Canaima

Canaima National Park covers 30,000 km² of the Gran Sabana — an area larger than Belgium — and contains the highest waterfall on earth, one of the world's oldest geological formations, and a Pemón indigenous culture that has inhabited this landscape for centuries. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and one of the few places on earth that justifies the description "otherworldly."

Angel Falls (Salto Ángel) drops 979 metres off the edge of Auyán-tepui, the largest of the region's flat-topped sandstone mountains. The falls are best visited from June to November when water flow is highest; the dry season (January to May) offers clearer skies but a thinner cascade.

Canaima lagoon is the base camp: a pink-tinted lake fed by tannin-rich rivers, flanked by smaller waterfalls you can swim behind, and ringed by posadas and Pemón craft stalls. Access is by small plane only — no road connects Canaima to the outside world.