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The Los Llanos ecosystem stretches across 300,000 sq km (180,000 sq mi) of Venezuela. It's mostly covered by grass, with ribbons of gallery forest along the rivers and islands of woodland scattered around.
Rivers are abundant and, in the wet season, voluminous. The main ones are the Apure, Meta, Arauca and Capanaparo, all of which are left-bank (south) tributaries of the Orinoco.
The main population centers - Barinas and Guanare - are in the more hospitable northwestern fringes, while most of the hatos (ranches) are in Apure state to the southeast. The only town in the heart of Los Llanos is San Fernando de Apure, used by travelers as a gateway to the hatos .
Getting There
You can fly into either end of Los Llanos - Barinas in the west or San Fernando de Apure in the east - from Caracas, but you'll have to rely on land transport to take you into the heart of the savanna.
San Fernando de Apure is accessible by paved roads from Maracay/Caracas in the north and Barinas/Guanare in the northwest. There's also a paved road from San Fernando southward to Puerto Páez, on the Colombian border.
Barinas has regular buses to San Cristóbal (5hr), Caracas (8.5hr) and Mérida (6hr). Direct buses also go to Guanare from San Cristóbal (6.5hr), Caracas (7hr), Barquisimeto (3.5hr) and Boconó (3.5hr). From San Fernando de Apure, there are daily buses to Caracas (8hr) and Maracay (7hr).
Getting Around
Local buses travel between the main cities of Barinas, Guanare and San Fernando de Apure. From San Fernando, there are also buses south to Puerto Ayacucho (7hr) via Puerto Páez. The trip also includes a chalana (ferry) river crossing over the Orinoco between Puerto Páez and El Burro.
Most travelers choose to take a wildlife safari, either using a tour company in Mérida, or staying at one of the ecotourism lodges set up on the hatos .
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