Access to the Sector Occidental is by air into villages like Canaima. However, the Sector Oriental (eastern sector) has road access via the Troncal 10. The new El Dorado-Luepa road to Santa Elena de Uairen connects the east of the park with the Brazilian frontier and a branch of it reaches the small village of Kanavayen, which is close to the spectacular Aponwao Falls.
For a trip to the Falls, it is possible to charter a plane to Canaima from Caracas, Margarita Island, or Ciudad Bolivar airports, and then organize a tour of the falls on your own. In practice, the simplest thing to do is sign up for a tour that takes care of the details. If you book a tour from your home country, it will be more expensive and even booking a tour from Caracas will cost more. It is cheapest to book a tour from the airport in Ciudad Bolivar. Nearly all the Angel Falls tours operate out of this city, and their prices include the cost of a plane that flies from Ciudad Bolivar to Canaima. Expect to pay between Bs. 500,000 and 600,000 (approximately US$ 250) for a three-day, two-night tour that brings you to the falls. Most tours booked on your own from Ciudad Bolivar airport will include a fly-by of the falls on the way to Canaima camp.
It is known as ''Parekupa-meru'' by the local Pemon indians but gained the Angel name after US pilot Jimmy Angel crash-landed on the Auyan Tepuy while searching the area for gold in 1937. Instead, he found the spectacular waterfall. After 11 days' trekking he reached Kamarata and made his find public. His plane was later recovered and can be seen in front of the airport at Ciudad Bolivar.
The falls are located about 5 hours' ride in a dugout canoe upstream from Canaima village. Most of the Park's attractions can only be visited with a guided tour from Canaima. These can be booked from outside Venezuela, from Caracas, or from Ciudad Bolivar but prices are much more competitive in Ciudad Bolivar. Most tours that take you to the foot of the falls are two nights (one in Canaima, one at the falls) and three days, and combine all of the three elements below (and also include food and transport). Alternatively you can hire shorter tours just to go up to Angel Falls and back again. A typical tour will include the flight to Canaima, and then three days of meals and (very basic) accommodation at the various campsites along the river towards the falls. The trip involves several hours in a dugout canoe and a few hours hiking through gallery forest to the main viewpoint below the falls. Most tour guides speak spanish with limited English.
The trip towards the fall itself has many attractions. The boat rides and walks through the jungle offer a unique view of Venezuelan flora, fauna, and terrain. If the water flow is mild enough, you can swim in the small pool that forms below the falls.
Apart from trips to Angel Falls, the Canaima National Park offers some challenging trekking, including trips to the 700 square-km plateau of Auyan-tepui, which can be arranged in Ciudad Bolivar. The trek to the top from the tiny village of Uruyen takes three days on rough tracks, and the final climb up a cleft in the massive rock wall is a tough scramble, but the rewards are immense - the landscape is surreal, with clumps of insect-eating pitcher plants clinging to the bare rock, and unlike Mount Roraima, you'll barely meet another soul. Trips typically spend a couple of days on the top, and take 2 days to return to either Uruyen or Kavac. The weather can be wet, and chilly on the tepui - bring a warm fleece and some waterproofs!
The tourist village of Kavac has a bar, a small shop selling crafts, and traditional huts with comfortable beds or hammocks. Stay for a morning before your flight out and someone will offer to show you to the "caves", really a narrow canyon leading to a waterfall and a refreshing plunge pool.