Exploring the Lost World of Mount Roraima
This is just one example of some of the
scenery on top of Roraima.
There were many shallow pools of water and swampy
places where many different types of unusual plants grow.
Riley (our guide) told us
that this is a flower found only on the top of Mt. Roraima.
This unique orchid is another one of the many
beautiful flowers that we saw growing in the harsh
conditions on top of the mountain.
We interrupt Corrie's narrative with this brief historical note:
Missionary Alfred Cott and his family worked among the Davis Indians after Pastor Davis died. His wife Betty and daughter Joyce are reported to be the first white women to climb Mt. Roraima, back in the 1920's.
Joyce and Betty Cott are seated at right. The Cott family later returned to California, where Daniel Adams' grandmother became good friends with the Cott family. Betty Cott wrote 3 books
about their mission adventures:
Trailing the Davis Indians
An excellent source for out-of-print Christian printed materials is Lost-N-Found Books. Try Amazon and eBay as well. OK, after this brief interruption, we now bring you back to Corrie's narrative . . .
On the one day that we spent on top, we hiked
to the other side of Roraima so that we could look between
Roraima and Kukenan, as well as at the rainforest on the
Guyana side. The view
was incredible. The
clouds were just starting to form, so for a while we were
able to have a fairly clear view.
It was incredible!
And of course, we had to get as close to the edge as
possible
J. It was great
fun to stick our heads over to see the waterfalls and trees way down
below us. Our guide did not
like us
The edge is definitely the best spot
to be, especially as the clouds begin to race up the
sides of
the cliff and surround you. Before we left this spot, the clouds had grown so much that they completely surrounded us. It was awesome!
This is Riley.
He was both guide and cook.
We discovered at the end of the first day of hiking
that he is an Adventist, which is really cool.
This is our campsite on top of the mountain.
And here we are descending, looking back on
the steepest part of the climb.
Usually there is a waterfall that flows over the edge
here and showers climbers, but on the day we hiked out there
wasn’t much water falling so we didn’t get wet
J.
Here is a good view of the route up the
mountain. We are
looking forward to climbing it again in the near future.
Riley is interested in training Daniel and me as
guides so that we can take the IRR groups that come instead
of having to hire someone else.
There is still a lot of exploring to do up on top,
and Riley is really excited about exploring it with us.
We want to take a film crew (Gerhard and Rene) with
us so they can get film clips for Red A.D.venir Spanish
Christian TV. And
that brings our adventure up Mt. Roraima to an end.
Click here to get your own copy of this awesome, professional DVD of Venezuela's Mt. Roraima, Angel Falls and other fascinating features of the area. |