Roraima tepui
a trip to a tabletop paradise
So! About three months ago my sister invited me to join her in a trekking to the Roraima tepui in Venezuela. I've always been fascinated by those tabletops and accepted right away. The tepui is located in the triple boarder of Brazil, Guiana and Venezuela, and acessed with a 3 days walk starting in the venezuelan village of Paraitepui. The area is just awe-inspiring! Cenary for a lot of fictions including Arthur Conan Doyle's "Lost World" and Pixar's movie "Up", that not to mention the huge amount of legends and local storys, religious beliefs and so on regarding those overwhelming formations.
I decided that I would take hold of this opportunity to create a landscape sketchbook along with my traveling journal. Since the trip consisted basically in walking with a backpack, the weight of its contents should not be neglected. Therefore I had to limit the drawing materials to a minimun. All the drawings below are made with a mechanical pencil and shaded with a graphite holder on a regular sketchbook.
Those drawings were initially made just for personal record keeping, but as a form of sharing it easier with my trekking partner I met along the way I decided to go ahead and upload it publicly here. Hope you guys enjoy them as much as I enjoyed drawing :)
Our first view of the park. At the background, from the left to the right, the tepuis Kukenan and Roraima
After a long walk, a close up on Kukenan
In the foreground, the Kukenan River with the Kukenan tepui in the background
In the corridor formed between the two tepuis there was a constant transit of clouds. Those clouds shifted very quickly and painted white the landscape. It was a delight to just gaze at it.
For an exchange, a landscape without the tepuis. Even without those beautiful marks the lanscape was amazing. Covered with a savannah like vegetation and slopping hills, you couldn't really get tired of looking at it
At this point, closer to the base of the tepui, a close up on the east part of the facade
Same as the last one, but for picturing the west part of it. Its interesting to notice that getting closer to the tepui, the savana like landscape gets higher and tighter, starting to look more like a tropical jungle.
The weather in the region is crazy. In a blink of the eye clouds can gather and start a rain without a second warning. After the rain however, you may be blessed with the opportunity to glimpse one of the many natural waterfalls that can form from the tepuis with the overflowing water.
The view from an observatory during the ascention. The once "flat" facade of the tepui shows its highly irregular surface, full of cracks, overlaps and superpositions. The view is gorgeous.
Another view from the observatory
Now at the top, gazing at the advancing wall is even more astonishing.
Up there the rock formations are spectacular! Appearing in all shapes and sizes, it's amazing to see what you can find
With it's shapes molded by water activity, it's easy to find canion and valley like formations. All of those with exuberant vegetation growing in between the rocks and in every inch of sand avaible. Those landscapes are truly unique and very beautiful.
Another canion-like structure with rich vegetation covering it's lower part
The Roraima tepui marks a natural division between the Amazon jungle and the "Gran Sabana" (the savannah like landscape). Crossing the tepui and looking down you'll be able to have a glimpse of the jungle between the passing clouds. The view is amazing. Along with the walls of the tepui and is neighboor Kukenan, it composed one og the most amazing views of the trip.
The landscapes are really one of a kind
Just some quick sketches of some plants we found along the way. I was surprised to see the huge amount of flowers and colors you could find in such enviroment.The plants were an atraction by themselves.
A shame they are in black and white, the colors are really rich :(
A shame they are in black and white, the colors are really rich :(
A last view of Roraima,along with it the confirmation that all the walking and effort were worth it :)
At the end I can say nothing but good things about that place. The beauty is overwhelming and the landscapes are simply unbeliaveble. I hope to be back someday :)
Thank you for your view!
:D
