Salto Angel – The Angel Falls, Venezuela
Setting of from Ciudad Bolivar the flight in the tiny one prop five man plane to Canaima is a memorable one. The flight offers great views of the surrounding Grand Sabana and fantastic views of the lagoon at Canaima as you come into land.
We arrived in time to have some breakfast then set off for the Angel Falls in a fairly uncomfortable, long motorised, wooden canoe. Its a long and bumpy ride from Canaima to the Angel Falls so expect to get a saw bum, we stopped once for lunch at a small waterfall and once to walk along side the river as the rapids were too strong for us to travel up.
The boat ride up the river through the Canaima National Park is incredible, you can’t help but feel like you are in Jurassic Park as all around you huge waterfalls poor off the tops of cloud covered Tepui (table topped mountains).
As we neared the Angel Falls I kept mistaking numerous waterfalls for Salto Angel, eventually as I came around the corner and caught my first glimpse of the Angel Falls I realised how stupid I was for mistaking these small trickles for the worlds highest waterfall.
Once at the foot theres a 30 minute climb through the forest to a lookout point that consists of a large over hanging flat rocking about halfway up the falls. Its a pretty dodgy place to stand but refreshing to find just a sign announcing ‘Mirador Salto Angel’ with absolutely There was a great view of the falls as gusts of wind threatened to blow you into the falls.
After descending and navigating the river to our campsite we watched to subset behind the falls and ate dinner. Once the sun was gone we were able to watch the falls clearly in the moonlight. Going to sleep and waking up to a glorious view of the falls from our hammocks was a pretty special experience, one I’ll never forget.
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Tags: feature
October 16th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
awww, great story, beautiful shots. were there mosquitoes around those hammocks?
you still traveling?
October 17th, 2008 at 10:05 am
Thanks Kari, The hammocks had mosquito nets but I didn’t notice any around. I wish I was travelling still but alas no. Been back in England for a while trying to write up my experiences, getting there very slowly!
PS. I really like the look of your blog! Great photos, I don’t know a lot about Africa so i’m very interested in reading about it
October 17th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Amazing photos ben. excellent photographer.
October 17th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Thanks Matt! You’re very kind
October 18th, 2008 at 12:03 am
What a great place to get to. The highest falls with some great photos of the place.
December 4th, 2008 at 9:07 am
Hi Ben,
I´m hoping to visit Angel Falls in January but one thing I can´t get my head around is is it best to tip up and try and join a tour or would you recommend booking ahead? Can you remember the name of the tour you joined and would you recommend it? Ciao ciao, Julie
December 5th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
We just booked it when we were there through the hostel we stayed in. Didn't seem like it was necessary to book in advance, though we we're there at a different time of year. Can't remember the name of the hostel, will try and dig it out.
November 24th, 2009 at 3:17 am
[...] gives new meaning to the words “desolate landscape,” yet its surreal beauty is unearthly. Angel Falls, Venezuela, is the world’s highest waterfall, with a plunge of over 2600 feet. If that’s not [...]
May 24th, 2010 at 4:26 pm
Yey, one positive and beautiful note about Venezuela. Me and two other friends of mine are planning a trip there next month. We are all freaking out of their safety situation.
Will you tell me which city you had stayed in the hostel where you found the tour? and is there any website you recommend to find the hostels and destinations? Danke, Shiho