The Pemón, a Carib Indian people, are thought to have come to the Gran Sabana roughly 600 years ago. Prehistoric stone tools, though, have been found that suggest humans lived in the Lost World as long as 9,000 years ago. Today, about 75 percent of the nation’s entire population of 20,000 people live within Venezuela’s Canaima National Park.

Though Mount Roraima was included on a map published in Paris in the mid-17th century, the Pemón had no known contact with the outside world until the 18th century when Capuchin missionaries arrived in the Gran Sabana to convert them to Catholicism. A series of five books by the 20th-century missionary Frey Cesaro de Armellado still provides the best source of information about the Pemóns’ traditional shamanistic beliefs.

Other Europeans soon followed. In the mid-19th century, German explorers Richard Shomburgk and Theodor Koch-Grünberg wrote widely about their travels in the Gran Sabana, sparking much interest in the region. Scaling Mount Roraima became the goal. Supported by the Royal Geographical Society of London, British explorers Everard Im Thurn and Harry Perkins in 1884 became the first to accomplish this feat. Lectures by Thurn about their adventures prompted Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, to pen the bestseller fantasy “The Lost World,” published in 1912.

Other explorers followed. One of them, American pilot Jimmie Angel, was on the hunt for a supposed “river of gold” to which he had earlier transported another explorer. Angel never found the gold, but in 1933, he did find a waterfall. Angel Falls is the tallest waterfall in the world, tumbling some 3,212 feet from the top of Auyantepui. Seven years later, the Venezuelan Ministry of Development backed an ambitious exploration program of the so-called Lost World, largely bringing its isolation to an end.

According to Pemón legend, this animal represents the spirit that was instrumental in saving man’s fish supplies:

Water snake

Black frog

Giant otter

Lizard

Wonder about supper in the Lost World? Pemón cuisine relies on what’s immediately available. Like bugs. Termites and ants are ground up with chilis for spicy sauces to add a dash of flavor to meat. (Read more in Wildlife.) Given the Lost World’s abundance of rivers, fish are also popular — a spicy fish stew called “tuma” with manioc wafers is one common repast. Meat such as agouti (kin to the guinea pig) or deer can also make an appearance. Breakfasts feature dumplings — reportedly quite fatty — and coffee. Kachiri, a manioc root liqueur, is the preferred alcohol. Food remains an issue for the Pemón, who are resorting more to growing their own produce rather than harvesting wild food items. In the 1990s, reports circulated that electricity companies involved in the construction of a major power line through the Gran Sabana to Brazil offered free food to counter local opposition to their project.

PEOPLE

No, these are not just back-packing, camera-toting tourists. These are the Gran Sabana’s native Pemón Indian population, too. Since the early 1980s, the park’s population has increased by a factor of five. Pemón farmers set seasonal fires on the savanna to clear forest from farm land and kill off rattlesnakes and spiders from pathways. As the population grows, savanna fires are becoming more frequent. At the same time, resident Pemón are increasingly dependent on tourism for their livelihood. No real plan for managing the impact of tourists on the Lost World yet exists. Within Canaima National Park, rules require tourists to bring down all garbage from the tepuis, but the remains of campfires have been found on the tepui summits — a worrisome sign since the mountain’s vegetation does not easily grow back.

MINING

Gold and diamond mining operations are extensive in the areas bordering on the Lost World. Miner hamlets exist throughout Canaima National Park. Though mining within the park itself is prohibited, great mineral wealth is thought to exist within its precincts. Mercury, the run-off from gold mining, has already contaminated Guri Lake to the north of the tepuis region and is feared to pose a threat to northward-running rivers that stretch through the Lost World. Once in the river, the mercury can poison wildlife and humans that depend on its waters for sustenance. Deforestation and disruption of these rivers’ water flow are additional concerns. Illegal mining is frequently practiced on the tepuis’s lower slopes, though, as yet, the inaccessibility of the mountains’ higher elevations has kept the practice relatively contained.

POWER LINES

To sell electricity to Brazil and bring power to Venezuelan gold mines and logging companies, Venezuela is building a 470-mile long series of high-tension power lines that would stretch through Bolivar State and the Canaima National Park en route to Brazil. Pemón residents and conservationists worry that the $400 million project will only encourage mining within the park and contribute to the destruction of forest and endemic flora and fauna on the low tepuis of Sierra de Lema. This range of mountains to the north of the Canaima National Park remains largely unexplored. For the past several years, the Pemón have kept up a steady protest against the power lines, blocking work on the sites and, in 2000, knocking down seven of the power line structures.

The name of the Pemón group fighting construction of the power lines is:

Rainbow Warriors

Tepuis Warriors

Wek-ta Warriors

Rally for Roraima

For all the Canaima National Park’s size and grandeur, no concrete plan has been drawn up to handle that most degrading of tourist imprimaturs: trash. During a 1999 clean-up campaign, participants collected some 794 pounds of trash from the route up Mount Roraima. The park stipulates that what goes up a tepui, must come down, but enforcement mechanisms are few. In a park the size of Belgium, there are reportedly only 12 park rangers.

With a population of 20,000, Santa Elena de Uairén, capital of the Gran Sabana, is the Lost World’s big city. Indian villages Wonken (in the Gran Sabana’s heartland) and Kavanayen (near Aponwao) make for spectacular viewing of the tepuis and boast airports. Parai-Tepuy (not far from Mt. Roraima) and the postcard-worthy tourist camp of Kavac (within range of the waterfall and canyon of the same name) are other popular urban highlights. At the northern tip of La Escalera en route to the historical Venezuelan town of Ciudad Bolivar, the desolate mining town of Kilometro-88 (yes, that’s Kilometer-88) is reportedly handy for supplies for the Lost World, but little else.

Waterfalls abound here — some seasonal, some not. Angel Falls, the world’s highest, has a free fall of 2,640 feet. Aponwao, also known as Chinak-Merú, stands at more than 328 feet. You can swim through a four-foot-wide canyon to the base of the Kavac waterfalls. To the south of the Lost World, Jaspé Falls (La Quebrada de Jaspé), a series of small waterfalls along a wooded stream, run over a bed of red, yellow and orange jasper. Its name in Pemón, Kako Paru, means “fire creek.”

Once on site, your travel options are usually to walk, fly, or hop a dugout river canoe piloted by local Pemón Indians. When navigable, one of the Lost World’s many rivers is often the best bet for reaching your tepui of choice. The hard bit is making that choice.

Angel Falls, Venezuela’s top tourist attraction, is located on the pinnacle of Auyantepui (”Devil Mountain” in Pemón). At 8,530 feet tall and with an area of 270 square miles, it is the largest of the Lost World’s tepuis. At 9,000 feet, Mount Roraima ranks as the Lost World’s highest tepui — only 44 square miles of it have been explored. Next to Roraima looms Kukeyan, the perfect pick for panoramic views of the Sabana. Another 97 tepuis, some explored, some not, remain.

Prefer to trek in a car? Good luck. In the Gran Sabana, you can find:

23 paved roads

10 paved roads

3 paved roads

1 paved road

The Lost World’s Canaima National Park is only about a two-hour flight from Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, but trekking among the tepuis is not for those who like their vacations on the soft side. The Park asks visitors not to try and climb the tepuis without at least one guide and one porter. Though accessible to relatively fit visitors, Mount Roraima is described by tour companies as a “vigorous” climb. Auyantepui, home to Angel Falls, is sometimes termed as better left to experienced hikers. Whatever your mission, be prepared for adventurous living. En route to Mount Roraima — a three-day trek on average — you might stay in palm-thatched huts on the savanna (”churuatas”) and sleep in hammocks or tents on the slopes. Bathing facilities usually come in the form of rivers.

BLACK FROG (Oreophrynella quelchii)

Of the tepuis’ natives, this tiny black frog is the superstar. It’s been clinging to the mountains’ rocks since before the dinosaur age and has changed little, if at all. Unable to swim or hop, it clings to rocks and will roll itself up into a ball if threatened. Its black color keeps it comfortable when temperatures on the tepuis’s highest summits drop below the freezing point.

BIRD LIFE

Half of all migratory birds en route to South America come to the Canaima National Park, according to The Nature Conservancy. And, to judge by the photos that adorn park-related Web sites, bird tourists should be set for a true avian adventure. The tepuis region boasts Venezuela’s highest number of endemic birds — an estimated 41 species with such tantalizing names as tepui tinamous (Crypturellus ptaritepui), fiery-shouldered parakeet (Pyrrhura egregia), roraiman nightjars (Caprimulgus whitelyi), red-banded fruiteaters (Pipreola whitelyi), and velvet-browed brilliants (Heliodoxa xanthogonys). Most of these birds are on the hunt for seeds or nectar and many can be seen as you drive along the Canaima National Park’s lone paved road.

GIANT ANTEATER (Myrmecophaga tridactyla)

Happiest when snuffling along the Lost World’s Gran Sabana, giant anteaters scarf down some 30,000 ants per day. The feeding frenzy is understandable — these are hefty mammals. Giant anteaters can weigh up to 86 pounds and measure up to 9.5 feet long from head to tail. And that’s without counting a tongue that stretches up to 2 feet to zap ants or termites on the run from homes destroyed by the anteater’s powerful claws. But this is no ferocious mammal. A loner who works day and night, the anteater is slow to put up a fight when its territory is challenged (it is capable of running away at speeds of up to 31 miles per hour) and defines its roaming range broadly — up to 22 acres or more. Despite its innocuous existence, the giant anteater is an at-risk species — its meat and skin are valued items and its highly flammable fur makes it a frequent victim of brush fires periodically set by local Pemón Indians.

GIANT OTTER (Pteronura brasiliensis)

Some scientists venture that the giant otter is so large that it should not be called an otter at all. The largest of all otters, these mammals can be up to 6 feet long and weigh over 70 pounds. Giant otters’ days are spent hunting for fish — alone or in groups — on the Gran Sabana’s rivers and dealing decisively with unwanted guests (snakes, beware!).

Family is important. Each group of otters (known as a holt) has its own territory, complete with communal latrines. When parents are away hunting catfish or perch, older children babysit the younger offspring. Water pollution from mining and hunting by local humans makes the giant otter another of the Gran Sabana’s at-risk species.

RED HOWLER MONKEY (Alouatta seniculus)

Who needs a rooster when howler monkeys are on hand? These self-appointed alarm clocks choose daybreak for a chorus of deafening howls audible up to 3 miles away. Male monkeys start the cry, soon echoed by the males of neighboring groups. The goal

is to define territory and, with it, food resources. (An approaching rainstorm can also prompt a performance.) Not known for their live-and-let-live tendencies, male howler monkeys are expelled from their native group upon becoming sexually mature at 7 years old. (Females are sexually mature at 5.) Finding a new home requires these monkeys to invade another group and kill the babies. Though mothers usually put up a fight, it’s a losing battle. Male howlers stand a mere 2 feet long and weigh up to 13 pounds, but will not tolerate any offspring other than their own. After establishing their primacy, triumphant male monkeys usually number no more than 2 in a group of 10 females. But they shouldn’t celebrate too soon — it’s up to the females to make the first move. If bitten by this invertibrate, you will suffer a fever — potentially fatal if accompanied by an allergic reaction — that lasts 24 hours. The perpetrator is a/an:

Ant

Scorpion

Spider

Lizard

It’s not just anteaters who find the Lost World’s insect life tasty. Pemón cuisine features beetle-based sauces for bread-dipping, a hot chili and termite spritzer known as “kumache” to add zing to your noonday meal, and, for those who like variety in their bugs, a guacamole of sorts made from both termites and carpenter ants, described on the Web site of one tepuis traveler as “piquant.”

The foundation for the massive sandstone massifs was laid when South America and Africa made up the continent Godwanaland. Water and air are thought to have transported sand from nearby eroding mountain ranges to the area that would become the Guyana Highlands, home to the tepuis. When South America broke apart from Africa, about 180 million years ago, fissures and fractures formed in the highlands’ sandstone plateaus known as the Roraima Group. Forces within the earth lifted up some sections of the plateaus higher than others. Erosion over millions of years did the rest. Made of sandstone and quartz, the tepuis have been in their present form for the past 3 to 4 million years.

The towering tabletop mountains are found mostly in southeastern Venezuela, though some examples exist in northern Brazil and western Guyana. The largest and most imposing examples are located in Venezuela’s Canaima National Park.

The soil on top of the tepuis is acidic and poor in nutrients — a fact that makes some of the Lost World’s best-known plants carnivorous. On the top of some tepuis, dwarf forests can be seen; on others, meadows. Peat covers many of the summits. Jagged piles of quartz and sandstone jut out of the mountains’ surrounding savannas and jungles.

This is a humid environment and the area is crisscrossed with rivers and waterfalls (often seasonal), among which the 3,212-feet-tall Angel Falls — the world’s highest waterfall, located on the Churún River — serves as the star attraction. River beds of solid jasper in reds or oranges also provide an exotic touch — one of the most popular stops for tourists is at Jaspé Falls.

Temperatures generally range from 46° to 68° Fahrenheit. On the top of Mount Roraima, temperatures have dipped as low as 33.8° F, but no frost has been recorded. Rainfall is plentiful (79 to 157 inches per year) and humidity consistently high.

Angel Falls is more than three times the height of what famous monument?

The Empire State Building

The Eiffel Tower

The Great Pyramid of Giza

The Sears Tower

Want to go to Angel Falls? Prepare for an adventure. If you opt to depart from Canaima National Park on a dugout canoe with a Pemón guide, travel time can take up to three days during the dry season (roughly December to April) with plenty of canoe-carrying thrown in. During the wet season, canoe travel can be quite dangerous; some guides will outright refuse to go. If water doesn’t work, Avensa, Venezuela’s national carrier, also runs daily flights over the falls as part of a tour package to Canaima National Park. Failing that, there’s a less popular cross-country trek to the falls from Kavak or Uruyen tourist camps. Travel time? Between 6 to 10 days of hiking.