I walk a crooked path - don't step on my feet.: Mount Roraima

On Wednesday, December 6, I headed off for a 6-day trek of Mount Roraima. At 8,986 feet, Roraima is the world's highest tepuy, and is located at the intersection of Venezuela, Guyana and Brazil (there´s actually a spot up on top where the three countries meet). Roraima and its neighboring tepuys are considered some of the oldest geological formations on Earth, and one third of the plant life on Roraima evolved there in isolation and is unique to the plateau. Because of the harsh conditions and lack of nutrients in the soil, many of the plants became carnivorous over time. It´s just so Little Shop of Horrors! ;-)

For centuries, Roraima was considered insurmountable on account of its sheer vertical walls. But then a collapse of a portion of one side in the mid-19th Century permitted the first European expedition to successfully reach the top of Roraima in 1884. Detailed accounts of early expeditions to the top inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to write his 1912 science fiction/fantasy classic, The Lost World. I brought the book with me from home and read it on the hike, and I was really struck by how accurate Doyle's description of the topography, etc. was -- so much so, I half-expected to encounter an iguanodon or two up on top!

There were 7 of us on the trek organized through Backpacker Tours: 3 German women (Katherina, Sylvia and Sabena), 1 Swiss guy (Roberto), 1 guy from Victoria Canada (Graham), 1 British girl (Tiffany) and myself, plus our guide Elio. (I still have not met a single American on this trip!) Tiffany had just arrived in Santa Elena the night before we left, and had no intention of leaving on a tour of Roraima first thing the next morning, but I hounded her relentlessly until she acquiesced...

We started with a 1.5 hour drive in a 4x4 to the trailhead in Paraitepuy, the closest Pemon (Indian) village to Roraima. Then we hiked about 5 hours to our first camp. I woke up that morning with a nascent (& nasty) cold, which made pretty apprehensive about how the next 6 days were going to go. But I decided to forge ahead and hope for the best. ;-)

Heading off to the trailhead

On the trail with Roraima in the background (on the right), and a neighboring tepuy, Kukenan, on the left.

We’ve got a long way to go!

Here I am in my rain gear with Kukenan in the background. You can barely make out some of Roraima through the clouds in the back on the right.

We still have a really long way to go. Roraima is off to the right.

Um, how exactly are we supposed to get to the top of this?

Me with Roraima in the background. I hiked for miles with all my raingear on because of a brief spritz, but then it never rained so I totally overheated. I’m also feeling horrendous with a cold at this point.