Every time I visit Venezuela, I find my soul drawn to the Canaima Region where Angel Falls
( Kerepakupai vena ) is situated.
Finally, I had the courage to brave that unknown world and organise to spend my three weeks there among the tribal peoples.
They were strange yet familiar in an odd kind of way. Needless to say, we only had cellphones - two of which I acquired from a friend in Guirria - to keep us in touch with the outside world. Here, Time stood perfectly still as we often traversed the Carrao River deep in the Heart of the Universe.
The Salto Angel I would fly by just by chance as t an Australian couple had paid for an entire aircraft which had an extra pair of seats. Lucky me. The pilot was nuts. My camera and nearly everything I had at the time were lost during some rather insane acrobatics with a small, fragile aircraft.
Anyway, having spent time with these chieftains as my guardians...YUP...GUARDIANS! They would protect me from the spirit of Canaimo, a mythical spirit that takes the shape of nothing ever seen on Earth. It consumes the flesh of the dead for sustenance but can inflict painful death to the unprotected like me...I guess that's what they were telling me.
So, I lived to tell the stories. We could spend a night on an overnight camp talking about this when I would unfold the wonders of creation to you.
Two years ago, I got a call from someone in Trinidad explaining to me that he had two visitors from South America. They had a vision to visit a waterfall in Trinidad. He described their vision to me and it rather struck me how clearly and accurately they were describing Lalaja Falls.
We immediately made arrangements to take them there and behold, it was the right one. More interestingly, it was the two tribal heads I stayed with in Venezuela.
What about the third soul?
According to them, they are a people that each possessed three spirits.
The first was for them to talk to the gods, the second, I could never remember ( maybe to power their bodies ) and the third was the one to communicate with the spirit world. The thing with the third soul is that they must take it to a sacred source of water or the spirits will not justify them in the presence of the gods.
Lalaja was chosen as that sacred source. My Lalaja Falls that I've been going to since I was 18.
Imagine how delicately I treat with that place now, how often I speak of it with reverence and mystery. A sacred water source! Man, that has got to blow me away.
So you're going there, hopefully with the knowledge of something miraculous.
What will you do when you do get there?
You'll really be going through some of the most untouched forest in the island. There are routes, surely, and well kept> but time stays his hand in Lalaja. As you pass the circular route - and it does take effort - you'll be amazed to know that this ghostly place was once a thriving Cocoa Estate village.
Funny thing these trips. You step back in time and feel the isolation. But this divine silence is not appreciated until you leave. Then you miss it.
Follow the link
Go there and renew your spirit.
When you return, post comments on the blog. Let us know about the trip.
We're waiting to hear from YOU
