Venezuela featuring Ian Wright

Ian Wright travels to Venezuela, the country where Columbus first set foot on South American soil. Venezuelans have been voted the worlds happiest people and who could blame them for being chipper, living as they do in a country that has mountains, rain forests and savannas, and where petrol is cheaper than water.

Ian starts his journey in the Andes. Home to the country's five highest peaks which soar to heights exceeding 15,000 feet, the state of Meridas is known as the roof of Venezuela. Ian takes a cable car to the top of a mountain its the unashamedly easy option, but he finds an even faster way down again, paragliding! He then sets out to explore Meridas. Its a university town, and the lively student nightlife also attracts the backpackers.

From Meridas Ian heads south by bus to Hato Pinero, a vast 500 square mile ranch situated in the flat grasslands that cover almost a third of the country. This is Venezuelas answer to the Wild West, and its inhabited by the Yanieros, some of the toughest cowboys on the planet. He is not disappointed crocodiles and piranhas are just some of the creatures that call Hato Pinero home. But its not until the following day that he teams up with a local biologist and goes in search of the most fearsome inhabitant of all: the anaconda.

From Hato Pinero Ian heads to Caracas, the capital of Venezuela where a quarter of the country's population lives. He stops off en route in the small town of Chivacoa, the center of a religious cult sacred to Maria Lionsa, the nature goddess.

Caracas is nestled between two beautiful mountain ranges. After oil was discovered in Venezuela in the 1920s the capital city became a boom town and a thriving metropolis. Ian is lucky enough to hook up with the reigning Miss Venezuela, who shows him around town. Venezuela has won more Miss World competitions than any other country, and its probably because they start them so young. Ian visits a beauty school which teaches girls to be beauty queens from the ago of eight, and picks some modeling tips for himself.

Not far from Caracas is Los Roques, an archipelago of 300 sun kissed islands, coral reefs and sand bars of the North coast. It was designated a national park in 1972 flights here have been restricted, which means it never gets too crowded.

From Los Roques Ian flies south to the rain forest region of Gran Sabana. The area is also known as the Lost World because of its strange pre-historic landscapes, where some people even claim to have seen dinosaurs. He embarks on a 3 day boat trip down river from Kamorata, through the rapids of Devils Canyon. For the final part of his trip he has to trek through the rain forest to reach Angel Falls, the world tallest waterfall. Sixteen times higher than Niagara Falls, three times the height of the Empire state building, measuring over 1,000 meters in length, it was named after an American pilot called Jimmy Angels, who was looking for gold in the area and got his plane stuck on the top of the mountain. He became part of local legend, and his ethereal sounding name became forever linked with this magical place at the end of Ians journey route through Venezuela.

Category:

• Travel

Starring:

• Ian Wright
• Justine Shapiro
• Megan McCormick
• Zay Harding
• Adela Ucar
• Estelle Bingham

Produced by:

• Pilot Productions

Tags:

• Globe Trekker
• Venezuela
• Ian Wright
• globetrekker
• Andes
• Meridas
• Hato Pinero
• Anaconda
• Caracas
• Chivacoa
• Maria Lionsa
• Venezuela beauty contest
• Miss Venezuela
• Los Roques
• Gran Sabana
• Kamorata
• Devil's Canyon
• Devil's Canyon rafting
• Angel Falls

[voodoochills]

beautiful countrysides

[Akab6]

haha ian you cheeky monkey

[bolivar2007]

nice video,thanks