Many Rivers to Cross - Orinoco

Orinoco is not just a womble (for those of you old enough to remember those furry weirdos from Wimbledon Common!) It’s a river, perhaps one of the most productive, culturally various and friendly of the great rivers for adventurers.

There are about forty places along the Orinoco you can use as a base from which to explore the river, and the easiest way to begin is to take a water taxi – most people travel on the river because the banks are so crowded with undergrowth, and a simple trip across to the market or travel office can reveal a wide range of flora and fauna, including water hyacinth, pink dolphins, giant river otters, anacondas, and sideneck (or wryneck) turtles.

By travelling a little outside town, you‘ll begin to come across Indian villages with their unique raised dwellings called palafitos, which are actually built over the river’s edge – note this, and don’t go swimming – the villagers empty their refuse into the river and use the flowing current as a toilet too – you don’t want to end up hospitalised with some horrible disease!

If you hire a Warao (local Indian) guide and travel along one of the Orinoco’s tributaries, you will enter the virgin jungle, in which you are likely to see some of the rarer wildlife: spectacled caiman, capuchin and red howler monkeys, various snakes, hummingbirds, kingfishers and many other species of birds. The jungle canopy is extremely tiring to walk through, so if you plan to hike as well as travel on the river, assume you will only cover a quarter of the distance that you could walk comfortably in Europe. Something else to be aware of – native guides love to point out edible plants – by all means take this chance to taste local foods, but try to have only tasters, not whole meals; while the food is usually safe enough, it can upset stomachs not used to it, and it’s better to take it slowly.

Piranha fishing is a key sport for visitors here, but if that’s not exciting enough for you, try a night trip in a canoe – sightings of vampire bats, jaguars and other sinister creatures (including giant spiders) will reward your bravery!

Orinoco photograph by derek7272, used under a creative commons attribution licence

 

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