Venezuela Holidays: Sarisarinama Expedition - Gran Sabana

Salto Pauo, below the Sarisarinama, reached after 4 to 5 days in canoe - Venezuela

Sari......Sari..... This is the sound made by the Evil Spirit who lives atop the mountain when he eats human beings, as it is believed by the Ye'kuana Indians.
In Southern Venezuela, on the edges of the Gran Sabana and the Amazonas provinces, the Sarisarinama Tepuy is one of the most remote mountain of Latin America. The next road finishes hundreds of miles away, and only isolated Indian communities live there. The goal of the expedition is to climb the Sarisarinama by its Northern face, to have a close look at the "simas", these mysterious, perfectly circular holes 350 meters diameter and 350 meters deep (1,000 feet diameter by 1,000 feet deep) that still are a challenging mystery both for geologists and biologists.
You will experience one of the last virgin jungle on the planet with spectacular sightseings, hot weather, rain and humidity, nights in hammocks in Indian communities or in improvised campsites in the jungle and intense physical activities. An experience of a lifetime...

It is important to stress that reaching the simas by foot has NEVER been done so far....this is a real expedition. EXLORERS! Join us.

The time planned for the entire expedition is 2 weeks. There is no pre-defined schedule as everything depends on the conditions encountered, and the adventure could lasts a few more days.... The itinerary below is only given as an outline of the expedition.

DAY 1:
Arrival in Caracas and flight to Ciudad Bolivar, the Oriente capital on the mighty Orinoco River. Overnight in hotel.

DAY 2:
After checking the equipment, we board the planes, 2 or 3 Cessna 206, depending on the number of participants (2 minimum because one is for the gear), and start our flight over the awesome jungle to the Indian village of Kanaracuni. We organise an ultimate briefing with the team and the Indians guides, and spend the night in this Ye'kuana village.

DAYS 3-4 :
We board an Indian curiara (a dugout canoe with outboard engine) and navigate the River Kanaracuni for 2 days. On the way, we come across several Sanema Indians settlements, who belong to the Yanomami ethnia, and have almost no contacts with western civilisation. We exchange gifts that we brought for that purpose and share some time with them.

DAYS 5-6 :
We navigate up the Caura River and then up the Pauo River which flows from the Sarisarinama Tepuy. We go upriver throught the ultimate rapids, sometimes portaging our gear across the rapids, untill we reach the mighty Pauo Falls (see photo on top of the page) just below the magical mountain. From this point on, begins the REAL expedition as we start ascending the tepuy. According to the aerial pictures, it looks like there is some kind of easy slope to climb on top of the tepuy - but do not be so sure of that.

DAYS 7 to 15 :
Once on top, we are only 6 km far from the simas (the scientific name for these mysterious holes). That should be done easily, but considering we are in a dense jungle with no trails to guide us, if we miss them by only 50 meters, we may pass-by... We rely upon our Indian guides, expert in jungle-orientation. Without them, we might wander there for weeks without even seeing the sky. There are 4 of these simas known and explored. The largest one is 300 metres deep and the smallest like 100 meters. If we get there, we may try to rappel in the small one. We intend to spend a week exploring the area, that means climbing the tepuy and reaching the simas.
The return trip is the same way, down the tepuy, down the Paou river to the Caura River, and up to the Indian mission of Simarana from where the planes pick us up to Ciudad Bolivar.

DAY 16:
Flight back to Caracas or continuation of your holidays in Venezuela.

Tour Tariff
	Per person
USD	$ 4046
EUR	€ 3358
GBP	£ 2266

(*) Price last updated on 04 January 2003. Current price may vary due to elements out of our control, so please always check by sending us a
quotation request .

Safety: We carry a LSB radio and batteries.

We have a crew of Indian porters that carry the common gear and the food, but everybody is required to carry its personal gear, unless previous arrangement and payment of an extra porter.
We also carry food for the whole trip, but we may complement it cooking fishing and hunting products from the Indians.

Included: Guides, camping equipment, all meals during the expedition, all transports, two nights in double room in hotel at Ciudad Bolivar.

Not included: Meals in Ciudad Bolivar and Caracas

Sarisarinama Expedition

" Gran Sabana - Venezuela"