by Allan Taylor

Created on: January 28, 2010   Last Updated: January 29, 2010

Venezuela is a country one should always go to. Often it gets overlooked by travelers. I remember looking at my wall map of South America which daily reminds me of all my travels in Latin America, and contemplating...hmm ... there are still a few blanks...like Guyana and Venezuela...I must check out these countries on my next trip, I decided.

What to see? Head first for Venezuela, I thought. Fly to Caracas and roam around the hinterland for a month and see the sights.

Obviously one must go to see the Angels Falls, the highest waterfall in the world, which I did during the first week of landfall (separate article). Next I bussed through to Merida, a fascinating university town set in the foothills of the Andes. Here they have a cable car (teleferico) which ascends to the top of the mountain range at 4765 meters. Unfortunately it was under repair and out of action. What to do?

Several adventure sports companies in town offered enticing eco-trips like floating down a river for a few days to view the wildlife. Being of torpid frame of mind I decided that this was for me. The region SE of Merida is called Los Llanos, or "the plains", which are savannah with innumerable rivers that eventually flow into the Rio Orinoco.

Our little tour group of backpackers set off next morning in a minibus heading for the town of Barinas where we stopped to buy extra supplies for our 3 days on the river. I noted with approval the purchase of four flagons of rum and a crate of Coke Cola which I was told was necessary fuel for the trip (included in the cost).

By afternoon we had arrived at our destination. This was the start of our float trip on an obscure tributary of the Orinoco ..... the Rio Masparro.

We slid the cumbersome inflatable boats down the bank into the muddy waters. Our guide seemed all confident about this float trip through Los Llanos. Before us were central grassy plains of Venezuela with its maze of tributaries feeding into the mighty Orinoco, the third largest river in South America.

Roads are few. The rivers are navigable by motorized dugout canoes used by local Indians who live in grass huts along the riverbanks. Our little group of six piled into a Swedish patrol boat and a smaller rubber canoe.  Not being a great swimmer, I was pleased to find the river was shallow, and stowed my camera gear in a safe spot, which is always a problem with boats.

Two of us sat each side with a paddle and we drifted sedately downstream. A tangle of forest overhung the muddy

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