Mount Roraima is the most popular of all of the tepuis mountains located
in South America. The tepuis mountains sit on the border of Guyana,
Brazil, and Venezuela and are a popular destination for explorers,
mountain climbers, and adventure seekers. Mount Roraima is located
wholly inside the Canaima National Park in south eastern Venezuela. The
mountain has attracted visitors for decades because of its beauty,
remoteness, and climbability.
As with most of the tepuis mountains, Mount Roraima is not part of a
chain of mountains and just rises on its own from the jungle floor. The
mountain itself is made mostly of sandstone and is recognizable as a
tepuis mountain because of the trademark table-top plateau at the top.
This make-up allows for the diverseness of environment between what you
would find at the base and what you would find on the plateau at the
top. The rocky slopes keep the two areas separate and over the course of
thousands of years (or more) two entirely different ecosystems have
developed. In fact, to this day new species of plants and animals are
occasional discovered on Mount Roraima and the other tepuis mountains.
Though it is large, Mount Roraima is not the largest of the tepuis
mountains, that distinction belongs to Auyantepui which is also home to
the world famous Angel Falls. It is however the tallest of Venezuela’s
tepuis mountains with the peak reaching a height of over 9,200 feet.
There are few roads in the vicinity of Mount Roraima and most
traveling
is done by small plane, hiking through the jungle, or canoe. This
remoteness is also one of the reasons that the area is sought after by
explorers and adventuresome people, the land is virtually unspoiled
because of a lack of general tourist visitation. Most activity in the
area requires the hiring of a local guide from a nearby Pemon Indian
village. There is road access from the outside world to the local Indian
village of Paraitepui, but the vast majority of the time this road
requires four wheel drive to be successfully traveled.
Mount Roraima is one of the easier to climb of all the tepuis mountains
with some gentle slopes and ramps up to the plateau. Though the trails
are popular
with hikers and well marked, use of a guide is still
recommended because it is very easy to get lost up top when the plateau
is reached. The topside of Mount Roraima has very few well marked
trails, as the flatness of the terrain has led hikers over the years to
hike off in many directions instead of along established trails. Another
factor in making the plateau hard to navigate is the almost constant
cloud cover that hangs across the top. Though it sits on the border of
Guyana and Brazil, most of the climbing of Mount Roraima is done from
the Venezuela side on a stair stepped trail referred to as “La Rampa”.
This trail to the top is the only trail that does not require rock
climbing equipment and technical experience. The standard trip is a 5
day excursion that includes one day at the beginning to get from the In dian village of Paraitepui and one day at the end to return to the
Indian village. Longer trips can explore the more 
northern and remote
areas of Mount Roraima’s plateau.
With its unique vistas and relative ease when it comes to climbing
difficulty, Mount Roraima remains a popular destination for hikers and
mountain climbers alike. A trip to Mount Roraima is unlike any hiking or
climbing trip anywhere else in the world.
