Roraima

After finishing Angel Falls we hopped on a night bus headed south to Santa Elena, Venezuela. The bus ride stunk horribly of urine. It was nothing short of naseating. I went to the bathroom at one point and understood the smell in a new way, I'll spare you the details.

Once arriving in Santa Elena we got a room and headed to the Brazilian Consulate to get our Brazilian Visa (another thing we probably should have done before we left) At the Consulate they did a fairly impressive job of instilling fear in us of the local police. They said the police would hassle us and take our money if we didn't carry our passports with us at all times. One woman also encouraged us not to take the Amazon, as lots of foreigners get killed there all of the time. We ignored her advice completely.

After that was taken care of we arranged a hiking trip. Around this area there are unique table-like mountains called Tepuy or Tepui's. They have isolated ecosystems with a large variety of carnivorous plants. National park laws only allow people to hike with a guide up these mountains so we arranged a standard 6 day trek with Kamadac, a tour company with good prices across from our hostel.

After a good nights rest the next day we set off to hike Roraima.
DAY 1. Not bad, 12km from the town of Para Tepui to Rio Tek. The bugs here were the real enemy's. The people call these tiny man eaters puri puri's. They have no respect for bug spray so to fend them off you have to where long pants and shirts in the sweltering heat.
DAY 2. A little harder. More uphill this day, 10km or so hiking to the base of the Tepui. Bugs weren't so bad, tired nervous for day 3.
DAY 3. HARD. A very steep hike up the side of the tepui. Thick jungle, loose rocks, aching thighs and gluteus. I wasn't sure that I could make it, by divine miracle I did.
DAY 4. okay. We trekked around the top of the Tepui to take a closer look and the ecosystem up here. We saw tiny black frogs, crystals and tiny carnivorous plants. The top of the tepui was not as lush as I was expecting, it looked like what I expect the moon to look like. Uneven black granite in every direction. Honestly this day I just wanted to stay in the tent and sleep and am annoyed we had to walk around to see the 2 plants, frog and crystal we didn't have to walk that far to see.
DAY 5. HARDEST This day we trekked all of the way down from the top of the tepui to the spot we camped our first night. The downhill was scary and so tough on the legs. I was terrified that we would slide down the side of the Tepui the entire day, the rocks were loose and wet from the rain. My legs would not stop shaking and hurt more than I can ever remember. My ankles were swollen and painful. I took as much Ibuprofen and Excedrin as medically safe...some how we made it with only a few scrapes and 2 swollen ankles.
DAY 6. Lasting Pain. finished of with a 12 km hike to the beginning. A wonderfully rewarding feeling to be done, but good heavens did I hurt...and I hurt for 2 weeks after.

end lesson-get in better shape...but you can do anything you put your mind to.