Hi, I'll be in Venezuela with a friend next month and we have time for three nights in the jungle. The question is, which area to go to: orinoco delta, canaima, amazonas or another area. Just looking for natural beauty, nature etc. Flying in and out from Caracas probably. Any suggestions which is the place that should come top of the must-see list?
Thanks
Matt
Hi, Amazonas is a rough place, with amazing, marvelous natural settings, but tourist services are not well organized. Air or ground connections are not easy to get there. Just one flight a day, from Sunday through Fryday, usually delayed or canceled... a headache.
If flying from Caracas, it's easy to get Puerto Ordaz and head on the way to Canaima or Delta. The best plan consists in spending overnight in Puerto Ordaz before departing to Delta (you may contact Campamento Oridelta or Sacoroco River Tours) or spending overnight in Ciudad Bolívar before departing to Canaima (you may contact Excursiones Kavac o Posada Wey Tepuy). These are some tour operators I know and who I trust in.
3days-2nights packs are available in both Canaima and Delta; thus, you will have the chance to connect a flight to Caracas on the same day you are back from Canaima or Delta.
Commuting to Canaima: flights depart from Puerto Ordaz or Ciudad Bolívar at early morning. More choices and better prices in Ciudad Bolívar. Ground travel time between Ciudad Bolívar and Puerto Ordaz is 1 hour long or so.
Commuting to Delta: road tip from Puerto Ordaz to Delta camps is 90 minutes or so. In-and-out private transfer must be dealed.
Expect this information is ok for your travel planning.
I second the above post. One thing to also think about. I booked a tour to Angel falls and back, from Caracas. However, if you can get yourself to Ciudad Bolivar via an overnight bus, you should be able to pick up tours for a cheaper price there. Flights leave pretty much every day, early morning and take about an hour to get to village of Canaima. You can get the tours to Canaima / Angel Falls from either the Ciudad Bolivar bus station as well as the local airport.
Some additional advice: Don't get on a Venezuelan bus without extremely warm clothing and/or a blanket, as (for some reason) they turn on the air condition so much that it nearly freezes everyone to death on the bus. ...Slightly peculiar, but everyone I've met has fallen victim to the same thing.:-)
Thanks. So reading between the lines people would choose Canaima above the Delta if they had to choose one or the other.
My only concern is that I'm not that interested in angel falls itself, more the scenery, jungle and nature around it. WIth the river being so low I'm wondering if it may be a waste of time. I'll post back once I've tried it for myself. Thanks.
If Angel Fall's isn't the most important to you, there's plenty of other things you can do there that don't include angel falls. There are climbing expeditions you can go on, there are helicopter / aeroplane tours you can take, especially if the river is too dry for boat. One even gets you up the top of one of the table-top mountains to visit the unique micro-climate on top. I've got two posts with pictures of the surrounding areas. (this post and this post).
All information is available at the same place you purchase Angel Fall tours. So make sure you have a good browse before you pick. Also, don't book online as you'll be paying much more than you should, actually go and visit these tour operators in Caracas or Ciudad Bolivar - you'll get a much more realistic price. You can literally book one day, and leave the next :-)
Hi Matt,
Amazonas would work out nicley if you were in a group of at least 4. The river Cuao Jungle Experience is certainly a great one, but as mentioned above logistics are complicated and if it is just the 2 of you the trip would work out pretty expensive. You could get to the Canaima or the Orinoco Delta in one day from Caracas without having to spend the night in Puerto Ordaz. Fly out on the earliest flight from Caracas and then connect in a smaller plane to Canaima and spend a couple days there + the overflight of not only the Angel Falls but of Devils Canyon, a truly mesmerizing experinece. Alternatively you could arrive in Puerto Ordaz and arrange to be immediately picked up and transfered by car to the Boca de Uracoa or San Jose de Buja and then by boat into the Orinoco Delta Region for a great river and jungle experience. Upon return there in no need to go back to Puerto Ordaz, you could arrange to be picked up and taken by car to Maturin where you can get on the 07:20p.m. flight to Caracas.
Hope you find this info useful,
Travel safe,
All the best,
Thomas
Caracas
berry_venezuela