The Natural Monument of Piedra de la Tortuga (Turtle Stone) is located in the State of Amazonas, on the road that goes from Puerto Ayacucho towards Samariapo. About 10 minutes after crossing the bridge of Cataniapo River, it's possible to see a dome shaped metamorphic stone formation on the right side of the road.

On the West side it is possible to see a smaller dome. That, together with the bigger dome gives the impression of having a giant turtle in front of your eyes.

Follow the road till you find the entrance of a park ranger station (Inparques). Since this is a Natural Monument, normally it's forbidden to climb it up, but this depends on the mood of the park rangers and who is in charge in that moment.

As well as the Sandstone Tepuy formations in the area, this stone looks black. It is actually covered by algae that give it this color. These algae make it pretty difficult to climb this formation when it's raining, because they make it get slippery. So take care of that if you want to climb up this mountain.

With a good walking and climbing pace, the climb takes about 1 hour. Looking from the Ranger Station the best option is going up on the right side (east part of the stone, but still on the side facing south). It's good to bring a bottle of water and a little rope to help with the climb.

At the stone some friction climbing is necessary, and there are some small climbing parts.

Once you have arrived at the top you get a beautiful view of all directions. On the north you can see Pto. Ayacucho and the Llanos of Apure, west there is the Orinoco River and South the Amazone Forest and some Stone and Tepuy formations (With good visibility you get to see the Autana Tepuy).

The meteorology in the Amazone is a little explosive with rain clouds, although the Cumulus Nimbus don't form as fast as in Europe or in the US.

The rainy fronts create nice wind conditions to soar the walls of the rock, but you have to be careful when the rain approaches, not to get wet. This rainy front flight reminds a little of Riders of the Storm of the Doors...

When the sun is shining, the black stone makes a good thermic spot.

At launch be careful with your lines. The stone is metamorphic, so it is very irregular and has in some parts sharp ends. So when you pull the lines make sure they didn't get tangled.

You have the big savanas to land everywhere.