Venezuela: Adventure extraordinare!

  Venezuela

Merida

Durations of Program: 1-2 weeks, 5-8 weeks, 9-12 weeks and 3-6 months
Typical Duration of Program: 9-12 weeks
Dates: beginning of January, April and end of September

Description: * Caribbean Andes Central Coast Orinoco Delta

Base camp on the beautiful Caribbean coast 10 days: Upon arrival in Venezuela, we take a 5-hour drive to our camp in the very heart of Mochima National Park.

Mochima is one of the most beautiful and diverse National Parks of Venezuela. It has 32 islands and as many amazing beaches. It has a great marine life of colorful reefs, tropical fish and dolphins; mountains with dense jungle, rivers and is close to thriving towns: Puerto la Cruz and Lecheria.

Year-round temperatures range between 22 and 28 °C

Our base camp is located in a village, right in the middle of the park and just meters away from one of the finest beaches of the area.

The camp has the following characteristics: An area for Spanish classes, a hammock hall where the group sleeps, open dining hall, social areas with TV, board games etc, a large kitchen, showers, bathrooms and a deposit.

Spanish classes are held in the mornings during weekdays. In the afternoons we either have some activities planned for you or you have the rest of the day for yourself. There are no classes on the weekends so we will use them for special activities

These are some of the activities we have planned for you:
- Snorkeling expeditions in the park
- Great camping on the islands
- Visit Los Altos de Santa Fe for trekking in the mountains
- A visit to La Sirena National Park to explore the water caves and creeks of the area
- Dance classes: Salsa, Merengue and Reggaeton
- Live music at the camp
- Nights out to Puerto La Cruz and Lecheria where you can try your dance moves...

Las Trincheras hot springs and the Andes week 7 days:

We leave Mochima National Park and go west! Our first stop before we reach the Andes will be in the natural hot springs of Trincheras in the central state of Carabobo. In this world famous springs you will relax after a long day on the road. The hot baths, saunas and mud baths are open 24 hours so you can have a fantastic night in-group bathing and chatting in these nice outdoor pools.

Next morning we will continue our way to the Andes arriving to our camp close to the city of Merida in the late afternoon.

Our base camp here is right in the mountains at more than 2500 meters above sea level. It covers more then 15 hectares of crops and has an amazing view on the Andes. A dense fog comes down in the afternoons making it the perfect time to have hot chocolate and chat with the group outside.

The camp itself is only a few kilometers away from Merida City making it very convenient location for our many activities:

- We will continue the Spanish classes
- Take a ride in the highest cable car in the world and reach Pico Espejo at almost 5000 meters above sea level
- Go Canyoning, (no experience required)
- Stroll around town to see the Plaza Bolivar, the colonial Cathedral, the colonial art museum, the main market, the ice cream shop that is in the Guinness book of records for having the most flavors including beans, sardines and steak-, and more in one relaxed day out etc
- Trekking and trout fishing
- Those who dare can go Paragliding over the mountains with an instructor (no experience required). This is optional and not included
- Visit the small villages that surround Merida
- Climb Pan de Azucar mountain

Merida is also a student town with a great young vibe to it. It enjoys good restaurants and it has a great night scene with many bars and great dance floors.
Central coast Choroni week 3 days

After the Andes we will spend 2 nights in a colorful place by the sea called Choroni. Here we will relax at the beach, make a small trip by boat to nearby cocoa plantations in Chuao and at last attend live drum party at the Malecon enjoying Guarapitas, which is the local drink made out of white rum and passion fruit. The locals are quite friendly and eager to show anyone how to bang on the drums or move to these insane rhythms

After Choroni we will make a little 2-day stop at our camp to get ourselves and our gear ready for our great adventure in the Orinoco Delta

Orinoco Delta 9 days

This is the adventure of a lifetime!
The mighty Orinoco River splits into hundreds of water arms forming the Delta just before it reaches the Atlantic. This is a world of water and lush jungle. The Orinoco Delta is home to the Warao Indians Boat People in their language- who live in isolation or in small communities by the side of the river. Waraos use canoes as their main form of transportation and as babies they are known to learn to swim and paddle before they learn to walk. Their houses have no walls and are made of wood and pamltress from the jungle.

We will cross the Northern Delta by Kayak sleeping at different Warao Communities along the way. On this long and wonderful journey we will:

- Share with the Waraos Indians and learn about their culture, history, customs, handcraft, fishing and hunting skills and the way they use different trees and plants from the jungle to build their homes, to make tools, canoes, medicines and food
- Observe many bird and animal types including: howler monkeys, fresh water dolphins, sloth, parrots, macaws, caimans, agouties, otters etc
- Adventure into the jungle with the Waraos as our guides. They will show how they use this jungle to provide them for medicine, food, housing and clothing
- Learn to fish using Warao techniques and tools

Back to Base camp 5 days:

We will continue with our Spanish classes and activities. We will also prepare for the big trip to Los Llanos and Gran Sabana.

Los Llanos - Gran Sabana (Lost world)

Los Llanos (The Flat Land) 5 days: Often called the Serengeti of South America in Los Llanos you will have the chance to see: anacondas, caimans, capybaras largest rodent in the world-, turtles, anteaters and hundreds of different species of birds among others.

This is the home of the Llaneros, which are the cowboys of Venezuela. They are very friendly people, who raise cattle, go about on horses and play the national Venezuelan music Musica Llanera, which is played with rattles, a 4 string guitar called Cuatro and a man-size harp. We will have the chance of listening to this music played live; it is quite amazing!

The highlights of this trip are the wildlife and the cowboy style of life:
- Horseback ride in the plains
- 4x4 Safaris to see wild life
- Expedition by Boat on the river to see wildlife
- Harpa, Cuatro y Maracas! Big Llanero party with live music

After Los Llanos we stop for the night in Ciudad Bolivar and then we continue to Gran Sabana

Gran Sabana the (Lost World) and Roraima Tepui 12 days:

This area of Venezuela belongs to the Canaima National Park and it is considered to have the oldest land formations of the planet. Mount Roraima is the tallest Tepui -top-table mountain- at 2800 meters above sea level and it was inspiration for the novel Lost World from Conan Doyle. If there were one place on earth with dinosaurs left it would certainly be here in Gran Sabana.

Gran Sabana is also home to the Pemon Indians, which are avid hunters and, due to the many waterfalls of the area, excellent plungers. They also make quite elaborated handcraft and tools out of wood, seeds, soapstone and natural fibers.
In this trip we will:

- Climb up Monte Roraima Top-table Mountain, 6 days
- Share with the Pemon Indians and learn about their life and culture
- Bathe in the most beautiful rivers and waterfalls and shoot down natural waterslides
- Visit the Apon-Wao (105 Meters waterfall of an impressive strength and beauty)
- Go 4wheel driving for hours in the open Savanna?
- Cross the border, have lunch and spend a few hours in Brazil

Base camp for the last days of the program:

These are your last days so you can take it easy and relax, go souvenir shopping, tanning, enjoying the beach, snorkeling etc. Huge fair well party and Diploma celebration the last two days

Optional Extra: Canaima Angel Falls 4 days:

In this National Park you'll be staying in a camp next to the Canaima lagoon overlooking the falls and cascades. You will go on excursions by boat to those cascades and falls from the place

Next day we will take a boat up the Carrao River and go to see the tallest waterfall on earth: Angel Falls -its indigenous name is: Parakupa-vena or Kerepakupai merú which means the fall from the highest point, in Pemon language; in Spanish: Salto Ángel) is the world's highest waterfall, with a height of 979m and a clear drop of 807m-. We will camp in front of the fall and walk through the rain forest to its basin. This is a fantastic trip filled with unique and powerful landscapes. You will never forget this!

Working Experience 4 weeks

At the end of these incredible 8 weeks you get the opportunity to choose to stay longer doing working experience. For this we can help you find jobs of different sorts such as bartender, catering, working in shops/hotels/offices/restaurants/guesthouses/tourist-companies etc, for a small period of time so you get to practice your Spanish and continue enjoying and learning the south American life, only this time from another point of view. We can also help you find internships in different areas. You can do more community service or work in one of the places you liked the best.

Highlights: * Week 1-2 - Mochima National Park, Merida and Choroni
- Introduction to Venezuela
- Spanish lessons
- Salsa and meringue
- Beach, sun and palm trees
- Sea Kayak
- Dolphins & corals
- Snorkeling
- Mountain biking
- Beach party & volley

* Week 3 - Los Llanos
- Spanish lessons
- Low land trekking
- Anacondas
- Crocs
- Birds
- Historical sights
- Horseback riding
- Cowboys

* Week 4-5 - Orinoco Delta
- Warao Indian culture
- Handicrafts
- Football with the locals
- Wild life
- Grand nature
- Jungle walks
- Kayak expeditions
- Fishing
- Hunting

* Week 6 - Mochima
- Spanish lessons
- Relaxation
- Music and dancing
- E-mails

* Week 7-8 - La Gran Sabana
- Spanish lessons
- Practical Spanish
- Team building
- Mountain bike safari
- Trekking
- Mountain climbing
- Waterfalls
- Geology and nature
- Flora and fauna
- BBQ beach parties
- Chichiriviche

* Week 9-16 : Work Experience
- Work Experience

Cost in US$: Inquire for more information.

Experience Required: no

This Program is open to Worldwide Participants.

Participants Travel to Venezuela Independently

Typically Participants Work in Groups

Year Founded: 1984