Lost World- Mount Roraima
On the summit of Mount Roraima, you will visit the “Valley of the Crystals”, the labyrinths of towering stone pinnacles, Lake Gladys, the prow, “triple point” (the three way border of Venezuela, Guyana and Brazil) and the Oil Bird ravine (home to the rare echo-location Oil Birds).
About 9 miles (14 km) long and 9,094 feet (2,772 metres) high, it is the source of many rivers of Guyana, and of the Amazon and Orinoco.There is only one ‘easy’ way up, on a natural staircase-like ramp on the Venezuelan side -to get up any other way takes and experienced rock climber.On the top of the mountain it rains almost every day, washing away most of the nutrients for plants to grow and creating a unique landscape on the bare sandstone surface.
This also creates some of the highest waterfalls in the world over the sides (Angel falls is located on a similar tabletop mountain some 130 miles away)It is thought that the reports from early Victorian expeditions to the mountain inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to write his classic adventure yarn, The Lost World, in 1912 now made into countless films.
Mount Roraima rises like an immense fortress above the clouds, towering over the rainforest below. The first explorers who reached the summit of the plateau discovered a plethora of new plant and animal species, including spectacular carnivorous plants, rare animals and birdlife, as well as the most spectacular scenic views in South
America. Revered by indigenous people as the “mother of waters”, this mountain was the destination of numerous exploratory expeditions, especially in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
