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San Juan de Manapiare is an epic journey, regarded as the most difficult 4x4 trip in Venezuela, that we heard about when we were just entering the 4x4 world. The videos from previous expeditions to this destination showed a trail that was almost impossible to pass, basically a trip just for the experienced people. After several years completing many trips together, we got consolidated as a group of people capable to do this 4x4 trip of the old school. With that goal in mind we started preparations for the trip.
San Juan de Manapiare is a town in the southern Venezuelan state of Amazonas. This town is the shire town of the Manapiare Municipality and, according to the 2001 Venezuelan census, the municipality has a population of 991
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Juan_de_Manapiare
We started researching the trip, the stories of groups who made it, and the existing videos of this trip were a big help. A small part of the group decided to do a reconnaissance trip of the route. We left on a Thursday in December in two FZJ80 not specifically equipped for this trip, but with the goal of getting as far as possible but without crossing the Suapure river (Chivapure), which the way to (as far as we have heard) was pretty much free of obstacles, with fully working bridges and no river crossings to overcome. Sadly, in this reconnaissance trip we reached a point where a fallen bridge already close to our initial goal prevented us to continue. Since we didn’t bring any heavy gear for this initial trip, this obstacle represented our turning point, but not without talking to the local community (Savannah Cardona), who would later guide us in describing the later part of the way. By then, we already had a date in mind for the trip. It had to be a week before Easter for several reasons; 1) the Suapure river is at its lowest level during this time of the year; 2) we would not travel with the crowd that leaves Caracas during the holidays, and 3) we would take advantage of the holiday week as part of the trip. Two months before the departing date started the crunch time to get ready for the long awaited trip.
The group was compiled as follows:
Silver FZJ71: Iker and Armando
Blue FZJ71: Omar and Alberto
White FZJ71: Robert and Miguel
Beige FJ40: Fernando and Gustavo
We left on Sunday, March 17, 2013 from Caracas at 5 am, after Fernando fell asleep finishing final details in his FJ40 until the early morning hours. We started the road via the Bolivar State and after a couple of punctured tires, we boarded the barge that would bring us to the Orinoco Caycara, town where we finished last minute grocery shopping and eat what would be our last meal in civilization. We followed the road to the Guaniamo Mines, and then get to what would be our first camp about 158 kilometers (100 miles) away from Caycara.
We picked up camp at dawn, very early in the morning after a hearty breakfast aiming to cross the Suapure river that day and camp wherever we were after the sun came down. We thought that the real action would start from Suapure river crossing, but boy we could not be more wrong.
Ahead of us, a couple of fallen trees indicated what will be a common scene for the rest of the trip. We had a lot of energy, eager to work and we even snapped a bunch of pictures while we worked! We followed what seemed to be the path, so far well marked and arrived to the Suapure river, but we noted that the road did not continue on the other side of the river. Out of nowhere appeared a couple of local Indian villagers on a motorcycle and they informed us that we have missed the entry to the crossing, we checked our GPS and noted that they were right, turned around and headed to the correct entry to the crossing. The vegetation had grown tremendously since the last group had crossed, and all you could see was a small road where motorcycles had gone through. Here is where the heavy labor began, more people from the local area joined and help us clear the original path, moving all the vegetation and debri that has grown from the pass of time. The jungle begins to claim parts of the car by breaking the snorkel head off the blue FZJ71 with a tree, we then had to winch to continue moving forward.
We got within a few meters from the Suapure river and then proceeded to cross on foot to assess the depth (1.30 meters (about 52 inches)), find the exit path, and to look for a possible anchor point for the winch. Suddenly, we realize that almost the entire community of Savannah Cardona had come to see how we were going to cross the river. They were laughing, taking photos and videos with their phones. We decided to send the FJ40 first as it has very few electrical components and it is lighter than any of the other FZJ71’s. All trucks entered the river with the winch cable unspooled as a precaution, and the crew was ready to assist recovery on the other side if the truck becomes stuck. The FJ40 entered and crossed the river but got stuck on the steep hill climb to exit the crossing, leaving no choice but to use the winch to move forward. The white FZJ71 crossed the same way as the FJ40 but took a hit in some body panels and had to winch to exit the crossing. The floor condition for the river crossing has changed as the two previous vehicles had removed and loosened the bottom, making it more difficult for the blue and silver FZJ71. The Blue FZJ71 attempts to cross the river and got stuck about 3 meters (9 feet) away from the exit having to winch to get out with the same body damage as the white FZJ71. Finally, the silver FZJ71 enters the river and gets stuck but this time the gap between the truck and the river bank is even larger and the depth of water is rather concerning, making it imperative for a rapid and intense recovery. Coming out of the bank the silver FZJ71 suffered some body damage and ripped the roof mounted aluminum planks. As night approached, we decided to set camp in a plane soon after the crossing and deliver some donations to the local community (school supplies, soccer balls, and LED flashlights, the kind that are recharged by hand). This day showed us a quick preview of what the rest of the trip would be: many fallen trees, river crossings and wasps, all day long. We cooked a good dinner and went to sleep.
Day 3. We picked up camp at dawn and started the day. No more than 2 kilometers (1.25 miles) away from camp we experienced the first mechanical problem with the FJ40, where it broke a power steering hose which became impossible to repair, completing the trip with mechanical steering. Pushing forward to continue our way we encountered more fallen trees and debris that blocked our progress reaching a small bridge that was solely intended for motorcycles. At this point, we begin to understand how important the bikes for the communities living around this area. The river crossing is deep, the bridge was diagonally across the crossing and it is big in size so we were unable to move it. We decided to remove one of the support beams and cross it from underneath. The jerry cans mounted on top of the FZJ71 would still hit the bridge so we had to move them down and mount them again after completing the crossing. We left everything as we found it and continue our way.
Miles ahead, with vegetation that covers part of the way, the FJ40 (leading the pack) falls into a hole on the left side that almost rolls it over, having to use the winch to pull it back. We learned an important lesson to be very aware of the road as vegetation is so thick that it can hide a large hole and cause a severe accident.
Traveling miles of relaxed savannah, we reached an area of dense vegetation where we lost track of the way. It took approximately 30 minutes to find parts of it, clean the tracks to find a mud hole. The blue FZJ71 broke the winch cable negotiating this mud hole (about 150 meters long (450 feet)), and after three hours, we have all completed the mud crossing. We were caught by the night and we camped in a flat area close to our current location.
Day 4. Sunrise, and while three of copilots went on foot to look for the trail, the rest of the crew handled certain mechanical details of the trucks. A few meters from the camp, we got to what would be the largest plug of fallen trees, about 5 trees, one above the other, with the largest of them about 1 meter (3 feet) in diameter. To clear it, some members of the crew used a “machete” and two were operating the chainsaws. An additional member of the crew continued forward with a radio and GPS, to keep finding the trail as it was lost again. We got the pass cleared and then passing the vehicles, one by one, at a constant speed, to prevent anyone to get stuck in this area where there were no trees near to anchor the winch. We have only completed about 2 km (1.25 miles) and we had already spent over a half a day. Ahead, more small river crossings (caños) and fallen trees. We arrived to a crossing that we called Caño Hormiga (Caño Ant), by the amount of ants that made us go through **** during our recovery efforts, a total chaos. We continued our way and at some point, near a nice caño, we found a group of people on motorcycles that had left San Juan de Manapiare earlier that day and they assured us that we could reach Manapiare in a couple of days. We then remembered this day as the “False Victory” day. At that point, we didn’t have any drinking water so we decided not to go further that day. We filled our water cans with water and add “Aquatabs” pills (water purifying pills), got a good dinner and went to sleep.
Day 5. From day 4, the road had changed a bit, we started to climb in elevation and the road became rocky. The silver FZJ71 begins to have a fault in the injection system, which we presumed, was caused by water in the fuel tanks. We decided to split up into two groups, Iker, Armando and Omar were diagnosing the FZJ71 silver, while the rest kept moving forward and making headway. We came to a curve where the outlet had become a cliff and we have to use a pick-axe to make it as safe as possible. Having spent nearly an hour is already looking like a “normal” road and we decide it to cross it with extreme caution and continue. At this time, we've lost count of how many trees we have cut, heat and fatigue begin to take its toll on the co-pilots and one of them felt light headed (potentially low sugar). We took a forced break, and after drinking lots of water and eating some candy we are ready to continue moving forward. We have already left the jungle and mountain behind and we were traveling with the Serrania of Guanay on the background.
At that time, we waited for the rest of the group to stay together; the silver FZJ71 arrived still having electrical issues. We went into the forest again and reached a small crossing where the path it has been eaten by erosion and left in the form of a V, we had to work it again with the pick-axe to facilitate its crossing but it seems that our work was not enough. The FJ40 broke the driver's side locking hub. We continued moving forward and at about 4 pm, we lost the trail again, so we decided to break into small groups with a GPS in hand, and began the search on foot, to find the trail. It took us, however, a couple of hours to find the trail once more. At that time, the electrical failure on the silver FZJ71 got worse and the truck does not want to run. We decided to camp in a clearing near that point. Early into the night, we ran onto a native of the area and he assures us that the road ahead is “Super easy”. We worked hard to diagnose the fault on the injection system on the silver FZJ71 and fix the locking hub of the FJ40, successfully completing both tasks. Had a good dinner and went to sleep.
Day 6. Sunrise, we picked up camp and five minutes after we left, the white FZJ71 punctures another tire by simply leaning over a fallen tree; fun way to start the day. Later on, the same gentleman who talked to us last night, shows the new path that he has done, well demarcated with handrails and other luxuries, as the he had use the original road as a passage for his cattle. We left what appeared to be the property of this man to get into flat lands. We ran with no stops for a few miles and we found a tractor packed with people! The driver welcomed us to the Amazonas State and after exchanging a few words, we continued our route. The savannah continues and it seems that this day is becoming a day of rest for the copilots and at about 4 pm we arrived to what we all agreed was the best part of the trip: Caño Santo (Caño Holy). We decided to take a break that day and camped in Caño Santo that night. The electrical failure on the silver FZJ71 was greatly diminished, and we decided to drop the fuel tank for inspection. We washed clothes, took a bath, a good dinner and sleep.
More of Caño Santo and field repairs
Day 7. Picked up camp and left. We ran into pieces of savannah and pieces of forest sections, one after another, and a bunch of fallen trees (consistent with what we have seen throughout the whole trip). While negotiating a river crossing (caño), the Warn 8274 on the FJ40 snapped the brake shaft assembly. We ran into a burned field where we lost track of the trail once again. We were all tired and we decided to camp and repair the winch failure at that time (we had spare winches and spare parts), and to save time the next morning, a small group moved on foot in search of the trail.
Day 8. We noted that the local community has planted cocoa in the area where the original “road” used to be. This forced us to go drive around the trees to get out of that small grow. I do not even know how many times we have used the roof planks since the beginning of this and we decided to leave them there and pick them up at the back (they were stuck on the mud after using them once more). The route continues with a topology similar to the one of the previous day. At one point, while clearing some trees off the “road”, the FJ40 entered into a small articulation section when the co-pilot realizes that the mail leaf is broken. We patched it using the universal mooring technique (with wire) and continued our way.
Day 9. The day starts with a wide open savannah to get us to a community where we were assured that the old road is still as difficult as what we have traveled this far. The locals are opening a new shorter one but we would have to work and finish it together. This was much appreciated by the locals as they do not have the proper tools to do so. We decided to take this path and work it. We crossed a small farm, a flat section, and we merged into a road that seems traveled by regular motor vehicles. We declared SILVER medal at this point! (Gold can only be won by getting out to civilization again).
We have arrived to San Juan de Manapiare, with concrete roads not seen for days. We celebrated, hugged, some even wept, some kissed the floor, and we were all looking for something cold to drink. Then we got to the local airport to take the victory photos and the locals offered us lunch.
After our feast, we headed to the National Guard post, where we were greeted, signed the log book, and they offered us dinner in a small store called “Inversiones Santa Barbara”. In the meantime, we take time to repair and tune up the chainsaws with our friend “Guarataro” within the “Piaroa district” in the cross street on the left before you get to the airport (100% recommended). The locals informed us that they have been without electricity for about 3 months and the river was low that the barge that supplied gasoline for the generators could not reach the village, however, the powered the plant and provided light for a few hours celebrate our visit. We walked around the town looking for a good spot to set up camp, and we went to dinner at the local grocery store, where we could share some of our experiences with some characters of the village and with Javier, the owner of this humble but well stocked business, that gladly offered us food the rest of the stay. Later that night and after a few cold beers, we headed to the banks of the Ventuari river to rest.
Day 10. It is about 8 in the morning and the sun and the heat does not let us to sleep. Javier approached us on his motorcycle and tells us to hurry, as he has prepared breakfast. A short swim in the river and here we are, eating the delicious breakfast prepared by Javier’s wife. Then we returned back to the river to make the most of this wonderful place. We organized the vehicles, repair minor details and it is about time to eat again, Javier has prepared a steak soup, excellent. A short break and we headed to fill our fuel tanks (this is only possible with permission of the National Guard). We took additional pictures near the airport and with our new friend, Javier, in his establishment, and then he offered us a delicious dinner and great evening.
