Mount Roraima, Sandstone mountain plateau in Uiramutã, Brazil.
Mount Roraima is a sandstone table mountain on the border between Brazil, Venezuela, and Guyana with a flat summit covering several square kilometers. Its vertical rock walls rise about four hundred meters and enclose a high plateau where rock formations, small lakes, and unusual vegetation occur.
The English explorer Walter Raleigh documented the mountain in 1596, and in 1884 Everard im Thurn led the first climb, up a wooded ramp beside the cliff. Victorian expedition reports inspired Arthur Conan Doyle's 1912 novel The Lost World. The sandstone dates to the Precambrian, about two billion years ago.
The mountain's name originates from the Pemon language, where Roroi means blue-green and ma translates to great, reflecting its appearance in the landscape.
Almost all ascents start from Paraitepuy, reached by about 50 km of dirt road from near San Francisco de Yuruaní; hikers register with INPARQUES there and hire a Pemon guide. The usual itinerary is two days to the base, one up La Rampa, one full day on the summit and two back. Trails on the plateau fade and cloud cover hides landmarks, so route-finding is difficult.
Carnivorous plants grow on the summit, adapted to the nutrient-poor soil and feeding on insects. The isolated location has led several animal and plant species to exist only here and nowhere else on Earth.
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