Residence Mercure Diamant Le Diamant

... were being dug deep into what was left of the upholstery. It turned out that this flight was the stopping service and we landed at 4 little mining towns where we mostly shed bags and people. The 'runways' were little strips of dirt that had the vegetation stripped and were complete with the potholes and water. Fortunately, our little plane took no time to stop but taking off again was a very bumpy affair. We obviously survived but I cannot report that it ...

... someone who had stopped in their car (smart idea to drive not walk) to take a photo of me at the border, but they did a pretty poor job and cut out most of the border… maybe my Spanish isn’t so good after all. Then I continued with my walk in the blazing sunshine to try and find the Brazilian immigration place. When I finally arrived I was greeted by a federal policeman who (much to my relief) could speak ...

... rock are strewn across the landscape, with channels of water covering the expanse. There are few trees up here at 2800m, just shrubs and small hardy flowers. The weather is constantly changing up here, with the result that the cloud swirls around mysteriously the whole time, sunshine lighting up a barren but beautiful scene. We stayed in caves under rocky ledges that the guides call ...

... from Angel falls. The trek was 6 days - 3 days to the top, 1 day at the top, and 2 days down. Following an overnight bus, we arrived in Santa Elena (very close to the Brazilian border) we met our guides and two porters who had to carry all manner of equipment including a portable toilet (I won´t say anything about this other than it´s mandatory to carry your waste out with you - nothing like ******** into a plastic bag to make you feel alive!). Our ...

Bit of traveling involved to get to Venezuela from the National Park back in Brazil. I had to take two buses to get to Belem, a flight from Belem to Manaus and then about 22 hours more bus time to Santa Elena which is just across the border in Venezuela. A tiring few days of traveling with little highlights bar a piece of a day spent cruising around the Brazilian port town of Manaus. Town itself is pretty non-descript but what is interesting about the place ...

Het was wel leuk in da godverlaten dorpke en heel warm. Ik heb al een huwelijksaanzoek gekregen van de man waar ik dollars ben gaan wisselen en een hele lieve taxivrouw heeft me door de douane geholpen aan de grens. Amai, serieuze controle daar. Maar het is gelukt. :-( Ik heb mijn statief dat ik in Nieuw Zeeland heb gekocht om mijne camera op te zetten in de taxi laten liggen een paar dagen geleden. Ons moeder zei, dan moet je daar al niet meer mee sleuren, gelijk heeft ze...

... summit around 11 am. Its a strange place for sure. Black rocks as far as the eye can see coupled with pools of rainwater so it was a ´jump from rock to rock´ strategy for the rest of the day and until we reached our ´hotel´!! This basically was a cave! We went on a excursion to the highest point to view Venezuela but alas the cloud had covered th scene once again. Nevertheless it was brilliant being above the clouds looking down. It was a little cold on top but Roger´s coffee soon ...

... verzelle. Mir sind ebe mit chline Grueppli in nationalpark gfahre und haend ide wasserfaell badet. Bi eim riise waserfall haemmer sogar choenne hinedure laufe. es isch wuerli mega schoen gsi. am beschte luegeder d'foeteli ah und loend oi verzuabere. han gad noed so viel ziit zum schriibe. drum tueni lieber d'foeteli druf.

... Venezuelan women (who I still don´t even know their names) and 2 British girls, Charlotte and Becky. Our main guide was a young Indian local named Alex, who came up to my shoulders, but was highly recommended by both the owner and previous clients! Tuesday: We awoke early and prepared for the next 6 days. I had decided to actually carry my pack as I was tough! (Really, I though the cost of the porter was too much for me by myself.) We ...

... the minimum capacity and therefore confirmed then and there.<br><br>La Gran Sabana<br>So at 9am on the Saturday morning, we were off to the Gran Sabana and were back on the night of Sunday at 8:30pm, with Aponwao Tours, which was great! The trip might have been slightly more expensive than with other agencies, but those folks really know what they're doing, and our tour guide, Jonathan, was super nice! He's one of extremely few guides I've travelled with in South ...