Roraima

Mount Roraima, Venezuela/Brazil/Guyana

Arthur Conan Doyle set his 1912 novel “The Lost World” on a South American plateau after learning about the tepuis from the explorer Everard Im Thurn, who made the first recorded ascent of Roraima in 1884. Im Thurn described a landscape of carnivorous plants, strange geology, and total isolation that Doyle turned into a habitat for dinosaurs. The dinosaurs aren’t there, but almost everything else is.

Mount Roraima is a tepui – a flat-topped sandstone mesa rising abruptly from the Gran Sabana – standing at 2,810 metres with near-vertical cliffs dropping 400 metres on all sides. The plateau covers around 31 square kilometres and holds its own micro-climate: almost constant cloud, cold temperatures, and rainfall so frequent that the surface rock has eroded into terrain unlike anything at lower elevations. The plants on top are largely endemic. They evolved in isolation because almost nothing from the surrounding rainforest can survive the conditions up there.

Getting There

Most hikers approach from Venezuela, starting from Paraitepui village. From Santa Elena de Uairen near the Brazilian border, the drive to Paraitepui is about 3 to 4 hours on rough road. Santa Elena is reachable by bus from Boa Vista in Brazil (4 to 5 hours) or by air from Caracas.

Venezuelan law requires hikers to use a licensed guide. Guides arrange permits and provide camp equipment. Expect to pay around USD 300 to 500 per person for a guided package including food, tents, and park fees – pricing is subject to variation given Venezuela’s economic situation. Book through operators in Santa Elena de Uairen or in advance from Caracas. The round trip from Paraitepui is around 80 to 90km and typically takes 5 to 6 days, with 3 to 4 nights camping on the summit plateau.

On Top

The summit plateau is genuinely strange terrain. The rock is black and pitted, divided by streams that cut through channels in the sandstone. Carnivorous sundews and bromeliads grow in the pools. There are no trees. Visibility is often near zero in cloud. At night the temperature drops to around 5 degrees Celsius.

The key formations are El Foso (a sinkhole accessible by short rappel with guide assistance), the labyrinth of eroded rock channels in the central section, and the Crystal Valley, where quartz formations collect in pools. The views from the cliff edges – when clouds permit – look across an unbroken sea of forest toward Kukenan Tepui to the east and the Gran Sabana below. What makes the plateau genuinely interesting isn’t the view (though when it’s visible, it’s extraordinary) but the specific strangeness of the ecosystem – isolated for millions of years, it has generated biological and geological forms you won’t see elsewhere.

Practical Notes

• Altitude sickness is less of an issue than fitness – the ascent day is long and steep, especially the final section to the cliff-top
• Waterproof gear is essential. Expect rain every day on top regardless of season. The dry season (December to April) improves chances of clear views but doesn’t eliminate rain
• Currency management in Venezuela is complicated; bring USD or euros in cash and change at the border, where rates are significantly better than official rates
• The Brazilian state of Roraima shares the name but is a different destination – it’s the transit point (Boa Vista) for reaching the Venezuela side

This is not an easy trip to organise. It is worth organising.