Orinoco Delta
We return back to Ciudad Bolivar with the night bus from Santa Elena and stay for one night before hitting the road again to the Orinoco Delta. Since Lise from Paris and Monika from Vienna, who we met on our trip to Roraima, have the same plans, we decide to go as a team of four this time.
It’s a long drive with one of the Land Rovers to a small city on the southern end of the delta. From there we are being picked up by a guide in a small boat.
The delta is huge, covering 27000 km^2 which is the size of Belgium and a paradise for birds and other wildlife. The Orinoco River, which we had passed a number of times, flows into the delta. Just before it expands into the delta, it is more than 20 km wide. With only two bridges, this can be a real challenge ... ;-)
In the delta you can stay in small huts. We planned to stay in the fairly new and really fantastic located Orinoco Queen camp but some problems come up. We need to move to another place and instead of two nights we only stay for one. Nevertheless we have a fantastic time there.
Orinoco Queen - The camp we booked but could not stay at unfortunately.
A Tucan we come by with the boat.
The scenery is fantastic and we should spend more time here.
Getting ready for the jungle walk.
Here is why you better wear boots.
Just sit, listen and watch you will be impressed by nature.
The Warao people live with and from the river.
Kids enjoying themselves.
8 - 8
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For us it is the very first time that we see wild Tukans. The whole scenery is just amazing with all the different wildlife. At the camp we just have to sit and do nothing else than watch. Tukans and other birds as well as monkeys just come by to see what’s going on.
We also do a jungle walk, again a first for us. You really have to know what you are doing there, otherwise you can get in trouble fairly easily. And yes, mosquitos are there all around you. Very important to wear long sleeves and a pair of long trousers. Because it is wet everywhere, we also get water proofed boots. Looked really sexy ... and in the end we have wet feet anyway because some of us ended up stepping into deep water or a boot had a whole. ;-)
Along the hundreds of rivers in the delta, the Warao people live with and from the river. Warao means “boat people” because they have very good skills in building canoes. Pretty important as this is the main means of transportation in the delta.
If you get a chance to go there, make sure to bring enough time. It is worth while spending time here as it is so different from the rest of Venezuela. We need to go back and explore more as part of one of our next trips!
