar liberated much of the continent from the yoke of European colonialism... |
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Known historically as The Gateway to South America, sixteenth century, Venezuela was the launch site for European explorations of the South American continent. Beginning with the 1498 arrival of Columbus in what is now Venezuela, courageous and ruthless Spanish and Portuguese conquistadores made the entire continent a European colony. Centuries later, Venezuela became the birthplace of freedom in South America. Simon Bolivar, born in Caracas of landed Creole aristocracy, led the movement that liberated much of the continent from the yoke of European colonialism and left his name to a street or plaza in every village and city in Venezuela as well as to the country's currency, the Bolivar. |
 ...the amazing tepui table-top mountain and spectacular Angel Falls, the world's highest... |
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Today, Venezuela could properly be called the gateway to South American ecotourism. Does that surprise you? Odds are that you first think of Venezuela as a major petroleum producer and then as a country located in a risky neighborhood. It's true that under Lake Maracaibo lies one of the great oil reserves of the world and troubled Colombia is next door to the west. However, Venezuela's petroleum industries are centered along its northwest Caribbean shores and, so far, the neighbors are contained in their own yard. It is the rest of this handsome country that remains a largely undiscovered adventure-land for North Americans. While lacking the splendid indigenous heritage of its immediate southern neighbors, Venezuela offers a wealth of well-developed ecotourism adventures. From north to south, along the central spine of the country are exceptional lands to be discovered, from the hot Caribbean resorts and off-shore sport fishing islands, the vast savannahs of the Guyana highlands, the amazing tepui table-top mountains and spectacular Angel Falls (the world's highest,) the vast and mysterious network of canals in the Orinoco River Delta, and to the far south of the country, the beginnings of the enormous Amazonas rainforest. |
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 Margarita Island Popular with Venezuelans and countless cruise ships, Margarita Island is the country's main Caribbean resort. Its capital city, Porlamar, is well-developed and considered something of a shopping paradise for Venezuelans. Most major hotels are located in Porlamar, with the Hilton Margarita & Suites the undisputed queen. With its own private beach, it offers 336 luxury guest rooms and 11 suites, every amenity plus gorgeously landscaped gardens. In addition to its somewhat commercial capital, the island has many beaches and interesting corners of historic interest to explore. The island also is served by international charter flights from Europe and South America and, from Caracas, by American Airlines and United Airlines. Also, speaking of gateways, Margarita Island is the gateway to ecotourism in Venezuela. |
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Los Roques Just a hop away from Margarita and 110 miles north of Caracas is the archipelago of Los Roques. This protected national park is a pristine coral atoll that has been described as "providing the kind of diving environment found in the Caribbean more than two decades ago, yet almost non-existent today." It is an unspoiled Eden including world-class SCUBA diving and excellent snorkeling |
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It is an unspoiled Eden...
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 The archipelago is "made up of some 300 islands, islets, keys and sand banks beside countless coral reefs, shaping a ring that borders the main lagoon with mangroves and coral formations." As an official national park of Venezuela, it is very carefully managed with tourist activities monitored. The largest island and the site of the only airport in the archipelago is called Gran Roque, the Big Rock, and that also is the local base for Linea Turistica Aerotuy (LTA.) This unique company, with its main offices in Caracas and Margarita Island, owns wilderness and ecologically based lodges throughout Venezuela as well as its own modern fleet of commercial aircraft, 25 pilots and more than 300 employees with which to get you to their lodges. |
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Prospective clients might find the door barred by a "Gone Fishing" sign.
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 Accommodations are plentiful. Dozens of pensiones line the sandy main street, though at times, prospective clients might find the door barred by a "Gone Fishing" sign. The management may be crewing the Peter Hughes live-aboard Antares Dancer dive boa --or they may just be letting you know where their priorities lie. LTA's six guest houses or posadas on the Island of Gran Roque provide more dependable accommodations for snorkelers out to see the underwater sites from LTA's three impressive 55-foot-long catamarans, Neptuno, Poseidon and Hurakan (Hurricane) and, most significantly, as home base for the serious fishermen and land-based SCUBA divers who come to the archipelago for the kind of adventure, "once found in the Caribbean 20 years ago." |
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Antares Dancer is owned by LTA but is marketed, crewed and managed by
Peter Hughes.  |
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 LTA's land-based SCUBA dives are through Sesto Continente dive resort, offering two dive boats, 30- and 35-feet-long, Seaquest diving gear, 60 tanks and PADI instructors and dive masters. Their dive packages include two daily dives plus night dives. Accommodations are in LTA's posadas. The other diving possibility offered to divers is live-aboard, and the way to do it is on board Antares Dancer. This excellent 76-foot-long dive vessel is owned by LTA but is marketed, crewed and managed by Peter Hughes Diving. Frequent inspections assure that the vessel meets Hughes' meticulous international dive standards. Amenities aboard the vessel include six private cabins, each with private head and shower, full air-conditioning, sundeck, a public salon, a marine library, phone and fax and complimentary laundry services. Meals also are to highest standards with fresh bread and desserts made daily. Diving levels accommodated range from beginners to advanced, and PADI certification courses are offered. The packages offered include roundtrip air from Caracas, accommodations, all meals, tanks, assistance and insurance, three to four dives daily including night dives, some off Antares and others off their 34-foot support boat. Antares carries 30 tanks, two compressors, diving gear and an English-speaking, highly experienced dive master who also is a PADI instructor and marine biologist. Per person, double occupancy package rates, as listed by LTA, range from $495 for three days/two nights to $1,250 for eight days/seven nights. A single supplement is an additional 20 percent. |
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Visibility is between 60-100 feet.
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 Dive Sites Just a few of the outstanding dive sites: La Piedra de la Guass is a 100-foot pinnacle that rises to within 20 feet of the surface and an excellent venue to view large schools of pelagic fish including big-eye jacks, mackerel and rainbow runners. Visibility is between 40-80 feet. Punta Salina is a spectacular wall at the south side of the archipelago, packed with caves where small crustaceans and a wide variation of sponges congregate. Visibility is between 60-100 feet. Dos Mosquises is a wall with thick bushes of black coral. It is a place where a private foundation grows and releases four species of turtles. Nordisqui features ship wrecks, flat corals and canals. Montana Verde is a great site for barracuda and reef fish. In general, the reefs are populated by schools of silversides, enormous clouds of minnows, huge tarpon, tropicals and all other forms of marine life. |
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The flight then crosses over the Gran Sabana National Park.
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 Angel Falls and Arekuna The two-hour LTA flight from Los Roques to the Canaima Lagoon, deep in the country's interior, first crosses Monagas state and one of the world's most extensive re-forestation projects, where every tree cut must be replaced by ten seedlings. Millions of Caribbean pines at all stages of growth cover the land from horizon to horizon. The flight then crosses over the Gran Sabana National Park, vast plains punctuated by the amazing tepui tabletop mountains, among them the giant Auyan Tepui and the awesome Angel Falls that leaps out from Auyan's high cliff to drop its waters 3,210 uninterrupted feet to the valley floor. The first non-native to discover the falls was an American adventurer who crashed his plane on the tepui. He never found the gold that inspired his adventure, but he did locate one of the world's natural wonders. |
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LTA's splendid hilltop camp overlooks the wide Caroni River .
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 The small development of Canaima and its scenic lagoon are an intermediate stop on the flight. From there, a smaller LTA aircraft transports visitors to the landing strip of Arekuna Lodge, LTA's splendid hilltop camp overlooking the Caroni River. Several days in this handsomely appointed camp with 30 roomy twin-level rooms, hilltop pavilion for socializing and dining al fresco, its ingenious water purification systems and friendly service provide a first-class base of operations for river trips, visits to communities of the indigenous Pemon people, hikes to spectacular waterfalls, and fishing adventures. |
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Activities include rainforest hikes, piranha fishing, cayman hunting at night where small crocs are spotted by the reflections of their eyes... |
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 Orinoco Delta A one-hour-plus plane hop, a two-hour bus ride and a lengthy trip in a native river longboat, take visitors into the mysterious delta, an enormous riverine web of canals and streams that form the fast-growing delta of the Orinoco River. It's a land of grasslands and dense tropical rainforest that is expanding rapidly into the Atlantic Ocean as tons of sediment accumulate throughout the year. LTA's Boral Camp is a modest but comfortable 12-room riverside lodge, each room with its own private bath. Activities from this remote place include rainforest hikes, piranha fishing, cayman hunting at night where small crocs, spotted by the reflections of their eyes under flashlight beams, are brought aboard by the guide and then released, and finally, self-powered kayaking on the river. |
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Linea Turistica Aerotuy can arrange the whole thing for you. Their packaged trips can include the above highlights or many other options in Venezuela, an interesting and much overlooked gateway for North American adventure tourism. Check out their site at http://www.tuy.com/Aereotuy.htm |
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© 2001 ROMAR TRAVEL GUIDES
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