In the southernmost part of
Venezuela is the Amazonas region. Bordered to
the west by the Orinoco River and Colombia, and to the
south and the east by Brazil. The nearly 70,000 square
miles of this area encompass lush rain
forest, hundreds of rivers,
and broad savannahs.
Puerto
Ayacucho, its capital city, was founded in 1924 as a base
camp for workmen building the road south to Samariapo.
The average temperature in this 20,000 inhabitants city
is 82°F. Amazonas is one of the less inhabited states
in Venezuela, its total population barely surpassing 80,000.
The Ethnological Museum and the Indian Market are worth
an excursion.
Nearby attractions include Pozo Azul and the Tobogan de
la Selva along with Cerro Pintado, which boasts the largest
known petroglyphs
in Venezuela; as well as the sacred mount, the Autana,
which is a 4,265 feet high table top mountain,
or tepuy. Whitewater
rafting in the Orinoco is also an option and rivers
in the south offer one of the two best places in the country
for peacock bass fishing.
Twenty
distinct indigenous groups with their own customs and
languages reside here, including the Yanomami, the Piaroa
and the Makiritares, also known as Yekuanas. The semi
nomadic Yanomami tribe, also known as Yanomamo, are the
most isolated group of the Amazonas people.
Deep in the rain forest, traveling back and
forth across the Brazilian border, the Yanomami are hunter-gatherers.
Communities live in a shabono, a large circular compound and string hammocks under the outer ring and use the
open center for public events like ceremonial dances.
Yanomami Shamans use medicinal herbs
to receive supernatural visions. The Yanomami cremate
their dead, then grind the bones into a powder to be consumed
in a special brew. in this way, they keep the spirits
of the deceased alive. The Piaroa live mainly along the
Sipapo and Cataniapo rivers in thatched
colonial buildings known as Churuatas. They raise animals
and farm
in round plots called Conucos. The Maquiritares or Makiritares
also live in the Amazonas. They are noted builders of
dugout canoes.
The
means of transportation
inside this remote area of Venezuela is mainly by air
taxi or charter flights and by dugout canoes known as
Bongos or Curiaras. The only paved roads links Puerto
Ayacucho with Samariapo (some kilometers south) and with
Ciudad Bolivar in the northeast. Scheduled air commercial
service links Puerto Ayacucho with Caracas
only.
Amazonas
is home to exotic plants
and rare animals,
a place where travelers can truly enjoy one of the world's
great wildernesses. The Orinoco River, Venezuela's largest
and seventh in the world, originates here and the Brazo
Casiquiare, a curious arm of water that links the basins
of the Orinoco and the Amazon is tripped in the Route
of Humboldt Expedition. Approximately 8,000 species of
plants, including orchids, bromeliads and mosses, grow
in the state; 7,000 of which are indigenous. Jaguars,
ocelots, deer, tapir, giant anteaters, peccaries and half
a dozen species of monkeys are the inhabitants of this
region, along with the fearsome bushmaster snake and the
better known anaconda. Bird watchers will be excited to
discover that some 680 species of birds,
including colored toucans, parrots and macaws live here.
Amazonas' rivers swarm with electric eels, piranhas, caimans,
river dolphins and turtles. Four national parks (Duida
Marahuaca, Parima Tapirapeco, Serrania La Neblina and
Yapacana), one Forest Reserve (Sipapo) and one Biosphere
Reserve (Alto Orinoco-Casiquiare) protect much of this
impressive wildlife.
A sampling of
tours in the Venezuelan Amazon include:
Autana
Tepuy River Adventure
Cuao
Hill River Adventure
Autana
Tepuy + Cuao Hill River Adventure
Humboldt
Route Expedition
Contact
us to include the Amazon
in a customized itinerary of travel to Venezuela.
