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 xcursions to the Orinoco are a constant and living part of its history. For centuries, explorers have worked to decipher the encoded messages of the river. They have been motivated by the search for wealth and inspired by a sense of adventure and discovery. However, in many cases attempts to understand and exploit the river have been in vane. The river, on occasion, welcomes its visitors. At other times, it is puzzling like an immense watery maze.
The first explorers of the Orinoco River were not Europeans but the Yekwana, who live near the upper Orinoco. Descended from the Carib, the original inhabitants of the Caribbean islands, the Yekwana still speak a language similar to the Carib. Their similar language is a clue that their ancestors probably traveled the 1,700 miles (2,800 km) between the upper Orinoco and the islands.
Christopher Columbus came upon the Orinoco in 1498. He was so impressed by the lush landscape and the amount of fresh water that he wrote that he had found an "earthly paradise." Alonso de Ojeda followed Columbus in 1499. He sailed up the Orinoco River and named the land Venezuela, which means "Little Venice." Another early explorer, Diego de Ordaz, led an expedition of 200 men as far as the Meta River.
The first scientific investigation of the upper Orinoco began in 1756 when Swedish botanist Pehr Loefling began to describe the region's plants. Other scientists, such as Humboldt and Bonpland, followed his example and studied the Orinoco's wildlife, water, geography and people. The Franco-Venezuelan Expedition of 1951 was a detailed, systematic study of the river. This group claimed to be the first to find the origin of the Orinoco at an altitude of 3,500 feet (1,067 meters), although it is said that Apolinar Díaz de la Fuente reached the same point about 200 years earlier.
Since the 1960s, the Venezuelan Association for the Advancement of Science and other organizations have sponsored expeditions to the remotest parts of the upper Orinoco. Today, the Orinoco still has more secrets to reveal. Many species of plants and animals and their relationships to each other and their environment remain to be discovered by a future generation of explorers.
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Online resources
Virtual tour: Explorers
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