To Venezuela and Guyana
Boa Vista has road connections with the Venezuelan frontier at
Santa Elena de Uairén
, 237 km away. The road is paved, but the only petrol available is 110 km south of Santa Elena. Boa Vista is also linked to Bonfim for the Guyanese border at
Lethem
. Both roads are open all year.
Santa Elena de Uairén is the gateway to the Venezuelan Highlands for those entering the country from Brazil. It is a pleasant frontier town, 10-12 hours by bus from Ciudad Bolívar, which is nine hours from Caracas. The road is paved all the way and there are also flights. The landscape is beautiful, an ancient land of flat- topped mountains and waterfalls. The road skirts the
Parque Nacional Canaima
, which boasts the highest waterfall in the world, the
Angel Falls
(Salto Angel). Not far north of Santa Elena is the route to Mount Roraima.
Santa Elena has plenty of hotels and places to eat, as well as money-changing facilities, a phone office with international connections, and tour companies for trips into the Gran Sabana - as the region is known.
Lethem (Guyana)A small but scattered town on the Brazilian border , this is the service centre for the Rupununi and for trade with Brazil. There are many small stores, a small hospital, a police station and government offices. A big event at Easter is the rodeo, visited by cowboys from all over the Rupununi. Prices are about twice as high as in Georgetown. About 2½ km south of town at St Ignatius there is a Jesuit mission dating from 1911. In the nearby mountains there is good birdwatching and there are waterfalls to visit.
There is another border crossing at
Laramonta
from where it is a hard but rewarding walk to the Guyanese town of Orinduik.
|
This is edited copy from Footprint Handbooks. For comprehensive details (incl address, tel no, directions, opening times and prices) please refer to book or individual chapter PDF
Products in this Region No related products |
PDF Downloads No PDFs currently available |
Digital Products  Available NOW!Read more... |