Scratching the Devil's Forehead

Hugging the edge of Auyantepui Mountain. Shot from a small bush plane over southeastern Venezuela near the Brazil and Guyana borders. February,1993

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Auyantepui Mountain (Auyan-Tepui), which in the language of the native Pemon people means "Devil's Mountain." Auyantepui is a giant among the large plateaus. It encompasses 650 square kilometers and its peak is 2,535 meters high.

Totally unknown by the civilized world until some one hundred years ago, life atop the tepuis evolved undisturbed for more than 1,500 millions of years creating unique ecosystems teeming with highly diversified and endemic animal and vegetal species. The flora is represented by some 3,000 species and this is the only region of the country to have two families of endemic plants. Bromeliads and orchids, but also small palms, heliconias, mosses and ferns, vines, mushrooms and lichens all grow in this botanical paradise and share the space with a decent number of amphibians, reptiles and birds.