The Lost World
Trip Start
Oct 06, 2008
1
30
32
Trip End
Apr 03, 2009
Santa Elena de Uairen, Guayana Highlands, Venezuela
Sunday, March 29, 2009
The reason for stopping in Santa Elena, another non-descript town was to do the Roraima trek - six days to discover the location of Arthur Conan Doyleīs famous Lost World. But more on that a little later. First a word about Venezuela.
Was looking forward to seeing what this country was going to be like. First country I have ever travelled to with what the western world paints as a dictator in charge. Have to say though that after passing through, albeit very briefly, Iīm not sure the people of Venezuela feel that way. Chavez is working to build a socialist republic here - the next Cuba so to speak is where this country is heading over the next 10 years. He does seem to have done a lot of good things for the poorer classes of people here and the place certainly doesnīt have as much of the have and have nots of Brazil. At the same time, the wealthier classes of society are deeply unhappy with some of his reforms. This is not exactly too surprising given his aim of a socialist republic.
Couple of things though that make me feel a little uneasy;
(i) The huge military presence everywhere - incredible number of security checks on the roads even where there are no borders. Not sure why they all are necessary but Iīm sure they intimidate the local people a little bit - they did me anyway.
(ii) Standard of living is reminiscent of the Andean countries but the cost of living is very high in comparison,
(iii) The whole country is run on a black market exchange rate - if you travel here using your visa card it would be one of the most expensive countries in the world. Official exchange rate is 2.15 Bolivars to the US dollar. Standard lunch fare in a local cheap eatery is almost 20 bolivars - that is close to $10 US. Get the equivalent in Peru for something like $2 US which is what these towns remind me of. Now the black market or real exchange rate used is 5 or 5.5 Bolivars to the US$. But its not really black market as the whole country operates on this rate - who sets it or controls it I donīt know but all prices are created on its basis. Nobody here could afford to spend $10 US on a cheap Almuerzo lunch thatīs for sure. No idea how this country operates economically like this except that it has been built on petroleum production and God himself prob doesnīt know what Chavez is doing with that money. The lower classes here are seeing some of it which is how he builds his support and is able to be re-elected but there is no way all the money is being recycled into the economy here. The standard of living is nowhere near high enough. What its being used for I donīt know. Need far more educated peole than me to figure that one out.
Its definitely an interesting place though - wish I had a little more time than 2 weeks to put the puzzle together.
Roraima is a Tepuis - tabletop mountain of sandstone - no earth on top - in Southern Venezuela in an area known as Gran Sabana. These things jut up into the horizon offering a completely different world to explore. Life has evolved seperately on them to the rest of the Gran Sabana at ground level leaving them with their own eco systems and plants and animals endemic to them found nowhere else in the world. Dark, mysterious rock formations await you at the top, called such pleasant names as "The Monkey eating Ice-Cream" but also lush vegetation, bog-like areas, swimming holes and caves. It is a spooky, eerie place covered in a perpetual mist - the perfect setting for a Jurassic Park adventure and you are almost expecting something prehistoric to pop out behind a rock - closest we got to that was an ant-eater. Was still pretty cool though - the ant-eater. A wonderfully weird place - its definitely worth exploring. One warning though - it is a bit samey samey after a while and that makes it easy to get lost - always keep an eye on your guide. Donīt want to get lost up here and you would not find your way back - thats impossible without alot of experience up here. The view of the Gran Sabana from the top is worth the trek alone I think. Second warning - as there is no soil to break it down, you need to bring your poo back down with you. That means the "Chocolate" must go straight into a plastic bag of lime to contain the smell. Not a pretty exercise.
A group of 9 of us climbed it - 4 Japs, 3 Aussies, 1 Kiwi and me. As with all tours, the Japs pretty much kept to themselves but they were prob more approachable here than on any of my other tours. The Aussies and the Kiwi were top notch sports though and we had some great conversations on sport and movies - somethings I have really missed on this trip. Other than getting absolutely drenched on the first day, the sun shone and the Puri-Puri (sandflies) bit ferociously. Never seen so many of the b**tards. Great hike though and we hit Santa Elena in big style when we came back for a good night out. It may not be Buenos Aires but we knocked a good night out of it. One of my favourite hikes of the trip, as much for the people as the sights.
