Autana: Eye of the Gods

Cerro Autana is a sandstone tepuy about 650km south of Caracas in the Amazon Territory of Venezuela. It is in the form of a quartz and red sandstone tower with near vertical walls of up to 900 metres with a lower tail stretching off to the south.

Known as Wahari-Kuawi by the Piaroa Indians, meaning ‘sacred tree of the fruits of the world’. It is about 100km south of Puerto Ayacucho, capital of the Amazon Territory of Venezuela, in an area of forested savannah bounded by the rivers Autana and Cuao, tributaries of the River Sipapo, which flows into the Orinoco upstream from the Maipures rapids.

First ascent

The North Ridge rises 2,000 ft in a series of three steps, which provided us with bivouac sites. The first ascent of the Autana was in 1974 by two English, Stephen Platt and David Nott, and two Venezuelans, Wilmer Perez la Riva and Carlos Reyes. It took us three days, and we bivouacked on the route. We abseiled down to the caves, where we spent a further three nights, exploring the galleries and traversing the mountain along the horizontal fault line at the cave’s height.

Getting there

We flew to Puerto Ayacucho and then drove 80km south, skirting the Atures Rapids, which divide the Upper and Lower Orinoco, to reach the river port of Samariapo. We spent a leisurely day in the curiara canoe and another humping bags to base camp. The Makiritare Indians cleared an opening in the forest and built a frame support for hammocks and tarpaulin in a little more time than it takes to put up a tent.

The Eye of the Gods

A cathedral-sized cave pierces the mountain from side to side, so that light shines through about 400 ft from the top. Like all good jungle mountains, this, too, has its Indian legend. At dusk, when the sun shines through the cave, the Piaroa Indians call it the ‘Eye of the Gods’.

Charles Brewer Carias, David Nott, and Robert Madden, a National Geographic photographer who had landed on the summit by helicopter, were the first to explore the caves in September 1971.

Published 29 May 2017, 34 pages, ISBN 9781912460014