A stately table mountain towering into churning clouds, Roraima (2810m) is Venezuela at its natural and rugged best. Unexplored until 1884, and studied extensively by botanists ever since, the stark landscape contains strange rock formations and graceful arches, ribbon waterfalls, glittering quartz deposits and carnivorous plants. Mount Roraima was also the setting for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 1912 novel, The Lost World, concerning an expedition to a plateau in the Amazon basin of South America where prehistoric animals still survived.

We took part in a 6-day trek that took us to its summit where we were able to experience the strange, eerie landscape of the plateau . We didn't spot any dinosaurs though. A thick layer of cloud seemed to permanently envelope the mountain but when the mist occasionally parted we were treated to some tremendous views across the endless green and undulating Gran Sabana.

It took us 2 days to reach the base camp involving several river crossings before we made a very wet ascent on the third day. The heavy rainfall caused incredible amounts of water to fall down the rockface, making the climb hard work. By the time we reached the summit we were soaked but a rum and hot chocolate warmed us up. We pitched our tents in one of the 'hoteles' - semi-sheltered camping spots under rock overhangs, home for the next two nights. We had plenty of time to appreciate the scenery, a landscape sculpted by the wind and rain with gorges, creeks and gardens filled with unique flowering plants.

Onward journey to Leticia, Colombia via Boa Vista, Manaus and Tabatinga, Brazil.