Mount Roraima

Roraima is a table mountain of Precambrian sandstone rising to about 2,810 metres with sheer walls several hundred metres high and a flat summit of bare rock, pools and plants found nowhere else. It is where the borders of Guyana, Venezuela and Brazil meet. The summit ecology is genuinely isolated: carnivorous plants, endemic frogs and species that have evolved in place on the tabletop. Conan Doyle's The Lost World drew on accounts of these mountains.

What you actually see

• The vertical walls - sandstone cliffs several hundred metres high on all sides.
• The summit plateau - bare rock, pools and channels across the tabletop.
• The endemic plants - carnivorous species and others restricted to the tepui summits.
• The triple point - the meeting of three national borders on the massif.

When to go

December to April is the drier window, though the summit is wet in every season and cloud is constant. Rain falls on the tabletop most days of the year. Temperatures on top drop close to freezing at night.

Honest expectations

There is no easy route from Guyana; the standard climb is made from Venezuela and Guyanese approaches are long expeditions requiring permits and full logistics. The summit is cold, wet and exposed with no shelter. Guides are essential and cannot be arranged on arrival.

Nearby

The Pakaraima mountains run east into Guyana.