Venezuela: The Treasures of El Dorado - Wildest Latin America - Go Wild

Venezuela. A mysterious land of unexplored mountains and impenetrable swamps. Home to strange creatures and isolated tribes. It's famed for its lost worlds. Each dramatically different and filled with its own unique species. But rather than being lost, each is linked by a mighty river. The Orinoco. The rumored route to El Dorado. The legendary city of gold. For centuries, Venezuela's treasures were protected by impassable rapids and fierce people. Even the location of the Orinoco's source remained a mystery. Only now are these wild secrets being revealed. When Christopher Columbus discovered the mouth of the Orinoco, he described it as the gateway to celestial paradise. It was so large, he realized the river drained not an island, but an entire continent. In terms of volume, it's the third largest river in the world. Flowing two and a half thousand kilometers, the Orinoco is also the third longest river in South America. It curls around the northeast corner like a gigantic fishhook, draining a million square kilometers of Venezuela, Colombia and Brazil. At the river's mouth, the Orinoco Delta stretches 450 kilometers along the coast of northeast Venezuela. Columbus dared not venture in, believing he needed God's permission to enter paradise. Over 500 years later, inhospitable conditions keep the modern world largely at bay, meaning Columbus's paradise is still a haven for wildlife. The Delta's forests are haunted by a ghostly hunter, the puma. Ranging from the Canadian Rockies to the Argentinian Pampas, it's gathered over 40 names, more than any other animal in the world. In Venezuela, it's called Leon, though it's more closely related to the domestic cat than to the African lion. The secret to its survival lies in its willingness to eat anything, from tiny insects to large mammals. But in the Delta, salty water means prey is sparse, and most stays well out of reach. With little food, the adaptable puma is rare here. The tidal forests are dominated by specialists, bizarre creatures that have gone to extraordinary lengths to make a living at this wild frontier between land and sea. The Hoatzin has taken to eating leaves. Raised on such low-energy food, the chicks grow slowly. Last year's brood helps out, acting as sentries. The mother has built her nest over water, out of the reach of pumas, but well within range of another forest hunter, a tree boa. Usually it's an ambush predator, but every now and then its patience wears thin. The Hoatzin lookouts soon spot it. Their scolding sends the snake in search of easier prey. Strange creatures keep tabs on what's going on. Four-eyed fish. They actually have two eyes, but each is split in half so it can focus above and below the surface. Like primitive mudskippers, they occasionally beach themselves in search of food. But the mudbank's most flamboyant residents stay well out of reach. Fiddler crabs. At low tide, the males put on their show. While some focus on attracting mates, others turn their attention to collecting food with their smaller, more manipulative claw. The mudbanks are only exposed for a few hours and microscopic food takes a lot of gathering. But food and flirting are forgotten when danger looms. Squadrons of scarlet ibis arrive to harvest the mudflats' bounty. Fiddler crabs make up two-thirds of their diet and give them their brilliant color. The ibis have just three hours until the tide rises and their prey disappears beneath the waves. More and more gather in prime feeding spots. As the tide advances, they retreat. Then, as one, the flock decides it's time to go. With the tide reaching its peak, there are few places for the ibis to gather. But come evening, and wave upon wave of whirling scarlet ribbons head for the delta's outer reaches. The adults are joined by dully colored young, yet to develop their parents' vivid plumage. Flocks from across the delta choose the same tall trees, as far as possible from predators. Scarlet ibis can only boast such bold colors because there's safety in such big numbers. The Warao are the only people to have made Venezuela's Orinoco Delta their permanent home. 9,000 years ago, they were hunted by cannibals and fled to the mangroves for safety. Known as the canoe people, they've chosen a precarious way of life. The Warao call the delta Wirinoco, the place to paddle. Their villages inspired explorers to name the country Little Venice, Venezuela. The stilted houses, palafitos, are designed to withstand the twice daily floods, and their open sides encourage a cooling breeze. It seems an idyllic existence, but someone's got to feed the family. Edilio set his net on the high tide. Now he's hoping great treasures have washed down on the current. His two boys, Ivan and Arjen, watches every move. Their lives depend on learning their father's skills. From a young age, Warao children are perfectly at home in this water world. They learn to swim before they can walk. A giant catfish, or laulau, they can reach colossal sizes, at least twice Edilio's weight. But this one will be more than enough for tonight's supper. The palafitos are sturdy, but they're not permanent. When timbers rot or food becomes scarce, the nomadic Warao seek out a new home. They never stray far upriver. They keep to the relative safety of their flooded fortress. But the early explorers saw the Wirinoco as a route to El Dorado, the fabled city of Indian gold. Sir Walter Raleigh was one of the first. In 1595, he and his crew made it through the delta and 800 kilometers upriver before a series of rapids halted their progress. These turbulent waters are full of oxygen, attracting vast shoals of fish. They in turn draw in scores of hungry predators with open mouths for breakfast to come their way. Egrets and herons slot in where they can. Opportunists ready to grab a snack, then a fearsome sight. Orinoco crocodiles, the largest predators in South America. They grow up to five meters long and powerful tails propel them at great speed. The narrow snout cuts easily through water. This is a specialist fish eater. But in the cool morning, cold blooded crocodiles take a while to get up to speed, leaving the go-getting cormorants to strike first. Defeated by the falls, Walter Raleigh went home with nothing but admiration for Venezuela's natural wonders. But his stories inspired others to follow. According to Charles Darwin, Baron Alexander von Humboldt was the greatest traveling scientist who ever lived. 200 years after Raleigh, he journeyed farther up the Orinoco than any naturalist before, mapping over 2,700 kilometers of this vast river system. The call of red howler monkeys terrified most explorers. But Humboldt noted that their eyes, voice and gait are indicative of melancholy. Howlers are gentle, shy creatures, and their raucous call serves only to keep other howlers at a comfortable distance. They lead a tranquil, if somewhat precarious, existence high in the treetops, where they have access to their favorite food, fresh leaves. They may be plentiful, but this strict diet is hardly invigorating. Even a close encounter with a two-toed sloth is not enough to spark the howler's interest. Another leaf eater, perhaps the sloth is the only animal in the jungle less excitable than the howler. Wedge-capped capuchins are rather more lively. Like the howlers, they use their tails for support and balance. But they travel the lower branches to find their favorite prey, insects. Today, ants are on the menu. Tiny treats, but lurking in decent numbers below the bark. It takes a fair bit of effort for the capuchins to fuel up, and lunch does occasionally bite back. But the energy-rich results are worth it. Capuchin society works to a strict pecking order, and in times of hardship, only the upper echelons get access to food. Living in groups of up to 30 strong, it pays to groom allies. Only when that's done can they afford to sleep off the morning's exertion. Uncharted wilderness and the lure of gold drew naturalists and explorers west along the Orinoco. What they found was a vast wetland the size of Italy, covering a third of modern-day Venezuela. Today, it's known as Los Llanos. The descendants of the Spanish invaders, known as llaneros, still live here, maintaining huge herds of cattle in this seasonal swamp. Despite hungry cattle, Los Llanos is one of South America's wildlife hotspots, home to more than a hundred species of mammal and around 700 species of bird. And it's the realm of the largest rodent on earth, the capybara, a large amphibious grazer, the South American equivalent of the hippopotamus. With broad feet and its eyes and nose on top of its head, it's perfectly adapted to life in a swamp. But where there are rodents, even giant ones, there are animals to eat them. Green anacondas, crocodiles and caiman abound, and these predators rarely go hungry. During the six-month rainy season, Los Llanos is bombarded by downpours. The water level rises by up to a meter. Huge tracts of land disappear. The rains affect every aspect of Los Llanos' animals' lives. For many, they signal a time to breed. Leafy nests, carefully constructed three months ago, are rotting away, leaving leathery eggs exposed at the surface. The nest builder keeps a close eye, but the mother caiman won't get involved unless she has to. After several hours of struggle, the eggs inhabitant tears free. In minutes, more and more siblings emerge. There could be 60 eggs in this one batch. The nest is well positioned, close to the high water line. Newborn caiman have many predators. Their survival instinct tells them to head straight for water. Even here, the tiny reptiles aren't safe. Danger lurks beneath the surface, too. Piranhas. Until they outgrow their predators, these caiman will always be in peril. Some don't make it this far. Crested caracaras normally scavenge carrion. But an unguarded nest is too tempting to resist. This eager caracara's in for a surprise. With its first breath, the hatchling caiman fights back. But it's no match for a bird 30 times its size. Predators will kill thousands of young caiman in the coming weeks, but thousands more will survive the onslaught. In capybara society, the strongest male gets the most mates. In Los Llanos, there are so many capybaras that there's always a contender for the crown. Each tips the scales at around 70 kilos. This is the heavyweight championship of the rodent world. Battle one. The victor sets out to find a mate. As the females come into season, they emit a distinctive perfume and gently whistle through their noses. The combination of sound and scent is irresistible. But the female is no pushover. She still wants proof that her suitor is the strongest. The romancing rodents serenade for hours. Only the advances of another male put Romeo off his stride. He finally wears down the female's resistance. She rolls over to show him her acceptance. But after all that, he's too exhausted to take up the offer. For an Orinoco crocodile, an adult capybara would make a decent meal. A youngster, a tasty snack. Just a few days old, these young ones have never seen anything like it before. But the massive croc seems more interested in catching rays than rodents. He needs to heat up before he even thinks about hunting. And besides, he's more fond of fish than fur. As well as being one of the largest crocodiles in the world, the Orinoco is also one of the rarest. In the mid-20th century, hundreds of thousands were killed for their skins. Today, there could be as few as 250 left in the wild. All live in the Orinoco river system. Most are found here in Los Llanos. The Orinoco crocodile is heavily outnumbered by its smaller relative, the spectacle caiman. Thanks to bonier scales, the caiman is far less attractive to hunters. Its knobbly skin makes poor leather. This is the perfect place for predators to reach monster proportions. Tropical temperatures, permanent water and a constant supply of food. The green anaconda can weigh over 200 kilos, making it the largest snake in the world. It uses sight and smell to sense its prey. A family of giant rodents makes a tempting target. The capybaras are quick to spot the danger. Instinctively, they retreat to water. But it's a decision fraught with risk. One of the babies splits from the group. It's a fatal mistake. The caiman is quick to dispatch the naive youngster. The capybara mother can only look on. With piranhas closing in, the caiman needs somewhere to devour its prize in peace. But nothing goes unnoticed around here. Black vultures soon spot the commotion. After the exertion of the hunt, the caiman is exhausted. But it must swallow its prey before the scavengers summon the courage to close in. With teeth designed to grab rather than slice, the caiman has its own technique for dismembering prey. The vultures miss their big chance. Just one manages to grab a morsel. The vast majority of vultures go hungry. But the meal could last the caiman for weeks. At dusk, the capybaras retreat to dry land. It should be safer away from the water. Los Llanos receives around a meter of rain every year. But most of its water flows in from the surrounding mountains. It starts as moist air, blown in on trade winds from the Atlantic Ocean. As it approaches Venezuela's southern border, it's forced up against the flat-topped mountains of the Guyana Shield. Cooling and condensing into rain clouds. These spectacular monuments are the remains of a mighty sandstone plateau. Over 1.8 billion years old, they're amongst the most ancient mountains in South America. There are more than a hundred of these foreboding peaks. Fewer than half have been explored. Locals call them tepuis, the houses of the gods. The highest, at just over 2,800 meters, is Mount Roraima. It inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to write The Lost World, in which he imagined its mysterious crown to be a refuge for dinosaurs, cut off from the world below. The sculpted rocks of its summit are inhabited not by dinosaurs, but by a relic from even further back in the mists of time. A tiny toad, no bigger than a thumbnail. Its relatives live in West Africa, separated when the continents drifted apart over 100 million years ago. This is a testing environment for any animal, but the tepui toad has had plenty of time to adapt. Its sparkling skin offers camouflage against the lichen-encrusted rock. Its blackness means it warms up quickly during rare bursts of sunshine. When too hot, the toad simply immerses itself in standing water. Its opposable toes help it to negotiate slippery rocks. But there's little for a toad to eat here. Just a few insects, carried up on the wind. And Roraima's hardy little survivor faces tough competition from an unusual direction. Plants. Over millions of years, most of Roraima's nutrients have leached away. On naked rock, even plants can barely scrape a living. But a few have found a way to flourish. They've become carnivores. The smell of rotting flesh attracts a fly to the cap of a pitcher plant. Confused by the absence of meat, it explores further. And ends up in the pitcher's trap. Downward pointing hairs prevent escape. Bacteria living in the well at the bottom will break down the hapless insect. Providing the pitcher plant with all the minerals it needs. Faced with the same problem, sundews have developed a different solution. They secrete a glistening nectar that's irresistible to wayward insects. It's also extremely sticky. The hungry mosquito is caught. And within minutes, it's well and truly stuck. Within days, the mosquito's vital fluids will be absorbed. The sundew will have its fix of nutrients. Enough to keep it going for months. On a starvation diet, the tepary toad takes life slowly. It neither hops nor swims. There's no point wasting energy rushing around. A third of Roraima's inhabitants are unique to this island in the clouds. Their evolution has been driven by its extreme conditions. The most important factor is rain. It rains nearly every day. Making Mount Roraima one of the wettest places on earth. Up to four meters fall every year. Four times the amount that falls on the plains below. Torrents of water rip away soil and carve into the rocks. Roraima is known as the mother of all waters. But each of the hundred or so tepuis experience the same spectacular weather. Nowhere is the result more magnificent than on Ayuntepui. Devil Mountain. Home to the highest waterfall in the world. The Angel Falls. They're almost a kilometer from top to bottom. The falls are named after an American pilot. Drawn here too by his desire for gold. Like the early explorers, Jimmy Angel failed to find it. Crashing his plane on Ayuntepui's summit in the process. Over 200 tributaries flow into the Orinoco. But there can only be one source. Believing that it harbored gold. Numerous explorers tried and failed to find it. It wasn't until 1951 that a Venezuelan army expedition traced it to the border with Brazil. In the Parima Mountains. 453 years after Columbus first spied its mouth. The Orinoco's source had been discovered. The Parima's foothills are covered in rainforest. And teem with wildlife. Jungle creatures divide the forest between them. At every level, a battle for survival. Some rely on camouflage. Others on poison. The best defended amphibians are the poison dart frogs. They advertise their toxicity with garish colors. The poison comes from their diet. A cocktail of beetles and ants. It's so strong that even touching a dart frog can kill a human. The yellow banded dart frog is one of nearly 300 frog species found in Venezuela. Many of which are found in the damp jungles. Shrouding the headwaters of the Orinoco. Early visitors to the region brought home stories of terrifying tribes. But not all of its rainforest people conform to this fearsome stereotype. A Piaroa shaman prepares a hallucinogenic snuff called Yopo. He's hoping to communicate with the gods of the forest. His mind and spirit soar. The Piaroa are amongst the most peaceful people on earth. They believe that any man who kills another will himself suffer a terrible death. So murder is unknown in their society. But they believe their gods are violent. And create the dangerous creatures that inhabit the jungle. In his trance, the shaman tries to get the gods on his side. If he does, they'll reveal the whereabouts of the richest hunting grounds. Next morning, armed with the shaman's vision, his son heads into the forest. He must traverse one of the Orinoco's tributaries to get to the prime hunting land. Petroglyphs, thousand-year-old rock carvings. Reveal that people hunted this area long before Columbus ever set foot in South America. The blowpipe has a range of 50 meters. The darts have cotton flights and tips dipped in frog poison. They're deadly accurate. A blue dove is quickly dispatched. Jungle animals are generally small. So the hunter harvests whatever he can. He's searching for a favorite. He knows just where to look. Disused rat holes. A giant tarantula. It can reach the size of a dinner plate. With fangs two centimeters long. It has the largest venom sacs of any spider in the world. And toxic hairs that float off the body. Endangering anyone who inhales them. But the Piaroa are experienced spider catchers. Back in the village, the shaman's son quickly makes a fire. Then burns off the tarantula's toxic hairs. Roasting it takes minutes. The joints whistle when it's ready. The tarantula is surprisingly meaty. And tastes like barbecue prawn. Just watch out for the fangs. Over thousands of years, the Piaroa have developed a peaceful, simple way of life. But the shaman sees turbulent times ahead. El Dorado has finally been found. Not the fabled city. But a rich seam of gold beneath Venezuela's jungles. Perhaps 10% of the world's natural reserves. A gold rush is devastating forests flanking the Parima mountains. With miners bringing lethal disease to their tribal inhabitants. Mercury used in the extraction process is flushed into the rivers. Entering the Orinoco's food chain. Eventually, it will reach the delta. For 9,000 years, a sanctuary for the Warao. For generations, they've thrived on gifts delivered by the Orinoco. But now, their fish could be contaminated. Mercury poisoning can cause nervous disorders, birth defects and death. In some areas, the government has warned people to stop eating fish. But the Warao have little choice. It remains to be seen how they will deal with this new unseen threat. Explorers came to Venezuela looking for gold. Instead, they discovered one of the most diverse countries on Earth. Many of its inhabitants rely on the mighty river that runs through the country's heart. The first river in South America to be discovered. And the last to disclose its source. The Orinoco's future is uncertain. But it still bonds some of Latin America's most spectacular natural wonders. The real treasures of El Dorado. you