Everard Im Thurn - the first explorer to reach the summit of the lost world - described the landscape he discovered as “some strange country of nightmares”, because the flat upper surface of Mount Roraima had been sculpted into an extraordinary wasteland of twisted stone adorned intermittently with pools of standing water, sediment floored drainage channels or pockets of low-growing vegetation and valleys lined with sparkling quartz crystals. This ancient landscape has remained little changed for millions of years.
The prominent rock formations of the tepuis are diverse and complex, and often bizarre and intricate. Towering rock arches, immense mushroom-shaped masses, and gigantic columns — sometimes many meters tall and often supported on thin, narrow bases — are among the rock features that make up the diverse landscapes of the surfaces of the tepuis. On many of the lost worlds, gigantic mazes of rock pinnacles continue across the summits for kilometres, forming huge labyrinths of stone! Often the rock labyrinths are criss-crossed with ravines, so their exploration is both difficult and slow. As a result, most remain little explored, and haunted with the beliefs of local Pemon Amerindians who regard the plateau summits as the lands of the god and spirits. As many of the rock formations may resemble shapes, animals and even faces, it is easy to understand this revered spirituality!
