In the southeastern part of Venezuela, there is one of the most amazing places on our planet. Surrounded by savannas and jungles, an isolated area with unique fauna and flora is reliably hidden from the eyes of people. This area is known under the name "Tepui", which received from the tribe of the same name of Indians, who once lived in these places.
Tepui or tepui (tipui) are mesas located in the Guiana Highlands in South America, mostly in Venezuela.
The word "tepui" in the language of the Pemon Indians inhabiting the Gran Sabana region means "home of the gods." Tepui for the most part stand isolated from each other, towering over the jungle with hard-to-reach cliffs, which makes them carriers of unique sets of endemic plants and animals.
Scientists claim that these mountains, composed of hard sandstone, with steep, almost sheer slopes and flat, truncated peaks, are the oldest in the world. They were formed as a result of the destruction of a huge plateau, which in prehistoric times stretched from the shores of the Atlantic Ocean to the borders of the Orinoco, Amazon and Rio Negro river basins. Back in the days when Africa and South America were one, about 200 million years ago, this plateau arose on the site of a giant lake.
The plateau consisted of sandstone and was located on a granite base; over time, erosion turned the plateau into several monadnoks, from which tepuis were formed, covered with erosion-resistant rocks.
Similar craters are found on several tepuis, formed after rains washed over the roofs of the sandstone caves.
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The deepest cave is "Abismo Guy Collet", 671 m deep.
By the way, the analysis of water that accumulates in natural lakes on the tepui is of excellent quality. Typically, tepuis are composed of a single block of Precambrian sandstone or quartzite that soars sharply above the surrounding jungle to heights of over 2000 m. Many tepuis have water-washed caves, such as Abismo Guy Collet Cave, deep 671 m, as well as karst sinkholes up to 300 m in diameter, formed during the collapse of the arches of the tunnels of underground rivers.
German explorer Robert Schomburgk visited the area in 1835. He was struck by the mesas, but attempts to climb one of them were unsuccessful. Only almost half a century later, in 1884, a British expedition led by Everard Im Turn managed to climb to the top of Mount Roraima.
However, it was the report of Robert Schomburgk's expedition to the tepui region that inspired the writer Arthur Conan Doyle to write the novel The Lost World about the discovery of a plateau inhabited by prehistoric species of animals and plants. In 1912, the writer read accounts of the mountains discovered in South America and was so impressed that he sat down to write a new novel. The plateau lost in the jungle described in the book really has a lot in common with Tepui.
Many tepuis have sinkholes up to 300 m in diameter, formed by the collapse of underground river tunnels, and water-washed caves such as Abismo Guy Collet, 671 m deep.
Auyantepui is considered the largest of the tepui, and its area is about 700 square meters. km! It is on this plateau that Angel Falls is located, which is the highest waterfall in the world. Angel originates on Mount Auyan and falls into the abyss from a height of 979 meters, and the height of the continuous fall is as much as 807 meters! This waterfall is twice the height of the Empire State Building and three times the Eiffel Tower!
The high drop height - 979 meters - leads to the fact that, before reaching the surface of the earth, the water crumbles into tiny splashes and turns into a thick fog that envelops the surrounding area.
One of the most beautiful tepui - Autana - rises 1300 meters above the forest and rocks. It is special in that it is pierced through and through with a cave that runs from one end to the other. The Autana plateau is decorated with dark gray rocks of the most bizarre shapes, and the funnels surrounding them are filled with the purest water.
The plateau of the mountains is completely isolated from the forest at the foot, which makes them "ecological islands", on which nowadays endemic species of flora and fauna have been preserved, which have developed in isolation for millennia.
Another famous tepuya is Mount Sarisarinyama, on which there are many perfectly round craters several hundred meters deep and in diameter. At the bottom of these funnels, unique plants grow that are not found anywhere else in the world!
Funnels of crystal clear water are ubiquitous on many tepuis.
Abismo Guy Collet (English Abismo Guy Collet).
Different layers of sandstone collapse at different rates, which is why thousands of bizarre rocks have formed on the plateau.
Tepui is best known for its bizarre cliffs that rise up to a height of 1.5-2 km and have absolutely flat peaks. Researchers have established that previously all these rocks were one single mountain plateau. However, over time, erosion destroyed its integrity, and instead of a plateau, several bizarre rocks appeared at once.
For example, each peak of the mountain is really unique in its own way, as it is home to a wide variety of plant species that have survived since prehistoric times. This became possible only thanks to the isolation of each mountain from each other. Most of the rocks stand at a decent distance from each other, towering above the green canvas of the jungle.
The tallest tepuis are Piso de Neblina (3,014 meters), Pico Phelps (2,992 meters), Roraima (2,810 meters) and Cerro Marahuaca (2,800 meters).
Some tepuis are well researched, while others have never been walked on! Tepui are still poorly researched and are of great interest to scientists.
In general, this area is not only incredibly beautiful, but also very isolated and remote. Getting to the tepui is not so easy, as you have to travel hundreds of kilometers through the virgin forests of South America. In addition, it is simply not possible to climb on tepui without special mountaineering equipment!
Roraima is the tallest tepui in Venezuela. Its height is 2810 meters, and the top - a plateau with an area of 34 km² - is completely covered with dense vegetation, bizarre stones, precipitous depressions, caves, small lakes and swamps. Local Indians call Mount Roraima “the navel of the earth” and believe that the ancestor of the human race, the goddess Quinn, lives on its top.
These three, as well as many other lesser-known but equally beautiful tepuis, are located in the Canaima National Park, located in the southeastern part of Venezuela, at the junction of Brazil and Guyana. The reserve, which stores invaluable natural resources on its territory, is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The nature of Canaima National Park is extraordinarily diverse and unique. In addition to the majestic table mountains, hung with beautiful waterfalls, in the park you can see rare species of flora and fauna, which are found exclusively in this area. For example, carnivorous plants that lure insects into their beautiful fragrant traps and eat them. The foothills and slopes of the mountains are surrounded by cloud-covered forests, where exquisite bromeliads and orchids stand out in bright spots.
Grasses and bushes grow wildly on the tops of the tepui. The fauna of the Venezuelan park is no less rich - there are monkeys of various sizes and species, jaguars, giant ants and many small animals. But the world of birds, which live in large numbers on this rich land, boasts the greatest variety of species.
The largest natural reserve in Venezuela, the Canaima National Park, was founded in 1962 and is considered the oldest part of the Earth, which is more than 2 million years old. This lost world, as if accidentally preserved as it was many millions of years ago, is visited by thousands of tourists every day.
In Canaima National Park, vacationers are offered fascinating canoeing excursions along the lagoon, into which four waterfalls flow. Two of them - Golondrina and Ukaima - can be seen while sailing in a canoe, and under the other two - Acha and Sapo - there is a path along which you can walk inside the waterfall between the raging stream of water and the rock:
You can go to one of the most spectacular sights of the park - Angel Falls, excursions to which are carried out either by boat or by plane. If you go on a boat tour, you can see the picturesque Orchid Island along the way.
Those wishing to get acquainted with the life of the aborigines of these lands, you can go to the northern part of Canaima, where the settlement of the Pemon Indians is located. Here you have a unique opportunity to immerse yourself in an unknown culture, communicate with the natives, get acquainted with their rituals, traditions, legends and way of life, which has been preserved since ancient times.
Among other things, this area is shrouded in an aura of secrets and mysteries, which are told not only by ancient legends and myths, but also by reports of several expeditions organized by brave explorers. The last major official expedition to these hard-to-reach places, namely to Mount Roraima, was formed in 1965 by the son of the famous Juan Angel, the discoverer of the world's highest waterfall.
The expedition's diary describes a wonderful world in which the flat surface of the top of the mountain is covered with bizarre hills resembling mushrooms in shape, unusual depressions filled with water are scattered everywhere, and in addition to animals already known to science, an unusual creature was discovered, which was named a cadborosaurus. The previously unseen animal had the head of a horse and the body of a snake with humps on its back. There were also found frogs incubating eggs, blood-sucking insects that were not affected by any chemical means of protection, giant ants more than 5 cm long, capable of biting small tree branches with their steel teeth.
The biggest discovery for scientists was the discovery of the remains of ancient animals, which until recently lived in these places. There is an assumption that they died as a result of alien experiments. Scientists were prompted to this guess by a large round area discovered by the expedition, devoid of vegetation and completely covered with a silvery powder of unknown origin. Later laboratory studies showed that this is an alloy of the rarest metals, which is simply unrealistic to create under terrestrial conditions.
When examining the caves, researchers found a large number of rock carvings depicting fantastic animals and creatures distantly similar to humans. The members of the expedition also discovered several crypts, inside of which there was a thick fog and a sweet smell. Some members of the team, breathing in this strange scent, fell into a coma for several days, and when they woke up, they told their colleagues about incredible visions and travels to other worlds.
After this incident, it was decided to return back, but then a new surprise awaited the travelers: they could not find a way out of this enchanted world, as if some mysterious forces in every possible way prevented this.
Only a few months later, exhausted by the search for a way out, people managed to return home. They claim that they were helped by some unknown force, which caught them and slowly lowered them to the central square of one of the Indian settlements.
When scientists finally got to civilization, it was discovered that the families had long since lost hope of their return: after all, the expedition, which was supposed to return after several months of work, had been absent for four years.
For a long time, no expeditions were organized to this region, but today this lost world, which previously instills fear in people, is visited daily by several dozen adventurers. Only for safety reasons, it is advisable to climb accompanied by an experienced guide.
Here is an artistic representation of these places: