The country is renowned for having South America’s largest lake and third largest river, the highest waterfall in the world, the longest snake in the world, and some of the most impressive sights you will ever see.

A country of opposing landscapes

Venezuela sits at the top of the South American continent touching the turquoise Caribbean Sea. It is a country of opposing landscapes: steamy Amazon jungles, wide-open grassy savannahs, snow capped Andes mountains, and miles of white sand beaches. Venezuela is also one of the wealthiest nations in South America due to the vast oil reserves that were discovered in the early part of the 20th Century. Because of this, the country boasts excellent road networks, modern architecture and a well-developed tourism infrastructure. Travel throughout Venezuela is easy and comfortable, and some of the cheapest flights to South America from the US and Europe are to Venezuela. But not all of Venezuela was touched by the oil boom, and in the more remote parts of the country there exist numerous communities of indigenous people continuing their traditional way of life as much as they can. Interested Aldeas de Paz volunteers will have the opportunity to work closely with indigenous communities representative of the Pemón Nation.

Santa Elena de Uairén is located in the south-east of Venezuela

Venezuela is a third larger than Texas and occupies most of the northern coast of South America and the Caribbean Sea. It is bordered by Colombia on the West, Guyana to the East and Brazil to the South.

A short history

Columbus explored Venezuela on his third voyage, when the area used to be inhabited by Arawak, Carib and Chibcha Indians. The name, Venezuela, was thought up by another Spanish explorer and translates as ‘little voice’. Caracas was founded in 1567.

It was one of the first countries to revolt in 1810, winning independence in 1821. Federated at first with Columbia and Ecuador as Republic of Greater Columbia, it became a Republic in 1830. A period of unstable dictatorship and fluctuation in the oil trade followed, until the 1970’s when Venezuela benefited greatly from the oil industry.

Language

Spanish is the main language; however there are numerous indigenous dialects, Brazilian Portuguese and some Guyanan English in Santa Elena.

The small town of Santa Elena de Uairén is the headquarters of the Aldeas de Paz, in the heart of La Gran Sabana National Park.

Santa Elena de Uairén

The town has about 25.000 inhabitants and is at an altitude of 900m - 1000m (3000f - 3250f) with a nearly perfect climate (16°C / 45°F - 28°C / 79°F all year round). The town was founded in 1922 as a Capuchin mission, and grew in the 1930s with the establishment of gold and diamond mines in the region.

Santa Elena is surrounded by breathtaking scenery, and a wealth of nature. The region is one of the oldest geological sites on the planet where prehistoric flat topped mountains are like ecological islands with endemic species such as carnivorous plants and many other natural treasures. The Guayana shield, located in La Gran Sabana, is the earth's oldest surface. It is estimated to be 2 billion years old, and was formed when South America and Africa were still part of the super continent Gondwana.

Travel Information

You will find good shopping opportunities, restaurants, internet cafes, postal and telephone services, clubs, pool halls and nightlife opportunities, as well as a wide variety of tourist travel destinations. Santa Elena is also a good place to arrange adventure tours into La Gran Sabana and Mount Roraima in particular.

La Gran Sabana

The area known as La Gran Sabana,“The Great Savannah” is located in the south-eastern corner of Venezuela, at the border with Brazil and Guyana. It is a high plateau, a land of wide open spaces (75,000 square kilometers), tropical forest, spectacular tepuys (flat-topped mountains), rivers and gorgeous waterfalls. It is also home to the Pemón aboriginals. It is unknown when La Gran Sabana was first occupied, but there are artifacts that demonstrate that indigenous peoples were occupying the Orinoco Delta at least 2 to 3 thousand years ago. At the time of the arrival of the first Europeans, La Gran Sabana was inhabited primarily by Pemón aboriginals.

Besides flat plains, La Gran Sabana also features tropical regions, jungle and cloud forests, rich in palm trees, fern trees, orchids, bromelias — also animals including tapirs, jaguars, pumas, deer, anteaters, snakes, are all native to the different ecosystems of La Gran Sabana.

Tepuy

Tepuy is the indigenous name given to the fascinating geologic formations that are unique to South-eastern Venezuela. These enormous sandstone fortresses rise from the tropical forest and loom over the savannah. There are about a hundred of these tepuys scattered across the Gran Sabana, spanning the states of Bolivar and Amazonas. Only a few are accessible on foot, some are still unexplored, all are protected as National Monuments under Venezuelan Law.

Tepuys are the remnants of sandstone deposits which were formed underwater about 1.8 billion years ago, when South America and Africa were still linked as part of the super continent Gondwana. 200 million years ago warping of the continental plates created fissures and fractures in the sandstone plateau, and then erosion by rain and rivers for millions of years produced the striking mountain forms that remain today.

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