How to visit Los Llanos in Venezuela

Los Llanos is a wet ecosystem, a massive area of seasonally flooded plains that spread across Colombia and Venezuela, and that characterized by for their extensive savannas, unique fauna, and a cowboy-like culture palpable in their local folklore and the raising of their cattle.

I had the chance to visiting Los Llanos for 4 days during my last trip to Venezuela, and it was something very different from anything I had experienced before.

In this guide, I wanted to show you how to visit Los Llanos independently.

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😍 Why travel to Los Llanos in Venezuela

From Canaima National Park to the Orinoco Delta, Venezuela is packed with natural highlights but none of them surprised me as much as Los Llanos did.

Imagine walking across the wild, wet plains – alone, with a simple stick and a local guide, crossing paths with 4 and 5-meter anacondas, while literally jumping over crocodiles.

Show, not tell, check my Instagram Highlights – look for anaconda safari – at @againstthecompass, and you’ll know what I mean.

The Venezuelans from these lands – the llaneros – grew up among this fauna, they’ve been walking over the marshes since they were tiny kids, and that’s why they are able to offer such raw and authentic safaris, something unheard of in any other country offering experiences of this kind.

If a safari such as this was offered in any other country with mass tourism, like Tanzania or Kenya, I’m pretty sure things wouldn’t be the same, but the magic of backpacking in Venezuela is that the rules aren’t really set in stone, allowing plenty of flexibility for the most intrepid adventurers.

Los Llanos also boasts with thousands of different types of crocodiles, a massive population of capibaras – locally known as chigüires – and hundreds of bird species. 

Piranha fishing is also a big thing in Los Llanos and, if you are lucky, you might also spot one of the weirdest…