San Francisco de Yuruaní

Known to its residents as Kumarakapay, this Pemón village sits along the Troncal 10 at km 250, about an hour's drive north of Santa Elena de Uairén. It's the last settlement with services before the road to Paraitepui — the trailhead for Mount Roraima. But Yuruaní is more than a waypoint. It's a living Pemón community where the culture of the Gran Sabana is most accessible to visitors.

Getting There

Yuruaní sits directly on the paved Troncal 10 highway, roughly 66 km north of Santa Elena de Uairén. Any vehicle heading through the Gran Sabana passes through. Buses between Santa Elena and Ciudad Bolívar stop here. From the village, an unpaved road branches northeast toward Paraitepui de Roraima, the starting point for the Roraima trek.

The Village

Capuchin missionaries founded San Francisco de Yuruaní in 1943 — the same year Father Cesáreo de Armellada published the first dictionary and grammar of the Pemón language. The missionaries built with local stone, and some of their original structures still stand.

The village is home to the Taurepán, the Pemón subgroup that inhabits the eastern Gran Sabana. Pemón — a Cariban language — is the daily language here, with Spanish as a second language. It's a beautifully descriptive language: dew is chirke-yetaku ("star's saliva"), sugarcane is kaiwara-kun-ima ("pineapple with a very long leg"). There is no word for "year."

In 1998, village chief Juvencio Gómez initiated a project to document the community's history through elder testimonies and photographs dating to 1911. The result — La Historia de los Pemón de Kumarakapay (2010) — is the only published history of any indigenous community in the Gran Sabana. At its launch, a traditional chiuka ceremony was performed: water poured onto hot coals with Pemón songs, to protect the newborn object from spirits.

Roraima Gateway

This is where Roraima treks begin in practice. Pemón guides from Yuruaní and the nearby village of Paraitepui have led expeditions to the summit for decades. They know the mountain intimately — not just the trail, but the summit plateau's maze of rock formations, the weather patterns, the water sources, and the stories.

Organizing a trek typically means:

• Hiring a Pemón guide and porters through the village cooperative
• Purchasing supplies in Santa Elena (bring everything — there are no shops on the trail)
• Getting a permit from INPARQUES (the national parks authority)
• Driving or being driven the 25 km from Yuruaní to Paraitepui

Beyond Roraima

Even if you're not trekking, Yuruaní is worth a stop:

• Salto Yuruaní (Arapena Merú) — a 5-meter waterfall on the Yuruaní River that forms a curtain you can walk behind. Just downstream, tranquil pools are perfect for swimming.
• Cortinas del Yuruaní — wide cascades nearby where water spills in curtain-like sheets over dark rock.
• Pemón crafts — woven baskets, beadwork, and carved figures sold in the village. The basketwork uses traditional techniques passed through generations.
• Savanna walks — the flat terrain around the village offers easy walking with panoramic tepui views. Moriche palms cluster along watercourses, and the sky is enormous.
• Yuruaní River — tea-colored, tannin-rich water flowing over Precambrian sandstone. Like all Gran Sabana rivers, it's acidic (pH 3–4), nutrient-poor, and strikingly clear.

What to Expect

• Accommodation: Basic posadas and camping areas. Some families offer simple rooms.
• Food: Small shops with basics. For anything substantial, stock up in Santa Elena.
• Climate: At 885 m, days are warm and nights are cool. Rain is possible any time of year but heaviest May–September.
• The drive: The stretch of Troncal 10 around Yuruaní is one of the most scenic in the Gran Sabana — open savanna with tepuis on the horizon and virtually no traffic.

Combine With

Yuruaní pairs naturally with a Roraima trek (5–7 days) or with other stops along the Troncal 10 — Quebrada de Jaspe to the south, and the waterfalls of Salto Kamá and Salto Kawi to the north.