I have seen this perspective in every picture of this place. however I have never seen a single picture or description of what’s actually up there. I guess I need to go proactively find out… to Wikipedia!
I’m back!
Due to the late exploration of this part of South America and the discovery of new species every year, the flora and fauna here are largely unknown.[9] The currently identified species are strongly endemic, especially the fauna, which also puts them at a high risk of extinction.[12]The vegetation on the plateau is still largely unknown and consists mainly of bare rocks, forests of trees and epiphytes, and wet and dry savannas in the form of swamps.[9] It is marked by numerous endemic species, especially carnivorous plants that capture insects, living in sandstone and leaching soils which lack the nitrates necessary for their development.[21][14][12] There are fewer species in the vicinity of streams and ravines, and the trees are 8–15 m (26–49 ft) tall and have hard leaves that can adapt to harsh environmental conditions.[9] The exposed rocks are occupied by lichens, algae and cyanobacteria.[16]
Thank you! I thought I was going to have to look it up myself.
Was not expecting a swamp up there lol. That caught me off guard.
Forests: okay. bare rocks: expected. A swamp? Was not picturing that lol
How do the scientists get to the top of this mountain?
Mount Roraima and Mount Aoyan are the only flat-topped mountains in the Canaima National Park that can be climbed by hikers, with a monthly quota of 200 people.[9][16] Its ascent takes three to five days in total,[7][14] the summit route is on a natural slope on the southwestern cliffs of Mount Roraima,[13][15][21] it does not require any special equipment or training, so it is chosen by almost all hikers,[15][21] the only difficulty is that some streams and small waterfalls may become difficult to pass under heavy rain.[14][21]
Thanks for the answer. Sounds interesting.
I would guess a helicopter, but I’m sure you could climb it.
i am not a scientist, but would love to climb it. there is an establishment treck to the top. but those cliff sides just look like an amazing expedition. maybe one day, with more training on big walls and quite some money…
I feel like a guy named “steve” was there
To be clear, the rocks that the mountain is made of are reasonably old (oldest on Earth is closer to 4.0 billion years, but anything >500 million is fairly rare), but the landform of a mountain is a combination of uplift and erosion, which is fairly young. The only source for the age of erosion I could find (didn’t search hard) mentioned the glaciation of the Pleistocene, which seems reasonable.
Every few years I am reminded that it exists, and become briefly obsessed. I want to write an entire fictional setting based on Roraima’s geological and ecological oddity
Pixar beat you to it
Though I guess the waterfall is based on Angel Falls in Venezuela
I was going to go more conceptual with it, the idea of a physically inaccessible place as an otherworld, probably have it be a place supernatural creatures visit and do like an Enemy Mine thing
I’d read it.
Was this the place where that young adult apocalypse book was based on? I think it was called the giver or something.
Never heard of it, but I can’t find anything that connects it to Roraima.
That image is from the movie. I don’t recall there ever being much mention of the location or geography in the book.
True, just made me think of it.
Forbidden overcooked steak
Throw some A1 on that and it’s still good.
Or heinz 57!
The Venezuelan tepuis are one of the most fascinating places on earth! I discovered them from a National Geographic story when I was a kid. The world’s tallest waterfall tumbles off one of these mesas. It’s too bad my country (US) has ruined any chance for me to ever safely visit them in person.
Angel Falls?
It looks like somebody just dropped a paving stone in dry ice.
If you look real close at the left side of the plateau you can see an old man, a kid and a dog.
Is this a reference I’m too ignorant to get?
The movie Up
Goddammit I should’ve gotten that. Thanks!
No reference. OP must have really good eyes or gotten really lucky zooming. The guy appears to have recently lost his wife.
You’re Up to no good with the chicanery.
There are dinosaurs up there.
Pretty neat account of a hike up that sucker https://theseoultimes.com/ST/?url=%2FST%2Fdb%2Fread.php%3Fidx%3D830&ckattempt=1
This is the kind of location I look for when building a house in Minecraft.
The Great Plateau
I was coming to post this in case someone else hadn’t. It’s spot on.
I had no idea about any of this, now I’m fascinated!
That waterfall on the far left - was this the inspiration for Up?
The waterfall from the movie is Angel Falls, the world’s tallest waterfall.
Thank you for finding this!
Short answer, maybe.
They travel to a tepui in Venezuela but I’d argue it looks more like Auyán-tepui than Mount Roraima
