Into the wildest biodiversity on earth

Venezuela is one of the most biologically diverse countries on the planet — 1,417 recorded bird species, the world's highest waterfall, an ancient plateau landscape that inspired Conan Doyle's The Lost World, and a river delta the size of a small country. Most of it receives fewer visitors in a year than a minor European museum gets in a week.

The Gran Sabana in the southeast is the centrepiece: a rolling savanna dotted with tepuis — flat-topped sandstone mountains that have been isolated for 1.8 billion years, evolving their own endemic species on every summit. Angel Falls drops off the edge of Auyán-tepui with a 979-metre freefall, the longest uninterrupted waterfall on earth.

Los Llanos in the west and centre is Venezuela's answer to the African savanna: during the dry season, wildlife concentrates around shrinking waterholes and anacondas are spotted from horseback. Orinoco River delta expeditions take you into indigenous Warao communities and a maze of channels where freshwater dolphins surface alongside your dugout canoe.

• Gran Sabana: 3 million hectares of ancient tepui landscape
• Angel Falls (Salto Ángel): 979 m — the world's highest waterfall
• Los Llanos: capybara, anaconda, giant anteater, and 300+ bird species
• Orinoco Delta: largest river delta in the Caribbean basin
• Henri Pittier National Park: the most biodiverse place per km² on earth