Venezuela – Highlights Tour

Itinerary

Wednesday 16 April – Caracas

• Arrive at your own convenience in Caracas. While the city used to be known as one of the most dangerous cities in the world, these days it’s a lot more relaxed which gives it the typical Latin America city-vibe.
• Meet the group at 12:00 PM to start our city tour.
• Highlight: We head for the historical centre of Caracas. Once this area was full with tourists admiring the old colonial architecture, now it’s just the Venezuelans who are doing their shopping here.
• We’ll visit Simon Bolivar’s Birthhouse and the National Pantheon, the place where he is buried.
• During our walk we’ll come across Plaza Bolivar (the main square of the city), the Cathedral, City Hall and the National Assembly.
• Overnight stay in Caracas.

Thursday 17 April – Caracas – Canaima National Park

• Early in the morning we’ll head to the airport for our flight to Canaima National Park, located in the southeast of the country.
• At 8:30 AM we take a flight to Canaima National Park.
• Upon arrival we’ll meet our local guide who will take us around Canaima National Park.
• Highlight: After a short drive we take our motorized canoe for the trip to Angel Falls. On the way we sail through the Carrao and the Churún river while we have a beautiful landscape in the background. The boat trip will take around 4/5 hours, but we’ll break it up with a lunch stop at a waterfall, next to the river.
• Highlight: After a last stop on a pink beach we’ll take the final stretch to our camp, next to Angel Falls,  flowing from the top of Mount Auyán-Tepuy. With a height of approx. 1 km the waterfall is the highest in the world.
• Our local guide, including cooks will prepare an amazing meal for us, while we can see from our camp Angel Falls.
• At night we’ll sleep in hammock, from which you’ll have a view of the fall.

Friday 18 April – Canaima National Park

• After breakfast we cross the river and start the hike through the jungle (around 1.5h) to Angel Falls.
• Highlight: Our first stop is the Mirrador Salto Angel, from where you’ll have a picture-perfect view of the falls.
• Next is another hour treck to the Japanese viewpoint (named after the Japanese who often came here for quick photos). Here you’ll see the falls from the side.
• Time for a swim! We descent to the Angel Falls pool, where you can swim in the water coming directly from the top.
• We return to our camp where a freshly prepared lunch will be waiting for us.
• After lunch we take our motorized canoe again and we return to the start of Canaima National Park.
• We’ll stop this time at Mayupa Village, a small village where the people still live a traditional life.
• Once more we’ll spend a night in our comfortable hammock with falling asleep to the sound of frogs and crickets.

Saturday 19 April – Canaima National Park

• We’ll have breakfast in the village, after which we’ll say goodbye to them. Time to slowly head back to the main village of Canaima.
• Highlight: After a short boat ride and hike we arrive at Sapo Falls. First we’ll see it from the top and afterwards we descent down and take a walk behind the falls. An incredible experience as the waterfall is extremely powerful and intimidating. You will return completely soaked, but also full with adrenaline!
• Highlight: We’ll take a short hike towards the beach at Canaima Lagoon. Take a dip in the water before we head to the Hacha Falls. Due to the enormous power of the water we can only watch it from our boat, but its still an incredible experience.
• When we arrive in Canaima village we’ll head to the Posada were we’ll stay for the night. Not a hammock this time, but a real bed!
• Free time to explore the village of Canaima or to hang around at the beach and take a dip.
• We’ll head for dinner at the local school, where they prepared a special local dinner for us.
• Overnight stay in Canaima village.

Sunday 20 April – Canaima National Park – Caracas

• After breakfast we head for the tiny airport to catch our 9.30 AM flight back to Caracas.
• We’ll stat exploring the immense city of Caracas, up to 4 million people live in the city, huge class difference. While a lot of socialist street art has been removed in the past few years, you’ll still see every now and then the picture of Chavez on a wall.
• Highlight: We will visit the Eternal Commander Hugo Chavez Mausoleum in Cuartel de la Montaña. His mausoleum is located in one of the socialist districts of the city; 23 Onero.
• We take a short walk through the 23 Onero neighbourhood. This socialist neighbourhood was a stronghold of socialism during the Chavez era. Our guide explains exactly what this meant for the local population.
• We’ll take the car and head for Próceres, the street is heavily controlled by military, as this is the street where all the military parades take place.
• Next to it is the Monumento a los Próceres, two giant walls with images of the most important figures of the Venezuelan history.
• Overnight stay in Caracas.

Monday 21 April –Caracas

• End of the tour, depart on your own convenience.