The Big Trip - Roraima

Finally, the morning of the big adventure - Roraima - had come! We had packed our bags in the bus and left our bags of extra stuff in Alejandro's house. Alejandro was our Indian guide and he was awesome! The time he went up Roraima with us was his time no. 25 - that means you are hardcore in case you had not figured that out!

The first day we had to drive up to Paratepuï which is an Indian Village where the trail up to Roraima starts. When we told the local Indians we were heading up the dirt road after all that rain they made a funny face and were uncertain as to whether we would be able to make it up there or not. We headed out anyway, we came for adventure! and we got adventure. Both on the way up the dirt road, up mountain and down again!

When we got to Paratepuï it was getting dark so we set up the tents, made dinner and went to bed - more or less. The next morning the trip began. First we walked to the Guardia Nacional as we had to sign up - passport no. and everything - to let them know that we had entered the national park. This is necessary as only 50 ppl. a day are permitted to climb Roraima. We had been told that Camilla and Lui had to leave the day before us to be permitted to enter the park, so we knew they were really strict about letting people enter. When we got to the registering your passport no. it took a little while as we were so many. When we were done we headed out and started walking. It felt great being on the way, and the nature was simply gorgeous! Little creeks and rivers had emerged due to the enormous amounts of water that had come down. We had been told we'd have five "devil hills" to climb that day so when the first one had been climbed it was a great feeling knowing that we'd made it over the first one in good shape. Then we walked straight for a long time, and then it started raining again. That is when my iPod and camera got soaked. Fortunately, my camera started working again, but it was out for a couple of days. I had thought walking in the rain would be a pain, but it actually turned out to be quite nice. Sure we got wet, but we did not get cold as we had to move all the time, and walk up and a little down. The first camp on the way is called Rio Tek and one family lives there, in the middle of nowhere, and this was were we had our lunch the first day. On the way back we'd sleep there, but for now we had to move on to Camp Kukenan. To get to Camp Kukenan we had to cross two rivers. The first one being Rio Tek, which we were able to cross using a rope and an aiding hand from both Alejandro, Alberto and Astrid. Inge almost fell as the current got her one leg when she was walking and threw her out of balance, but she got up and made it!

We walked on and the group spread out a little. This enabled Helle to tell me that we were not going to have rice and fried sausage that night (something we'd been told would be delicious and therefore we were having it on Astrid's birthday), we were going to have baked potatoes and some roasted pork instead. Boo-yah! The plan was to have Astrid come into the camp as the last one, then we'd all throw bell peppers at her as it was her 30th birthday, and then have the delicious dinner! However, we had to cross yet another river to make it to the camp, and this river had grown so wild that it was not possible for us to walk nor swim across it. We lined up and then Alejandro and his brothers (there's always a couple of extra guys to carry stuff, and in case one of the guides gets sick) got a little canoe and started sailing back and forth bringing us and the bags safely to the other side. It was crazy! The river was merely 5 meters wide, but the current was insane! I am so amazed that they could get us all over there - they went more than 20 times! Needless to say it took a little while, but we were all tired from the walk and amazed by the Indians so a little break was all okay. Fortunately, we only had to walk 5 more minutes and we were in the camp hurrying to get ready for surprising Astrid. And she was surprised! Turned out we were not only having a delicious dinner - there was cake, too! And at the end of the dinner AdventureDk had arranged some presents for Astrid (she works for them and was there to get to know the trip). One of the presents being a foot massage!! I guarantee you that none of us were jealous - at all!

The next day was supposed to be the longest day on the trek up. And it was. It was still gorgeous, but it was clear to everyone that we were now getting to a more and more mountainy terrain. We walked from Camp Kukenan to Base Camp and it was a 7-hour trek. I thought it was really hard making it up there, and I was relieved that Astrid helped by walking and talking with me - to me, talking to others is very helpful as it helps me forget how tired I am. When we finally made it up to Base Camp we were able to take a shower in the river. I intended to do so, but I had to change my plans as it was so cold I couldn't feel my feet after 19 seconds! I did wash my t-shirt, and put it out to dry. Great thing was, it started to rain shortly after, so the almost dry t-shirt was not so dry the next morning (and it had been under the roof! - fireplace and an area in which you could sit like 6 ppl. were under a roof). From Base Camp we could not see the top of Roraima, it was still too cloudy. However, we could see the path we were supposed to take the next day, and boy - it was steep!

The final day of climbing had arrived. We got up, packed the stuff and had breakfast and then we headed up the mountain. This day would prove to be more of a climbing day than a walking day unlike the first two. Due to the rain the first part was already a little muddy and somewhat slippery, but it turned out to be fine. All the rain had brought out flowers and colors in the fauna that I did not expect to see there. And then again, did I really expect anything, other than being amazed? It was so beautiful! And the fact that it was still very wet and cloudy did not really mean anything, as we were mostly walking in the "jungle" for the first part of the trip. When we did get to different view points it was all foggy. I didn't see this as a bad thing though, as it just added a nice and very special effect to view! Plus it ensured that we still could not see the top, which probably would have made me feel like I was not getting anywhere at all (seeing as it would still seem impossibly far in the sky no matter how much I felt I had climbed!) At one point Martin, Astrid and I caught up to Pernille and Camilla and Inge and so we were a group going through the last half of the climb together. It was really nice as we were able to talk or listen to others talk as we pleased. The Mountain seemed to stay as green as ever, but the ground on which we were moving changed. It was no longer muddy, slippery slides but more so gravel or smaller rocks. This meant you had to focus in another way, no longer was the risk of slipping very big, now it was more so the risk of spraining or twisting and angle we kept in mind. This change in the ground also meant that we had gotten a lot higher up the mountain, and so we also had to walk down every once in a while as a mountain, steep as it may seem, is not all up.

Then we made it to the new waterfalls. They were so pretty! Just didn't feel all that great standing under them having to wait till it was our turn to climb the big rocks that were now the surface of the mountain. We had to wait and go one by one as some of them were unsteady and getting it by one of those would be a painful at best. So we got soaked. I still think it was a very interesting experience though, as the water just came out of the mountain anywhere there was a whole or creek or any other pass way for the water. Like I said, our Indian guide Alejandro had never experienced that amount of rain on the mountain ever, and it was his 25th climb to the top!

At one point, one of us had asked Martin how far we still had to go, and he had said we were still missing a ladder (stige) of 200-300 meters. Now this had me looking for a ladder or some sort of stairs for forever, so when Pernille turns to me and say "Sarah, we are on the top!" I truly did not believe her. ("No, we've still got those stairs to climb" I believe were my words). Turns out it was not a ladder (stige) but an increase in the steepness (stigning).. Apparently we were already there! Had it been allowed, and had I had any energy left I probably would have cried out something in relief and happiness of making it to the top! However, it just so happens that the Table Top Mountain are holy to the Indians, and so you are not allowed to yell at the top of the mountains - this will cause a change in weather as the spirits will get angry (I think). Besides, making it to the top was not the same as being done walking. Now we had 50 minutes of walking across the top of the mountain in hopes that the first hotel was not already taken. Now you may be confused by the term hotel, do not let it fool you, a hotel on the top of Roraima is not a hotel in the sense of a building with rooms you rent, room service, cable TV, and what not, it is a cave deep enough to set up tents in it. We were lucky, nobody had claimed the first one we got to. Must say though, that 50 minutes walk was the longest 50 minutes I have EVER had. We were all cold, wet and hungry and very worn out, and yet we had to keep up with the rest of the group (some of which had waited an hour and a half for us to get to the top), needless to say we get separated. Finally we got there after walking the pink trails of the top of the mountain. When we saw Alejandro standing there with his red rain coat and zebra striped pants signalling that we should walk to him we got very excited, and suddenly we could talk and laugh again! Right then, the hotels of Roraima seemed so much better than any 5 star hotel down "on the earth." No other hotel would have fit the requirements.

On the top certain rules apply, one being the no-shouting which I have already mentioned, another being no "number twos" are to be left behind, and maybe even more importantly, do NOT walk out alone and do NOT walk close to the edge. Everything looks the same up there, and sure you can see the little pink trails where other people have walked, but they all look the same and you will never know if you are following the right one back. Furthermore the wind is really strong up there, and often the wind brings clouds so it can be very hard to see which direction you are really headed. Finally there are some "catch winds" by the edge which may be strong enough to sweep you off your feet and bring you to fall over the edge, something you do not want to do as there is a very long way to the bottom of the Mountain.

Having all these precautions in mind, Katrine, Sandra and myself went to have a look from the top early the next morning. It was so pretty! We were fortunate enough that there were no clouds when we went to the edge and you could see very very far. It was very overwhelming to see exactly how straight the wall of the mountain is, and very satisfying to know that we, by ourselves, had carried our luggage and food up there from all the way down there! (Sure the Indians carried stuff, too, but it was more things like a big pot, and axe, etc. The food were divided evenly on us, and each group had to carry their own tent.)

Later that day we all went to the highest point of the mountain, took some group photos and enjoyed the moment and the fact that we had made it, as a group, as this was by far the hardest thing (physically). Once again we were lucky, as the clouds did not come in till we were about ready to head back to the hotel. Then we had lunch and were supposed to go to "The Window" from where you can see two other table top mountains. Only there were too many clouds so it would have been a pointless trip (and a long one, too). Instead we went to a cave the goes very very deep in the mountain. The last group had been able to go app. 300 meters in the mountain! I don't know how far we got, but it was not all that far as a lake stopped us from going further. It was a cool experience to go in that far, the fact that you had to use both hand a knees for a large part did not subtract from the coolness.

Then came the day of descending. You might think that this is just going to be a backwards replay of the hiking and climbing up the mountain. It was not. The rain had been pouring down a lot more for almost two more days, and so the waterfalls and pathways were now a lot more crowded with water. Rain ponchos were not an option, you wore it! Of course you did, optimistically we thought it could somewhat keep us dry. Well, try walking down water flowing around your feet and gallons and gallons just pouring down from above. We all got soaked. The quality of the poncho could only post pone the inevitable, not prevent it as we had all hoped. The water had come down in such amounts that what used to be little creeks were now river, dripping water was now massive waterfalls, and former trails were now flowing with water fast enough that it could move sticks and stones. And so the first part of the climb down was very much an experience, and very different from anything we could have possibly imagined.

On the way to base camp I managed to fall no less than four times. Neither one was serious and neither one caused any major cuts, only a few superficial scratches and a lot of mudd. I was very lucky with the 2nd og 3rd fall though, as my arms for stretched straight above my head and then got stuck between two large rocks. Had I tripped one inch to either side my nose or teeth would probably not have been the way they still look today. When I was lying there I could not get up by myself as a 20 pound back pack limits you in some ways, so Inge had to help me get up. I must have looked very foolish lying there. And all of this action was only to get to Base Camp - the same climb we had spent almost an entire day on going up. We still had a lot of walking to do, as we needed to get to Rio Tec - the place in which we had lunch the very first day going up.

And so we rested a little at base camp, had some snacks and headed on to the next camp. This time I walked in a larger group consisting of Camilla, Helle, Sandra, Anne, and myself. It was quite fun and we chit-chatted all the way to Camp Kukenan (where we had held Astrid's birthday). Here we met up with the others, and if I remember correctly we had lunch before crossing the river Kukenan (the one that Alejandro and his brother rowed us over by canoe). After relaxing a little in Camp Kukenan, the sun had finally broken through the clouds and rain, we headed a little up the river to cross it by foot. This was a little crazy, but not too bad, as Alejandro, his brothers Luis and Martin were helping us get over the river without falling. Then we headed to Rio Tec. The actual river was crossed a little easier and by the help of Joakim and Henrik, and we were all in good mood when we finally got there - we had made it! (on what turned out to be the longest day of the entire trek!) We had dinner and sat around and talked or slept and ate what was left of the snacks (candy, crackers, chocolate) and just had a good time. The next morning I felt like I was 80 years old, all my mussels were soar, but they got better as soon as I got going. That day Camilla and I walked together almost all the way, joined in the end by Inge. It was a really good day, pretty, too, as the sun was now shining. I am really glad it was raining when we went up - kept us from overheating and feeling like we weren't getting anywhere, but it also allowed us two very different experiences going up and down!

The last half an hour I was spent. I did not feel like I had any energy left, but I knew that we would soon have made it through the biggest physical challenge of my life, and Camilla and Inge were great! We talked mostly about pizzas those last thirty minutes. When we got to Para Tepuï the feeling was indescribable! We had made it! No more walking! We all gathered around in a circle and out of nowhere came that "We Are The Champions"-song and Luis spraying champagne. It was so surreal and yet so fitting, it was ultimately fantastic!

After drinking champagne we moved the party to the bus as we had to drive back down to San Francisco to get the stuff we had not brought on the mountain. Then we headed to Santa Elena were we slept in real beds! It was so great! We even had pizza for dinner (therefore the pizzatalk on the way down) and at night some went to celebrate on the town. I was spent and decided to stay in the room with some of the other girls where we ate snacks and candy and just chilled. It was a lovely evening! :) Haha and neither one of us could walk properly so we looked like a bunch of geese trying to get up and down the curbs on the sidewalks.

The next day we drove to Santa Elena, Brazil, and shopped on the local market, had a very good lunch and then the big trip had come to an end.

It was truly one of the most enlightening, boundary pushing,wicked, mind blowing, hardest, best, wildest, fantastic trips of my life!