A Real Island in the Clouds

March 18, 2014 by • Marcy's Blog, Unbelievable Real Life • Tags: , , , , , • 11 Comments

Image Credit: Martin Gysler, CC license

Image Credit: Martin Gysler, CC license

By Marcy Kennedy (@MarcyKennedy)

When the movie was in theaters, my husband and I watched Jack the Giant Slayer. While the movie was mediocre, I loved the floating island in the clouds where the giants lived. Imagine my delight when I found out there was a real floating island—or at least as close as we’re going to get—in Mt. Roraima, Venezuela.

Welcome back to my Unbelievable Real Life feature, where I showcase weird creatures and offbeat places on our planet that seem like they should belong in a fantasy or science fiction story. Today we’re going to Mt. Roraima, Venezuela.

This mountain was the inspiration for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World. Its plateau sits 1,200 feet above the ground. Along with the fact that it often appears to float in the sky, it’s also home to a unique ecosystem, including nearly daily rains, some of the world’s highest waterfalls, and a carnivorous pitcher plant. (I had to look it up. The plant is the Heliamphora nutans, and it eats insects.)

Image Credit: Dryas, CC license

Image Credit: Dryas, CC license

Take a look at the mountain…

Mt. Roraima is surrounded at its base by tropical rainforests. The moist air rising off of the rain forest is what creates the thick clouds that make the mountain look like it’s a floating island.

If you had a chance to visit a floating island, would you do it? Or would you be afraid of finding something more dangerous than a carnivorous plant hiding there?

I hope you’ll check out my book of suspense short stories–Frozen!

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