Venezuela - Roraima - Tour Issues and Concerns

I just got back from a 6 day / 5 night tour to Roraima with Conexion Tours, who have a small office at the bus station in Ciudad Bolivar. While I cannot speak for other tour operators, I would have to warn individuals who are seeking a tour to be very, very wary of Conexion Tours.

The reasons to avoid Conexion Tours are as follows:

• The guide, Frank, was certainly amicable, amusing, and often filled with funny stories, but these are not qualities of an excellent tour guide or manager - they are qualities of a good mate. Among other things, Frank:
  (a) did not show up to meet me at the airport bus depot when he said he would; I had to give him a call to ask him where he was and what I should do;
  (b) forgot his first aid kit, which affected our ability to tend to several cuts and bruises of members which could have been quite serious;
  (c) on at least four occasions, ran out of food or did not have any available (e.g., no more sauce for spaghetti; no more milk for coffee in the morning; no more fruit by the middle of the second day; and no snacks at all on the trail during the last day) -- of course, food needs to be planned and can run out, but this seemed to stem from a lack of planning;
  (d) forgot a lighter to turn on the stove and didn't have a knife to cut things with (two essential items when going on a hiking trip of this magnitude);
  (e) did not plan ahead to ensure that the group had a hotel (i.e., a cave) at the top of the mountain when we arrived (again, one may argue that this would have been well nigh impossible given the numbers on the tepui, but our group was comparatively large);
  (f) did not manage time well (e.g., said lunch would be at 1pm on the fourth day, though it was not ready until after 2:30pm; and said breakfast would be at 6am the last day, though it did not appear until after 7:30am) - again, time can be fluid, but this was egregious; and
  (g) mismanaged the transport for the group at the end of the trip, failing to get tickets for the bus back to Ciudad Bolivar and causing at least two individuals to be unable to connect to another tour and - potentially - another three people miss connecting flights (after being assured they could make them).

Furthermore:
- The tour company said that the tour was "all inclusive" but this was NOT true. In addition to park entry fees, the group had to cover the cost of breakfast the first day and the final meal the last day. The amounts, of course, were not much in the long run. But the principle of telling one the truth is what is at issue: all inclusive means just that: ALL inclusive :-)

Again, Roraima was a spectacular place and should not be missed; and while the tour with Conexion Tours (and Frank) was quite mismanaged, the beauty of the place shown through. I would just be wary of the company - and stick with another which comes more highly regarded and recommended!

You are absolutely right: tourists must be very carefull when selecting a tour operator... any time and everywhere. You mention several important details to evaluate the standard of quality this kind of services. I wish every tour operator in my country were aware of such issues to make tourists have a one-of-a kind experience in Venezuela, of course, a satisfactory one-of-a-kind experience. We have much learn.

On my hand, as a Venezuelan man, who wants to be proud of his country and not to get embarressed when these things happen, my recomendation is:

• Contact one of these tour operators if you want visit Roraima and La Gran Sabana: Backpacker- tours or Kamadac Venezuelan Abenteuer, both of them are settled in Santa Elena de Uairén. They are responsible, well equipped and plan very well their trips.

Best regards

I wish the hike was permitted on a "do-it-yourself" basis by groups or individual(of course at your own risk).

The government of course wants to encourage tourism and does not want bad press / injuries to tourists. But, the government mandates the hiring of guides, and it opens the possibility of guides to provide poor service, supplies, and/or charge high prices.

Perhaps the government could "regulate" the tour guides too ?? and why not factor into the decisions, the feedback of actual users/consumers of tour operator/guides services ??

The climate is rather dry and already i've decided to skip Angel Falls.

The tour operators/guides aspect is causing me to consider forgoing Roraima.... get with it VZ, or perhaps British Guyana can fly in closer and/or blaze a trail / road further into the forrest, and then tourists would have a wider selection of avenues, regulation, countries, etc. to choose amongst.

Conexion tours is an agency and they are mainly fixers, meaning that they hook you up with guides and other people to make a group, if needed. I really liked Carlos and they have arranged 2 weeks of tours for me in a manner that I have found satisfactory, however I am not the type to be pissed if I don't have milk for my coffee in the morning (yes, I like it black :) )
I've been driven by Frank Kazen towards Roraima and I did find him really enjoyable, although the guiding was done by experienced Pemon people. From my point of view, none of your points of critic would even occur to me as problems, but again, I like backpacking in Africa , so I might not see things the way you do... Regarding what they forgot to bring, I find it normal that each of you should have had a first aid kit, a lighter or even extra cream if you like it so much in your coffee...

I can definitely see why those problems might concern you, but if it makes you feel any better, after living in Venezuela for a few years, sounds like you got an authentic experience. An hour and a half late is right on time and our idea of "essentials" is definitely relative. I'm impressed he had milk at all. I had the hardest time finding it while I was there, that and peanut butter...