Canaima & Choroní

Fly into Canaima, the lagoon with its tannin-red water and a horizon of flat-topped tepuis. The afternoon is a walk behind Salto El Sapo, the path that runs under the falling water itself.

A first night in a lagoon-front camp, the tepuis going dark across the water.

A curiara up the Churún through the gorge, a jungle camp slung with hammocks, and the tallest waterfall on earth at first light.

Kerepakupai Merú drops nearly a kilometer off Auyán-tepui. The early angle, before the cloud builds, is the reason for the timing.

A long, scenic transfer back toward the coast by way of Maracay and the Henri Pittier cloud-forest road. The landscape changes hour by hour, tepui country giving way to green coastal mountains.

The colonial coast town of Puerto Colombia, Playa Grande in the afternoon, and tambor drumming after dark, the Afro-Venezuelan heartbeat of the whole region.

Coastal pescado frito and a first taste of the cacao this coast is known for.

A boat to Playa Cepe, reachable only by sea, then onward to Chuao for the cacao that is arguably the most famous on earth, still dried in the village plaza.

A slow coast morning, a last swim, and the transfer back over the mountain. Two Venezuelas in six days, neither of them hurried.