Sarisarinama Sinkholes

Sarisariñama is a tepui in remote southern Bolívar whose flat top is punctured by several near-perfect circular sinkholes, the largest around three hundred and fifty metres across and three hundred and fifty deep, with vertical walls and a patch of forest growing on the floor of each. Those floor forests have been isolated for a very long time and expeditions have found plants and animals in them that occur nowhere else. Access requires helicopter support and official permission.

The landscape

• The circular shafts - near-perfect sinkholes with vertical walls hundreds of metres deep.
• The floor forests - isolated forest growing on the bottom of each shaft.
• The endemic species - plants and animals found only in these isolated pockets.
• The tepui summit - the flat sandstone top the shafts are cut into.

When to go

December to April is the dry season and the only realistic window for flights. Cloud closes the summit frequently. Expeditions must be arranged months in advance.

Practical notes

This is not a place that can simply be visited: access needs helicopters, permits and scientific or expedition backing. Costs are very high. Most people will only ever see it in photographs.

Nearby

Canaima is east, and Ciudad Bolivar is north.