LOST WORLD & COLOMBIA'S SECRETS
Discover the delights of Venezuela , often referred to as the Lost World and one of Latin America’s gems – Colombia
26 days from Caracas to Bogota
Venezuela is where the Andes meet the Caribbean. The Orinoco River separates great plains from the table -top mountains of the Gran Sabana , where waterfalls tumble in sheer drops into the forest and lost worlds are easy to imagine .
Between the rainforest of the Amazon Basin and the Orinoco Delta in central Venezuela is a rugged wall of remote mountains and deep, heavily forested canyons. Many of the mountains have precipitous rock walls that rise to over 1800 m. where they end in an almost perfectly flat top. These formations are known by their Indian name: Tepuis.At his desk in England in 1912 Arthur Conan Doyle read accounts of these newly discovered mountains and it inspired him to write the famous Victorian travel novel “The Lost World”. Indeed, in a sense this really is a lost world since the great elevation of these isolated tops has made them biological islands. From the mostfamous of these tepuis, plummets the world's highest waterfall - Angel Falls (979 m).
The Orinoco Delta is a vast, intricate labyrinth of waterways weaving through a simmering jungle to carry the waters of the Orinoco to the Atlantic Ocean. The Delta has been forming over the course of thousands of years, as the mighty river has deposited millions of tonnes of sediment into the ocean.The Orinoco branches off into over 60 waterways and 40 rivers which diffuse through 41.000 sq km of forested islands, swamps and lagoons.The Warao Indians – literally the “Canoe People” - are the native inhabitants of the Delta.
Choroní, tucked between the cloud forest of Henri Pittier National Park and the Caribbean coast, is a small fishermen's village with a beautiful palm fringed beach and a paradise for bird watchers and naturalists. For a long time, one of the world-best sorts of cacao was produced in the area of Choroní.
The Llanos is an incredible place to see wildlife. Apart from more than 300 species of birds (including scarlet ibis, hoatzin, screamers, soldier storks, spoonbills and many more) you may be lucky enough to spot jaguars, ocelots, anteaters, honey-bears, capybaras and alligators, in an environment still relatively undisturbed by man.
The city of Mérida , gateway to the Venezuelan Andes, is perched on a mesa between two ranges. It has a spectacular backdrop of snowy peaks known as “The Five White Eagles” - the tallest, Pico Bolívar , reaches 5.007 meters.
Cross into Colombia, truly one of Latin America’’s hidden gems , to Santa Marta at the foot of the Sierra Nevadas and the Tayrona National Park – where dense rainforest meets wild sandy beaches . The Americas colonial jewel Cartagena a spectacular walled city with captivating streets and a laid back Caribbean rhythm . Visit the city of eternal spring – Medellin and then into the heart of the coffee producing area around Manizales and the Los Nevados National Park . Explore historical Bogota
Option available to continue to Ecuador
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