MAGIC TOURS & TRAVEL provides other services such as: |
MAGIC TOURS & TRAVEL también le presta los siguientes servicios: |
|
1*-Plane Tickets everywhere with the best rates. |
1*-Boletos de avión para cualquier lugar con los mejores precios. |
Venezuela está situada al Norte de Suramérica bordeando el mar Caribe y el Atlántico Norte, entre Colombia y Guayana. En Venezuela destacan los Parques Nacionales como uno de sus mayores atractivos: Canaima, Archipiélago Los Roques, Henry Pittier, Morrocoy, Sierra Nevada y los Médanos de Coro, entre muchos otros, son escenarios naturales donde lo que más destaca es la exuberante naturaleza venezolana. |
HISTORY OF MARGARITA ISLAND |
Paraguachoa was the name given to Margarita Island by its first inhabitants, the Guaiquerí Indians and means "plentiful fishing". It was spotted on 15 of August 1498 by Christopher Columbus. Margarita's history really starts with Spanish invaders who left their influence on the island’s architecture. Being discovered in 1498, the "conquerors" found an island full of wealth and rich soil, where they settled to live. The discoverers baptized the island as "La Margarita", which means "pearl". The island was, and still is, rich with pearls which were more than what they had expected to find in this part of the world. The original inhabitants, the Guaiqueri Indians; received the Spaniards with open arms unaware that they later would become slaves of their own wealth. However, the feelings of hospitality remained throughout the times, making Margarita a warm and open house for all visitors, a place to find the friendliest people and satisfy the hunger for spectacular sights. During colonial times, the government was administrated in the capital city, La Asunción. Margarita didn’t escape the pirates, whom in the 16th and 17th centuries scavenged the whole region in the Caribbean. Today the happy children of Margarita tell the tourists how the island was victim of the ferocious invasion of Lope de Aguirre; how Margarita was an easy target in the Caribbean, and of how the natives had to defend their shores with fortresses to confront the invaders. On Margarita you will find the walls of the Fortín de la Galera in Juan Griego; the castle Santa Rosa in La Asunción and the castle San Carlos Borromeo in Pampatar. They all speak for themselves about the history of Margarita Island. Finally freedom came in May 04, 1811 making the island the first free province of the Spanish domain. Today, Margarita's more than 70 gorgeous beaches offer something for everyone. |
NUEVA ESPARTA is the name since May 12, 1817 on request of José Cortés de Madariaga, a prominent personality of the Venezuelan Independence Movement. During the colonial period, the island suffered numerous pirate attacks between 1565 and 1595 and therefore it had to be fortified. Two of the seven forts are still standing: Castillo de San Carlos Borromeo in Pampatar and Castillo de Santa Rosa in La Asunción, as well as the smaller ones: Fortín de la Caranta in Pampatar, La Galera in Juan Griego and España in Santa Ana. On May 4, 1810, the province of Margarita joined the independence movement started in Caracas in April of the same year and on July 5, 1811, it was one of the seven provinces that signed the Declaration of Independence of Venezuela, and that is why it earned one star of the seven stars on the National Flag. The history of Margarita Island is divided into four eras: *Pre-Columbian Era (before the arrival of the Europeans): The tribe Guaiquerí populated Margarita Island. They called the island Paraguachoa, that means place of plentiful fishing. They were friendly and hospitable and dedicated to fishing. They were expert navigators and they were also very proud and defended themselves fiercely against occasional attacks of other tribes. *Colony (three centuries of Spanish rule): The ships of admiral Christopher Columbus sighted Margarita Island on their third Journey to the Indies on August 15, 1498. Alonso de Ojeda arrived to the island and made friends with the Guaquieríes. The Indians thought that the pale Spaniards with their shiny armaments must were their "brothers of the sun" and that their arrival meant the beginning of a large and prosper empire. They received them very friendly. When they lead the Spaniards to the oyster banks on Cubagua, the neighbour island, the Europeans forced them to extract thousands of tons of oysters to provide the Spanish crown a healthy income, turning Margarita Island into a jewel and the pearl into the first currency in Venezuela. *Independence: Like everywhere in the world, the ideas of human rights arrived and lead the Spanish colonies in America to a strong independence movement. In Venezuela, the independence war was fought between 1810 and 1821 under the leadership of the military genius Simón Bolívar. Margarita was one of the first provinces to succeed in winning over the Spanish troops that were a lot more numerous and better equipped than the Margaritan Patriots. This courage and fierceness gained the island region the name of Nueva Esparta. During the era of colony and independence, the island was a frequent target for pirate attacks. Several castles and forts were built to repel those attacks and some of them still remain as a reminder of a turbulent past. *Margarita, a Commercial and Tourist Place: Margarita Island was decreed Free Port in 1974, laying the bases for the economical progress of the island. Paradoxically, the same hot and sunny climate that before inhibited its development has become one of its main and much appreciated attractions. The climate combined with the traditional kindness of the natives, their profound knowledge of the sea and their commercial skills have converted the island into a tourist attraction, forcing the construction of adequate infrastructure to satisfy the taste of the constant flow of visitors from all over the world. Beach hotels, golf courts, marinas, delicious food, big shopping malls, as well as nightlife and entertainment, are the main attractions around Margarita Island nowadays. |
|
 CANAIMA NATIONAL PARK The Canaima National Park is part of the plateau of the Guyanese shield that underlies the lands located in Venezuela to the south of the Orinoco. It is composed of two fundamental Geologic formations: The Igneous-metamorphic basement, with an age estimated in 2000 million years, represents the old crust of our planet. These important changes can be experienced in the geographical area where the Canaima National Park is located as a result of a long period of processes of geologic transformations through the time up until today. With two thousand million years, back at the precambric, it belongs to the time that the super continent Pangaea was formed, which includes: America, Africa, Antarctic, Asia and Europe. This continent began to separate due to the formation of a fracture in the planet's crust. Originating this way the formation of the Atlantic ocean and the creation of different portions of lands called shields. The geographic region of the Guyanese Shield in Venezuela existed from the start. Is a land full of plains where the height was the same level as the visible Tepuy's, about 2000 to 3000 meters. The formation of these lands originates due to the erosion, which is the displacement of different types of materials that, as they traveled due to the action of strong currents of water, transported rocks and minerals to distant places. These materials were settling creating a basement of rocks igneous and metamorphic coming from the bark where they would originate. These silts product of the erosion of the crystalline rock, were consolidating in stratum of gritty. Cuarcitas and Shales rocks ended up covering several kilometers of the crust, then strange mountains were formed called Tepuys that we see today as a strange mountain formation all flat and with its own world on top of it called “Table Top Mountains”. In the places where the depositions of materials was carried out in a certain order, the resulting rock was of a great resistance. In the opposite area the deposits settled in a disordered way forming a bed rock with less resistance. After the formation of the great plain, during a long period of time (approximately 400 to 200 million years) a series of climatologically phenomena caused important changes in the geography of the Guyanese shield. The transformation of the landscape owed herself basically to drastic variations of arid climate to humid and vice versa, of strong constant and lingering precipitations, droughts, freezing, discharges with high and low temperatures, storms, hurricanes, and the tectonic movements of the earth. The erosion of the atmospheric agents removed the material deposited in the great plain during millions of years. The erosion was bigger in places where the rock was less resistant resulting this great transformation, the Tepuys and the landscape of the Canaima National Park, which reveals its fantastic scenery nowadays. This land has no comparison but has a faithful testimony of the experienced changes through millions of years, it is a geographical area of infinite beauty. The Auyantepuy was discovered several hundreds of years before the same for the Churun Meru, the original name of the Falls given by the Pemon Indians. These indians were often aids and helpers in searching for gold, they did know of it's existance but back then it was considered just a tall tale. Of course they knew about the Auyantepuy, not only is the biggest Tepuy, but it can be seen from the Carrao River because indians did have boats and the Carrao River is very long. The Pemon not only love the mountain, they actually feared it. Auyantepuy is the Pemon word for Devil's mountain! |
| WHY ANGEL´S FALLS? |
James Crawford Angel was born in Springfield, Missouri on August 1, 1899, he was a Canadian Pilot on the First World War. Back at that time, and with the war going on, people were affected by the war. The United States had a very great urge for entertainment because television and movie theaters were too primitive and there was a fascination of most people on mankind's ability to fly on machines. With this it is easy to imagine how much emotion and fun a stunt pilot provided to people and Jimmy loved that, he loved to be around people, even if it meant to risk too much. He worked with Charles Lindbergh at his Flying Circus as a stunt Pilot, which adds to the fact that he was a daring good pilot. In 1921, J.R. McCracken, a Geologist and Explorer, knowledgeable of geological formations and with a strong desire to explore one of the most fascinating unexplored lands, hired Jimmy for a trip to “The Lost world”. The interesting fact is that he hired a man who was a war and stunt pilot, obviously McCracken was well aware of the skill level needed for the mission. McCracken was well aware of the Tepuys, and the incredible age of the land which he could only imagine it was all too obvious for a geologist to think that in a land eroded since the beginning of the planet it would be very hard to land and this is specially true on top of a Tepuy, who’s surface would be extremely eroded. This is why he asked Jimmy if he was the one who could land on a dime, and that was the point, the mission was a hard landing only a stunt pilot could make. McCracken paid 3000$ dollars, which was a respectable amount back then and with the advance payment he bought a used plane. Little did he know of the challenge he was facing. This added to the fact that in the middle of nowhere in a lost land deeply covered with a thick and dense jungle it was almost impossible to land on the ground and the takeoff would be even harder. Some say that they landed on a Tepuy, got gold out of one and returned. It is doubtful, probably they over flew the area, impressed by the fantastic sight and returned back to Ciudad Bolivar. The nuggets could be purchased there as well. But anyways, the fact is that the return to that "gold mountain" became the myth behind Angel's true mission, his mission, and Canaima proved to be a spectacular sight, a true paradise for a pilot, feeling his talent cross thick, dense tropical rainforest, seeing things no man has seen before, probably feeling like Neil Armstrong walking on the moon. He simply loved the place, enchanted by the awesome beauty of the unique ancient lands. Several people helped fund his trips in search for gold and his gold mountain, probably taking tourists or geologists on the way thus becoming the first charter plane on the area. In 1930 he flew twice to the Auyantepuy, the largest of the tepuys with over 700 square km. The Auyantepuy has a canyon that reaches it's center and the Angel´s Falls is inside. Even if Angel had seen the Auyantepuy, it was in 1935 when the waterfall was first seen. The expedition to the top of the Auyantepuy was financed and on March 25, 1935, he discovered the canyon and saw the “waterfall that was coming directly from the sky”. Jimmy got married in 1937 and with his wife Marie Sanders, Joe Meacham, and the help of Gustavo Heny from Venezuela, who had explored the area before, he flew to the Auyantepuy to make his greatest stunt, to land on top of the Auyantepuy and return home. The small plane did land, but the terrain was too harsh for takeoff, Jimmy had to leave his plane behind, only to trade it for his place in history. It took him 11 days to get back to the camp at Kamarata and leave through the Carrao River without his plane and almost starved in the middle of unexplored lands. In 1942 Angel got lost in the tropical jungle and several planes were sent to find him and many crashed into the jungle, got lost or without fuel. Because of the loss of those pilots and for his repeated unauthorized flights and excursions, he was declared a unwanted person and his permision to be in Venezuela was suspended. His airplane was abandoned on top of the Auyantepui and remained there until the beggining of 1970. Jimmie's youngest son, Roland, went to Angel´s Falls in 1965 accompanied by the writer Carl Mydans and found the airplane still on the same location where his parents had abandoned 28 years before. Many years of exposure to harsh tropical sun and rain bleached airplane, although the structure in general was reported to be in the good conditions it had so many years back. Also in 1970, the Fuerza Aerea Venezolana (FAV) mounted an operation to rescue the airplane. They found the airplane, disassembled it, and took it first to Canaima on February and later to Caracas where it was restored. Jimmy Angel died in Panama on December 8, 1956 and his last wish was that his ashes must return to the Angel´s Falls, and so it was conceited. |
History of Los Roques This national park protects one of the highest-quality coral reefs with respect to species diversity, area of live coverage, and low incidence of diseases in all the Caribbean. Los Roques harbors about 61 species of corals, 200 species of crustaceans, 140 species of mollusks, 45 species of echinoderms, 60 species of sponges, and 280 species of fish. In addition, 92 bird species, 50 of which are migratory, can be seen in the park. Four globally endangered sea turtle species nest regularly on the islands, including the most important nesting site for Eretmochelys imbricata in Venezuela. Over the past ten years, tourism has replaced fishing as the main economic activity. Locals were not involved in tourist activities until 1990. Before this, outsiders (wealthy Venezuelans from Caracas and foreigners) who could buy houses inside the park, managed the few existing lodges. Access was restricted to light aircraft or private boats. Aerotuy was the only commercial airline operating in Los Roques at the time. Today, more than 50,000 tourists, who stay in any of 60 available inns, locally called posadas, visit the park every year. Today, Gran Roque has more than 1,300 residents and its tourism services are becoming insufficient. Without a doubt, tourism is the most important economic activity in the park. In Gran Roque, it generates direct employment for almost 40% of the active population between 18 and 70 years of age. From 1996 to 2001, the Autoridad Única de Área (AUA, organization which coordiantes goverment institutions in the park) received an average of 400 million bolívares per year (about US$400,000) from tourist entrance fees paid by those who come to Los Roques by plane. Activities and Lodging Los Roques attracts a number of visitors that come to do many different activities. The natural beauty of the beaches attracts most tourists. Coral reefs are of special interest to professional and recreational scuba divers. Sport fishing and windsurfing are also practiced in Los Roques and it is even possible to go for a ride in an ultralight. Among other tourist attractions are the Virgen del Valle celebrations in the second week of September and the Lobster Festival at the beginning of the lobster-fishing season in November. Sailors and pilots also consider Los Roques to be a very interesting place due to its distance from the mainland. It is considered by many as one of the top archipielagoes in the Caribbean. It is possible to stay at Los Roques and enjoy the spectacular sights and beaches at one of the 60 posadas or inns in El Gran Roque. These posadas were once fishermen's homes which have now been transformed and renovated to host tourists, offering rooms to rent. Lodging generally includes breakfast and dinner and prices range from US $90-$300 per night per person. Some lodges also include transfers to the nearby islands, lunch, beach chairs, sun umbrellas and snorkeling equipment. Staying on a sailboat is another option for about US $1.500 a day per boat. The cheapest option is to camp in designated INPARQUES areas with no access to utilities (fresh water or electricity). Even though Los Roques has a variety of lodging options, 96% of the tourists stay in the posadas, 3% in sailboats and less than 1 % camp. |
|||
magictoursvenezuela@gmail.com |
|||
