The trip to Venezuela and Mount Roraima

It is some time since I have written on the this blog. We were on leave from Friday 18th July to 1st August and most of that time was taken up with travelling through Guyana South to Lethem and then through Brazil and Venezuela to St Elaine. This sounds pretty straightforward.it was not.The 350 miles bus trip to Lethen, as an example took 34 hours. We had to stop twice on the road in the middle of the rainforest, firstly to let the water flooding the road to drain into the creek ( 3 hours) and thenlater in the afternoon we broke down because the drive shaft fell off the Mercedes built 52 seater coach as a result of the harsh conditions of the road ( 8.5 hours). Undaunted , we met with our tour operator in Lethem 18 hours late and Frank, a cross between el tel and del boy...charming withit, drove us to the start of the 6 days trek to Mount Roraima and back. Initially we were 8 VSOs and one supremely experienced and pleasant guide Alex, ( from our region in Guyana)his 10 years old son Albero ( who had already climbed the mountain twice before ) and was a delight to have along, but we were joined by a young American woman Courtney who lives in Venezuela, and Irishman David who was climbing the mountain for the second time in a week!!
Roraima is one of the oldest places on the planet ( about 2 billion years old, not 300 billion as i though!!!) , is a tepu flat topped sandstone block that rises above the savannah lands to the South and the rain forest to the North. it was the inspiration for Conan Doyle's Lost World and is a reamrkable place to visit...it has about 1000 species of flora and fauna that are indigenous to it, is almost always wet and cold at night ( 9,270 feet ) and has been uninhabited since the dawn of time.

We made it to the top and back.There were many difficult bits apart from the climb...the river crossings were tricky because the water was high, the loose rocks make it de rigeur that you concentrated every step of the way and way to and from the mountain was up and down. Nevertheless Trudy was a star climbing up the mountain,despite her fears that she wouldn't make it, but we both found it hard going despite our walking around Bartica's hills. However it was a wonderfully supportive group and we had a brilliant experience. Photographs and short video clips will follow.
The journey back from Lethem to Georgetown was just as fraught ( we travelled in a minibus that had an overheating radiator and we had to stop every few miles to top up with water, but we made it back safely. We want to thank the Aussie VSOs Teddy and Vanessa,who live in Lethem, for their hospitality ...they were so welcoming and helpful when we were delayed coming back.