Spontaneous road trip to the Gran Sabana

Slippery when wet. That’s an understatement when you’re going through the waterfalls, rivers and trails of the Gran Sabana.
I learned that mostly by chance; when a cousin told me her son didn’t want to go on a family trip to, in my opinion, one of the most amazing places of the world. In December of 2005, I traveled over 1200 km (around 745 miles) were between my home city and the spectacular sight of the “Tepuys” and the greatness of nature in Venezuela.
Two flights and a 4 wheel traction Pickup truck were necessary to get on our way from Puerto Ordaz to Santa Elena de Uairen and back. Being at the Gran Sabana is like being in Paradise. That’s why there’s a place call perfectly “Puerta del cielo” (Door to heaven). And for me, it was also Paradise with a tiny part of hell. Why? You may wonder. Well, when you’re that “spontaneous” and have only days to prepare your forget a few things. For me, it was proper shoes.
I did some research and like Venezuelan, going to this part of the country was a dream come true, mission impossible for most, but still very well-known and attractive; I wanted to go to “Quebrada Jaspe”. When I finally got there, surprised that was just a short distance from the highway, I felt amazed. The colors paint and amazing scenery, with the red and yellow stone called “Jaspe” under my feet, cover just by a few inches of water, reflecting the sun light that filtered through the opening of the amazon trees.
All was wonderful and great, until you have to balance yourself at the border of the river over mug and slippery rocks. You either wear something on your feet or you’ll fall in your behind. I know.
I stumbled along and though “What was the trick?” while I was trying to keep my balance. “Wear socks”, my cousin responded to my unspoken question. I rolled my eyes in disbelief, but after one other fall (yes, I fell) I gave up and when to find my –pink- socks. Don’t I look silly in these socks? I laugh while I walked perfectly to the marvelous waterfall.
Apparently, everyone knew about this technique; excuse me, sophisticated technique because my cousin and her husband were packed with lots of socks and as the morning advanced that day more people arrived and they too were aware of this crazy but amazing tactic anti-slippery.
Enough said I wore my socks in every waterfall and river we visited, of course in perfect combination with my bathing suits. If you’re not falling, you enjoy more your surroundings. That’s a travel and life tip.