Located in the southeast of Venezuela, Canaima National Park is the largest protected area in the country. While most famous for the Angle falls, Canaima has varied array of natural sites to visit. Rivers, crags, and forests scatter about the park in a giant maze, only broken now in then by the giant tepuis (table-top mountains), each harboring their own unique collection of animals and plants. Storms appear suddenly here, and the darkened sky and bolts of lightning only add to the mystery of the primordial land. The main entrance to the park is accessed through Cuidad Bolívar.

The area has long been an inspiration for various legends of spirits and hidden cities. In fact, the park itself is named after the death spirit Canaima of the Permón tradition. It is said that this spirit can take any form while he waits to pounce out on the unsuspecting from behind tepuis and river currents. The indigenous inhabitants continue to believe that park's tepuis hide spirits of all sorts.

Perhaps the most famous of these legends is that of El Dorado. Of course the area has not been the only location for the quest of the golden city, but early explorerations centered around here. Sir Walter Raleigh launched two expeditions into the area, believing firmly that the city lay somewhere in the region. However, with his failure, Raleigh lost his head in more ways then one.

One the most popular myth of our modern age is UFOs, and it is only natural that Canaima, with her primordial landscape, plays host to frequent UFO sightings. In fact, the area has quite a following of UFO enthusiasts who come here in search of the extra-terrestrials led by a psychic commander. Apparently he visits the area in search of intelligent earthlings. Maps of "UFO hotspots" can be bought in Cuidad Bolívar. It only goes to show how Canaima inspired, and continues to inspire some of the greatest legends of our time.

The black watered Río Cuara passes through some of the most pristine forests in the park. On the banks of this Orinoco tributary, one can see white-sanded beaches, lush forest canopies, and river dolphins poking their heads just above the water. The basin is only visited during Amerindian hunting trips and tourists, and is home to Amazon turtles, giant otters, and Brazilian tapirs.

In the southeast corner of Canaima National Park in Venezuela exists a world that has seemingly stood still in time. Forests part into islands amongst vast grasslands, as the 2 billion-year old Tepuis rise above them all as great fortresses. Natural wonders abound throughout the Gran Sabana. Water thunders over jade to create the iridescently red Quebrada de Jaspe Falls, while broken boulders lie strewn across the plans. The easiest way to access the Gran Sabana is through Santa Elena de Uairén at the Brazilian border.

Mount Roraima

Geological disruptions and the erosive rain have shaped Mount Roraima’s unique landscape, thus creating a world so mysterious and old that it even inspired Sir Conan Doyle to write his “Lost World”. Her towering heights (1550m-high) shelter a plethora of unique animals and plants, half of which are found nowhere else on earth. Amongst her darkened arches and crystal caverns exist black toads who never needed to jump or swim and plants that have turned carnivorous to supplement their diets. So cut off from the surrounding prairies and savannahs, the Mount Roraima is truly a “lost world” to behold.