Showing posts with label Guyana. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Guyana. Show all posts

Tuesday 28 March 2017

Mount Roraima, Oldest Geological Formations on Earth


Mount Roraima is also known as Tepuy Roraima and Cerro Roraima; is the highest of the Pakaraima chain of tepui plateaus in South America. A mystic, flat-topped mountain on the Venezuela-Brazil border that mystified 19th-century explorers and inspired “The Lost World” novel is enticing ever more modern-day adventurers. In 1595, English explorer Sir Walter Raleigh first described during his expedition. Once impenetrable to all but the Pemon indigenous people, thousands of hikers a year now make the trek across savannah, through rivers, under a waterfall and along a narrow path scaling the cliffs of Mount Roraima. Its 31 km2 summit area is bounded on all sides by cliffs rising 400 metres. The mountain also serves as the triple border point of Venezuela (85% of its territory), Guyana (10%) and Brazil (5%). The throngs are a boon to Venezuela's tottering tourism industry; they also scatter a prehistoric landscape with unwanted litter and strain a delicate ecosystem. Mount Roraima lies on the Guiana Shield in the southeastern corner of Venezuela's forming the highest peak of Guyana's Highland Range. Mount Roraima Top Park is considered some of the oldest geological formations on Earth, as much as two billion years ago in the Precambrian. It's an exotic, faraway destination so it's both very costly and very attractive, have the peaceful aura appropriate to one of the Earth's most ancient formations.

Although the steep sides of the plateau make it difficult to access, it was the first recorded major tepui to be climbed: Sir Everard im Thurn walked up a forested ramp in December 1884 to scale the plateau. This is the same route hikers take nowadays. The only non-technical route to the top is the Paraitepui route from Venezuela; any other approach will involve climbing gear. The highest point in Guyana and the highest point of the Brazilian state of Roraima lie on the plateau, but Venezuela and Brazil have higher mountains elsewhere. Mount Roraima, a natural border between three South American countries, offer such breathtaking views that they might just stick with you forever and ever down in some rusty memory box. This spot is about unconventional traveling ideas, a place where people can find unworldly landscapes and a new way of seeing things. And this is definitely one of them. Moreover, almost daily rains have also created an exclusive ecosystem which includes a number of endemic species, black frogs, dragonflies, tarantulas and such as a unique carnivorous pitcher plant, clinging to cracks and crevasses and some of the highest waterfalls in the world.

Mount Roraima was considered a symbol of these regions, an “axis mundi”, a massive tree within which all the vegetables and fruits of the world grow, tall cliff a place of mystery, myths for indigenous people used to live here from many centuries. Though, hiking is not hard here, can seek help from local peoples against some money. Mount Roraima is said to have some of the most captivating hiking trails in the world. This remote landscape of jungle and cliffs has inspired the dinosaur infested landscapes of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel The Lost World, and the dramatic waterfalls dubbed “Paradise Falls” in the 2009 Pixar film Up. As the time progresses, Mount Roraima is getting popular among tourist, an average 3,000 and 4,000 people are climbing each year, up from hundreds a few years ago. That makes queues during peak times, and sometimes leaves the few sheltered coves at the top crammed with tents. On Mount Roraima's vast plateau strange & gnarled rocks formed when the African and American continents scraped apart, play with the mind, humorous in the sun, ghostly in the mist.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 


Sunday 22 June 2014

The Greatest “Amazon River” is Home to Several Extremes




Amazon River is the greatest river of South America and the largest drainage system in the world in terms of the volume of its flow and the area of its basin. Amazon River is at approximately 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers) equivalent of the distance from New York City to Rome. Amazon River is the 2nd longest river in the world, just slightly shorter than the River Nile, but the largest river by volume. The length of the Amazon and the Nile Rivers has been in a tight battle for title of world's longest river. The precise length of the two rivers differs over time and reputable sources disagree as to their actual length.

The Amazon River has more than 3,000 recognized species of fish and more new species are still being discovered. The Amazon Basin is covered by half of the planet’s remaining rainforests. Therefore a tenth of the world’s projected 10 million living species live in the Amazon rainforest, jungle tours are more about the boating upriver into the damp, buzzing, oppressive ambience than actually spotting animals. Amazon River westernmost source is high in the Andes Mountains, within 160 kilometers of the Pacific Ocean, and its mouth is in the Atlantic Ocean, on the northeastern coast of Brazil.

As most of know, that Amazon River is located in South America.  And it runs through Guyana, Ecuador, Venezuela, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia and Peru. During the rainy season, the Amazon River can stretch to over 190 kilometers (120 miles) in width. There’re no bridges that cross the Amazon, because there is no need of bridges as the majority of the Amazon River runs through rainforests rather than roads or cities. The largest city along the Amazon River is Manaus. Located in Brazil it is home to over 1.7 million people. The one of world’s largest snake Anacondas lurk in the shallow waters of the Amazon Basin, they’re occasionally attack larger animals such as goats that get to close the water. The Amazon River is also home to the piranha, a meat eating type of fish! Being carnivores, piranhas are famous to attack in groups, preying on livestock that strays into the water and possibly appearing in one or two of your own nightmares!

The Amazon River is not only the greatest in the world but it is also home to several other "Extremes" A captured Arapaima: one of the largest freshwater fish species in the world of the natural world. Rapaima is locally famous as Pirarucu Arapaima gigas are one of largest, fresh water fish in the world. They’ve been found to reach a length of 15 ft/4m and can weigh up to 440lbs/200kg. Catfish normally found in warm & slow moving waters of lakes and streams are pretty creepy looking fish with big flat heads and "whiskers" on either side of their heads. Most catfish are anywhere from 8” in long to about 5 feet and weighing in at up to 60 pounds. But the catfish that lives in this part of world is as big as nature will allow they’ve been captured weighing over 200 pounds! One of the largest freshwater fish in the world is found living in the waters of the Amazon River.

Cool Factoid: Did you know that bull sharks have been found in the Amazon River? Researchers have captured live bull sharks as far as 2,300 miles inland from the sea thriving in freshwater in the foothills of the Peruvian Andes. Amazon River drainage basin is the whole northern half of the continent of South America as a shallow dish or saucer. Whenever rain falls and lands anywhere in the river basin it all runs into the lowest place in the pan, which happens to be the Amazon River. The sheer volume of rain in the Amazon jungle and the slope of the surrounding land, combine to create the enormous river famous as the Amazon.

 Here's list of some species which can easily found at Amazon River. 
Violet-Fronted Brilliant
Tupi ‘red bird,’ also known as the scarlet ibis
Toucan
Tillandsia cyanea
The water lily (Victoria regia
Tapir
Striated Heron
Squirrel Monkey
Red-Bellied Piranhas
Piranha
Pink River Dolphins
Payara (Vampire Fish)
Palm Tanager in the Amazon
Masked Crimson Tanager
Pacu
Lily of the Amazon
Laguna
Godzilla.
Ginger Torch
Emerald Boa
Giant Otter
Electric Eels
Capped Heron
Alligators
Amazon Flower
Amazon Lily
Anaconda
Black Caiman
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Bull Sharks
Candiru
Capped Heron