Canaima National Park

From vast stretches of field and jungle, tepui, the main attraction of Canaima National Park, jets out toward the sky. These sandstone mesas, revered by the indigenous Pemon people as the homes of protector spirits, formed early in Earth’s history, when the planet’s first life forms, single-celled microorganisms, were still just evolving. As the tepui stood over millions of millennia, the elements formed their flat, table-top summits, vertical cliffs and rich, isolated habitats. Species endemic to tepuis today include the endangered tiny pebble toad, which roll like rocks to evade predators, the Roraiman nightjar and Roraima mouse. The park’s most famous tepui, Auyán-tepui, features Angel Falls, the highest uninterrupted waterfall in the world, soaring 3,212 feet and plunging 2,648 feet. The wonder of Canaima’s tepuis have inspired sci-fi classics such as Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1912 novel The Lost World and modern adventures like Disney-Pixar’s 2009 film Up.

—Prepared by the World Tribune staff

July 19, 2024, World Tribune, p. 12