Helicopter to Auyan Tepui and Angel Falls
Venezuela
Auyán Tepui is one of the largest and most spectacular of all of the tepui mountains, known as South America’s “lost worlds”. This gigantic tableland is encircled on all sides by vertical cliffs up to 1,000 m tall.
Angel Falls, the tallest waterfall on Earth flows over it’s cliffsides, and the summit of Auyán Tepui is home to a unique world of endemic wildlife, including plants and animals found no where else on Earth.
The Redfern team has organised expeditions to Auyán Tepui and Angel Falls for over twenty years. We have perfected this itinerary to offer you the chance to helicopter from Canaima village to the top of Angel Falls (on the summit of Auyan Tepui), trek across the summit of mighty plateau, then descend the mountain to Kavak (a remote Amerindian village), and the canoe back to Canaima stopping at the base of Angel Falls on the way to admire the world’s tallest cascade up close and personal.
This expedition is the ultimate Auyán Tepui and Angel Falls adventure!
Stepping onto the summit is like landing on another planet. You’ll discover a weird, unearthly landscape of black stone (very different to Mount Roraima), carnivorous plants, orchids, bromeliads, amazing ferns, golden tanin-infused rivers, as well as amphibians, insects and birds.
Auyán Tepui is heaven for carnivorous plant enthusists. We will see trees clothed with the carnivorous bromeliad Catopsis berteroniana as well as literally countless Brocchinia reducta. You’ll see the beautiful pitcher plant Heliamphora minor var minor, and the Redfern Team will take you to little known locations on Auyán Tepui to see the recently described Heliamphora minor var pilosa (differentiated by its amazing, hairy leaves). We’ll seem many species of sundews including Drosera roraimae, D. communis, D. felix and others. Lastly, we’ll see more than a dozen species of bladderworts (Utricularia) and corkscrew plants (Genlisea). The mountain is also home to a really wide range of orchids and airplants (Tillandsia).
Key Facts
COST: £3,650 (British Pounds). Personal porters can be hired at extra costs (contact us for details).
START POINT: Caracas, Venezuela
END POINT: Caracas, Venezuela
GROUP SIZE: Up to 10 (on double/twin room basis – single room supplement available).
DATES: Wednesday May 6th to Thursday May 21st, 2026.
BESPOKE TOUR: If you do not wish to join a group tour, we can customise a private trip to suit your dates and interests. Please email us for details.
Note: This trip is carefully designed around commercial flights from Caracas to Canaima (which are weekly and run on Thursdays). We can only run this trip in the month of May. This is because December-April are dry (little water in Angel Falls and the rivers), and June onwards is wet (too much rain on Auyan Tepui). But the month of May if perfect as there is sufficient water for Angel Falls to look spectacular, enough water in the rivers to return by canoe, but not too much rain (hopefully) when trekking across Auyan Tepui.
Add on: As an optional extra, we can also organise charter flights in light aircraft for aerial photographic flyover trips above Angel Falls.
INCLUDED:
All accommodation and food.
All ground transportation and return commercial flights within Venezuela.
Professional tour leader.
NOT INCLUDED:
Tips (optional).
TO ENTER VENEZUELA, YOU MUST HAVE:
Travel Insurance (bring documents).
Visa and vaccinations (bring certificate).
Itinerary
Day 1:
Arrive in Caracas (this trip must start on a Wednesday due to flights – see below). The Redfern Team will meet you at Caracas airport arrivals and escort you to a hotel close to the airport by private chauffeur car and driver. While Caracas is not the nicest of cities, we stay at a hotel right at the airport which is perfectly safe. We have dinner inside the hotel.
Day 2:
After breakfast, we catch return by private chauffeur vehicle from our hotel to Caracas airport to catch commercial flights to Canaima (these run on Thursdays). We land in Canaima and have today to explore the spectacular waterfalls close to Canaima, including Sapo Falls (an enormous curtain waterfall – you can walk behind the cascade!). Dinner in a local restaurant. Accommodation in a local posada hotel.
Day 3:
We helicopter from Canaima to the summit of Auyán Tepui to the point above Angel Falls. Weather permitting, we will fly over the falls for scenic photographs before landing on the plateau. Note – we have 2 days buffer planned over the course of this expedition in case weather is bad and we are delayed in Canaima (if the helicopter cannot fly). Once dropped off on Auyán Tepui, we explore the area above Angel Falls and take photographs. Campside dinner and overnight in tents.
Note: a team of guides and porters trek up Auyán Tepui in advance of our arrival and will meet us at Angel Falls.
Days 4 & 5:
We trek across the summit of Auyán Tepui to El Dragon campsite. During these days, we visit the best populations of Heliamphora minor var. minor and Heliamphora minor var. pilosa, as well as many orchids! We explore the dramatic, barren landscape of blackened stone, and bizarre plants and animals Campside dinner and overnight in tents.
Day 6:
We trek across Auyán Tepui along spectacular black water rivers and through unique gallery forests. We reach “El Oso” campsite (so-called because of a rock that resembles a bear). We pass bizarre landscapes of stone. Gigantic Brocchinia fields, several beautiful view points, valleys rich with stunted Bonnetia trees, and many carnivorous plants and orchids. We look out for the elusive South American coati (Nasua nasua). Campside dinner and overnight in tents.
Days 7 & 8:
We trek to the south of Auyán Tepui, exploring the most spectacular labyrinths and view points. We camp at a dramatic rocky outcrop called “El Libertador” with incredible views over the lowlands. Campside dinner and overnight in tents.
Day 9:
We descend from the plateau summit and trek through misty, lush cloudforest, to a gigantic crack in the cliffsides which forms our staircase down from the summit. We climb through layers of mossy vegetation, through Bonnetia forest and groves of giant bromeliads and treeferns. The views across the surrounding lowlands are spectacular. Below the ledge, we see flowering Utricularia and Genlisea (including usually U. humboldtii). The climb down the ledge takes 4–5 hours. No technical skills needed – but it is steep. A good level of fitness and high stamina is needed. Campside dinner and overnight in tents.
Day 10:
We descend through the lowlands across savannah and pockets of lowland rainforest to Guayaraca Camp (located close to a river). There are beautiful woodlands rich with bromeliads (including the carnivorous bromeliads Catopsis berteroniana and Brocchinia reducta). Campside dinner and overnight in tents.
Day 11:
We trek from Guayaraca Camp to Kavak (a Pemon Amerindian village). We enjoy a well deserved hot meal and cold drinks in Kavak! There is wifi and electricity – a taste of normality! Overnight in hammocks in cabana houses in Kavak. Dinner in Kavak restaurant. Optional extra: visit the spectacular Caves of Kavak!
Days 12, 13 & 14:
We have a very special canoe trip and journey by canoe along the rivers with Pemon Amerindian guides around Auyán Tepui (the scenery is absolutely spectacular), all the way to the base of Angel Falls. We camp for 2 nights close to the base of the falls, and have a full day to hike through the rainforest for 1 km to the base of Angel Falls to photograph the gigantic cascade and to bathe in the cascading waters of the falls. We have lunch at a scenic look out point, and then return to Angel Falls camp. The views are unbelievable. Campside dinner and overnight in tents.
Day 15:
We return to Canaima village and can visit the nearby waterfalls again (see Day 2). Today also serves as a buffer day in case of delay earlier in the trip. Dinner in a local restaurant. Accommodation in a local posada hotel. Optional extra: scenic cessna photographic flights from Canaima over Angel Falls and Auyán Tepui
Day 16:
We catch a commercial flight from Canaima to Caracas (note: these only run on Thursdays). We land in Caracas in the morning, ready for departing evening flights.
Itinerary Highlights
