Yet another, legendary birding name, La Escalera literally means “the staircase” and refers to a road which winds up from the Guayanan lowland forests onto the grassy plateau known as the Gran Sabana.

The escarpment up which the road climbs is covered in a dense cloud forest which is home to most of the “Pantepui” endemics which are more typical of the foothill slopes of the table mountains ( tepuis ) proper; thus it gives easy access to real Pantepui birding. There are some at least 38 Pantepui endemics (more study is certain to reveal further endemics), many of which are only found in Venezuela and most of which are far more easily seen here than anywhere else. Easily found along the forested roadside are Fiery-shouldered Parakeet, Rufous-breasted Sabrewing, Peacock Coquette, Velvet-browed Brilliant, Scarlet-horned Manakin, Orange-bellied Manakin, Tepui Brush-Finch, Tepui Whitestart and Tepui Mountain-Grackle. An eye overhead will usually be rewarded with Tepui Swifts and the rather less reliable Tepui Parrotlet. More challenging still are skulkers like Tepui Tinamou, Tepui Antpitta and Flutist Wren. The beginning of the Gran Sabana is the place to look for Tepui Goldenthroat as well as Russet-crowned Crake and Tawny-headed Swallow and rarities like Giant Snipe and Bearded Tachuri. In the dry season the forested slopes and sandstone cliffs echo to the ethereal songs of White and Bearded Bellbirds. In addition, more world-class birding is to be had in the lowlands at the foot of La Escalera. Excellent accommodation is available five minutes from the base of La Escalera.

Specialities and endemics

Full bird checklist

Lentino, M., M.L. Goodwin and V. Salas. 1996. Lista de las Aves del Parque Nacional Canaima, Venezuela. Sociedad Conservacionista Audubon de Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela. 56 pp. 536 spp. recorded in the park. Available from SCAV (http://www.audubondevenezuela.org).
Sharpe, C.J. 2001. List of the birds of the Gran Sabana, Sector Oriental, Parque Nacional Canaima. Pp. 166-178 in Huber, O., G. Febres and H. Arnal, eds. Ecological Guide to the Gran Sabana, Canaima National Park, Venezuela. The Nature Conservancy, Caracas, Venezuela. 495 spp. recorded in the Eastern Sector (the half of the park which is accessible by road).

Links

The Lost World: www.thelostworld.org
UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre Protected Areas Database: http://www.wcmc.org.uk/protected_areas/data/wh/canaima.html
Discovering the Lost World (The George Wright Forum): http://www2.planeta.com/mader/planeta/0897/0897canaima.html