One of the best experiences in my life happened when I went on a trip to this amazing place called 'La Sierra de Perija', a national park in Venezuela, that forms the northern part of “La cordillera de los Andes” mountain range in South America.
This trip was supposed to be like an educational plus a learning experience for me since we were going there to learn about the lives of the natives living over there and about how they survive in the wild. It was a trip that I took with my school friends. Our journey began at noon in Maracaibo city with our destination being La Sierra. We arrived there when it was almost dusk which made us fortunate enough to have witnessed one of the most beautiful view of the mountains.
After reaching La Sierra, we had to make another journey towards the national park in a monstrous truck where 20 of us had to fit in a 200x200 square cm. So this trip began with the marvelous sights of the mountains at the dusk and slowly descended into the calming yet mysterious night full of stars with the fireflies giving us company all along the way. During all this, all of us started recollecting all the strange stories we had heard about this place. I could sense the nervous energy all around as we were approaching the place. The closer we were getting to the place, the more anxious we were feeling about seeing the place where we were going to stay.
By the time we reached our camp, it was almost midnight. I felt a huge change in the atmosphere. So the next day we started our classes about learning how to survive in the wild but while doing so, I also noticed subtle differences that make every place so special and unique. I was surprised as well as amazed at how these people managed to have their own beliefs and own world out here despite being just 2 hours away from the nearest city. But even after being so close to civilization, I actually felt being very far from it, in an isolated and completely different world over here.
It felt like this place had and identity of its own, but at the same time it was like a mixture of Colombian and Venezuelan cultures. The atmosphere, the food, the people, being far away from civilisation and being in a completely new different world just grew on me and I began to fall in love with this place. During my stay, I noticed how important it is for the natives to treat each and every living creature in the forest equally. They even treated a flower the same way they would treat human beings. It was like each thing and each action really meant something over there.
So far this trip is one of the most unforgettable experiences of my life and I would definitely be going there again.
