Mt. Roraima - Day 4

Clouds Wash Over Kukenan
Originally uploaded by Phil Chan.

Last night was cold, C-O-L-D, but I think I have a good strategy for tonight, which involves wrapping a shirt around my head, two pair of socks on my feet and one pair on my hands.

Today we wandered around the top of Mt Roraima, stopping for some amazing fresh spring water, probably the best tasting water I’ve ever had, before checking out some crystals and visiting “La Ventana”, a window formed by some huge rocks where you can see a long, long way down.

The highlight of the day though was the landscape between each of these points. The top of the mountain looks like a set from a sci-fi movie; black blasted rocks are cast everywhere, surrounded by prehistoric looking plants and small ponds with sandy tracks navigating them.

The area around Roraima is also phenomenal, and we’re treated to one amazing view of Kukenàn and La Gran Sabana after another, when the clouds don’t block the view that is. At this height we’re above the clouds, so looking out sometimes all you can see is a sea of clouds, at night the clouds wash over the mountain drowning us in fog. I always wondered what it would be like inside a cloud, and now I know… it’s cold and it’s wet.

Before lunch we visited the “jacuzi”, which was a series of ponds filled with freezing water. I took a little dip and felt great, after which we walked through still more incredible scenery.

After a lazy lunch we walked to the highest point of Roraima which is 2810 metres above sea level. We had a little taste of La Gran Sabana and Kukenàn, but clouds once again enveloped us. The way the clouds rolled up over the mountain where we were sitting was amazing. It was as if they were playing around us, leaping up over edge, washing over the rocks, then springing up and dancing off over other rocks.

I’ve definitely been going camera crazy this trip, between the Amazon and Roraima I’ve easily taken over one thousand photos, though I wouldn’t say there are that many good ones  As much as anything, the photos make great reference material for my story, which after a long time stagnating it the back of my mind has been revealing itself more and more with every place I go. It’s practically writing itself at the moment, with many of the environments being places I’ve visited in South America.

On a more serious and troubling note, I have become far too comfortable, far too quickly with the hat, which some could say is in the “Cowboy” style, that I bought for this trip. I even had a nap with it covering my face today... truly scary.