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43-589: Most of the massif is in Venezuelan territory, but its southeastern ridge forms part of the Brazil–Venezuela border, and this ridge is where the highest point in the massif, Pico da Neblina , is located. At 2,995 metres (9,826 ft) above sea level , Pico da Neblina is also the highest point in the entire country of Brazil, the highest point in the Guiana Shield , and the highest South American mountain east of

86-622: A 1.52-metre difference. There was no new expedition or field measurement at the time; the new value is simply a mathematical recalculation of the altitude, based on the previously obtained GPS field data, taking into account a newly available, more precise mapping of the Brazilian territory regarding the geoid (the imaginary surface based on the Earth 's gravitational field that is the reference for altitudes). This explains why Pico da Neblina and Pico 31 de Março, which are next to each other, had both exactly

129-644: A few kilometres; from there the peak rises sharply. The Venezuelan side of the massif is hillier and the altitude gradient to the northern plains is less abrupt, although deep chasms and high walls still exist. Neighbouring Pico 31 de Março can be considered a secondary summit of Pico da Neblina; it has a smoother, rounder shape and is sometimes difficult to be clearly distinguished from Pico da Neblina on photographs, depending on angle and distance. Due to Pico da Neblina's equatorial latitude, while it can be cold on top, sub-freezing temperatures and frost appear to be rare (no permanent measurements are undertaken), and there

172-548: A group of carnivorous plant enthusiasts climbed Pico da Neblina following a 30 km hike up the previously unexplored northeastern ridge. In 1972, Maguireocharis neblinae Steyerm. in the family Rubiaceae , was published and named after the massif and the explorer, Bassett Maguire. Cerro de la Neblina is sometimes referred to as the Neblina Massif , though this term may also encompass Cerro Aracamuni and Cerro Avispa (a grouping of mountains more precisely known as

215-434: A jungle trek in the rainforest that can be as hard and challenging as the climb itself. Rescue is close to impossible in the area. Onchocerciasis or "river blindness," a parasitic disease that can cause permanent blindness and is transmitted by a black fly , is endemic in the area, albeit with a low incidence; malaria and yellow fever transmission are also possible. Therefore, climbers are advised not only to take

258-489: A member of a Brazilian Army expedition, put it at 2,993.78 m (9,822 ft). This was then officially recognised by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), the federal government's official geographic survey and census agency, which jointly organised the expedition. In February 2016, IBGE slightly revised again the official altitude of Pico da Neblina to 2,995.30 metres (9,827.1 ft),

301-641: Is a national park in the state of Amazonas in the north of Brazil, bordering on Venezuela . It overlaps with several indigenous territories , which creates tensions over land use, as does the military presence due to the border location. The park includes lowlands around the Rio Negro, partly flooded, and mountains that include the highest peak in Brazil, after which the park is named. The wide variety of physical environments supports great biodiversity, including several endangered species. The Pico da Neblina National Park

344-665: Is a common misconception to refer to this mountain as the highest point in South America outside the Andes while ignoring the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Colombia . As the peak's name suggests, it is shrouded in dense clouds most of the time. It was first ascended in 1965 by members of a Brazilian Army expedition. Officially, Pico da Neblina is located in the municipality of Santa Isabel do Rio Negro , state of Amazonas . However,

387-595: Is administered by the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio). The consultative council was created by ordinance 75 of 25 June 2012. A federal court decision published on 20 July 2012 discussed a project to build a local road from km 112 of highway BR-307 to the 5th special platoon of the Brazilian army frontier force based in an area near the Ariabu village of the Yanomami Indians in

430-511: Is also located within the territory of the Yanomami people's reservation. Pico da Neblina is often mentioned as being on the exact border between Brazil and Venezuela . This is true for its massif as a whole, but the main summit is wholly in Brazil, 687 metres from the actual border. It is also sometimes mentioned as being the highest point in South America outside of the Andes , but this

473-636: Is an extensive plain with altitudes from 80 to 160 metres (260 to 520 ft), based on precambrian rocks of the Guianese complex. The park is drained by left tributaries of the black water Rio Negro, including the Demiti , Cauburis and Maraiuá rivers. Much of the park is also part of an indigenous territory . The north and east of the park cover part of the Yanomami Indigenous Territory . The Yanomami Indigenous Territory includes about 50% of

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516-511: Is contained in the Brazilian Pico da Neblina National Park ; its northern slopes are also protected in Venezuela's Serranía de la Neblina National Park . The twin parks, together with the neighbouring Parima Tapirapecó National Park (Venezuela), form a protected area complex of about 80,000 km², possibly the largest national park system in tropical rainforests in the world. Pico da Neblina

559-596: Is divided between the municipalities of São Gabriel da Cachoeira (29.21%) and Santa Isabel do Rio Negro (70.79%) in the state of Amazonas. It has an area of 2,252,616.84 hectares (5,566,337.4 acres). The park may be accessed by boat along the Igarapé Itamirim or the Cauaburi and Sá rivers. It may also be reached by small airplane from Manaus . The park adjoins the Serranía de la Neblina National Park in Venezuela, to

602-808: Is home a rich variety of fauna, including several endangered species. The primate golden-backed uakari ( Cacajao melanocephalus ) is still abundant in the area, although its habitat has been reduced elsewhere, as is the Guianan cock-of-the-rock ( Rupicola rupicola ), a small orange bird that inhabits forested areas. Other species include the bush dog ( Speothos venaticus ), jaguar ( Panthera onca ), black hawk-eagle ( Spizaetus tyrannus ) and ornate hawk-eagle ( Spizaetus ornatus ), South American tapir ( Tapirus terrestris ), Titi monkey species, toco toucan ( Ramphastos toco ), black curassow ( Crax alector ) and grey-winged trumpeter ( Psophia crepitans ). The endangered white-bellied spider monkey ( Ateles belzebuth )

645-478: Is no snow. One non-authoritative source gives an average temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) during the day and 6 °C (43 °F) at night. There is little documentation available today on the peak's discovery, and virtually none of it is authoritative, even though Brazilians only discovered the mountain fairly recently, in the mid-20th century. This late discovery can be understood if one remembers how extremely remote, inaccessible and uninhabited that part of

688-447: Is not correct either: the title belongs to Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Colombia , which is almost twice the height of Pico da Neblina and completely detached from the Andes. However, Pico da Neblina is indeed the highest point east of the Andes range, and therefore of a large portion of the continent. Neighbouring Pico 31 de Março, which is on the precise international border, is also

731-692: Is on the northwestern boundary of the Guiana Craton . Crystalline rock formations of the Guiana Plateau predominate, but there are also sedimentary rocks of the Roraima group. The terrain covers parts of the Roraima sedimentary plateau, the Amazonas-Orinoco plateau and the Rio Branco-Rio Negro pediplane. The Roraima plateau has altitudes of 1,200 to 3,014 metres (3,937 to 9,888 ft) and includes

774-635: Is the highest peak in Brazil , 2,995.3 metres (9,827 ft) above sea level, in the Serra da Neblina , part of the Serra do Imeri , a section of the Guiana Highlands on the Brazil-Venezuela border . As determined by a border survey expedition in 1962, its summit lies just within Brazilian territory, at a horizontal distance of only 687 m (2,254 ft) from the Venezuelan border at Pico 31 de Março . It

817-450: The Amazon region is even today, and that it could hardly be expected that such a high mountain (by Brazilian standards) could be found standing next to the vast, low-lying Amazon Basin , even though it was known that there were mountains in that area. Moreover, as its own name states, Pico da Neblina is clouded and hidden from view most of the time. All this led to it only being discovered in

860-604: The Neblina–Aracamuni Massif ). The Neblina–Aracamuni Massif has a total summit area of roughly 473 km (183 sq mi) and an estimated slope area of 1,515 km (585 sq mi), of which Cerro de la Neblina accounts for 235 km (91 sq mi) and 857 km (331 sq mi), respectively. Maguire's passage to Venezuela was provided by Gulf Oil executive Willard F. Jones . Pico da Neblina Pico da Neblina ( Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈpiku dɐ neˈblĩnɐ] , Mist Peak )

903-456: The 1950s. The exact date and circumstances are obscure and not documented, but a popular story often heard in Brazil says that it was supposedly seen and reported by an airline pilot who overflew it at a luckily cloudless moment. However, the massif was known well before that on the Venezuelan side, where it was called Cerro Jimé . In 1954, eight years before the Pico da Neblina was successfully climbed,

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946-484: The Andes. Pico da Neblina is inside Brazilian territory, but only a few hundred metres from the Venezuelan border. The slightly lower Pico 31 de Março or Pico Phelps , 2,974 metres (9,757 ft) a.s.l., lies next to Pico da Neblina, on the precise international border. Pico 31 de Março/Phelps is Brazil's second-highest mountain and the highest in Venezuela outside of the Andes . The massif's other named peaks include Pico Cardona , Pico Maguire , and Pico Zuloaga . To

989-650: The Associação Yanomami do Rio Cauaburi e Afluentes (AYRCA) have been working together to reopen the park and organize tourist activity, particularly visits to the Pico da Neblina. Researchers must obtain permission from ICMBio's Biodiversity Information and Authorization System. If the research area includes indigenous land, they must also get approval from FUNAI. Average annual rainfall is 3,500 to 4,000 millimetres (140 to 160 in), with no pronounced wet or dry seasons. Temperatures average 26 °C (79 °F) and range from 9 to 40 °C (48 to 104 °F). At

1032-589: The Matucará region of São Gabriel da Cachoeira. The court concluded that the constitution did not allow such a project without prior study of the environmental impact and approval by the Federal Public Ministry, Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) and FUNAI. As of April 2015 there was no management plan. The park is in the Western Amazonian geological province and

1075-522: The Pico da Neblina. The park contains the two highest peaks in Brazil, the 3,014 metres (9,888 ft) Pico da Neblina ("Cloud Peak") and the 2,992 metres (9,816 ft) Pico 31 de Março . The Yanomami call the peaks "Yaripo" and "Masiripiwei". The Amazonas-Orinoco plateau is an extensive mountainous area with altitudes from 600 to 2,000 metres (2,000 to 6,600 ft) and includes the Padre, Marié Mirim and Imeri ranges. The Rio Branco-Rio Negro pediplane

1118-460: The area was visited from the north by an expedition led by botanist Bassett Maguire , who reached the northern summit plateau of the massif and observed the highest peak, then unnamed, estimating it to be between "8,000-9,000 feet". The whole massif was named Cerro de la Neblina , since Maguire and Reynolds considered at the time that the massif constituted a separate formation from the Imeri range to

1161-542: The base camp for the last and steepest part of the climb. While the panners' presence there is technically illegal, they are widely tolerated by Brazilian authorities, and Czaban speculates that this would be because in such a remote area, they are believed to watch the border and nature better than the park rangers and the army would have the means to do. Czaban reports them to be very friendly and helpful. Pico da Neblina National Park Pico da Neblina National Park ( Portuguese : Parque Nacional do Pico da Neblina )

1204-552: The first steps of the Guiana Plateau to about 1,000 metres (3,300 ft), followed by montane forests. Lichens and bromeliads are found up to 2,000 metres (6,600 ft). There are also alpine meadows in the tabular plateaus. Common trees in the dense forest areas include Caraioa taquari , Clusia columnaris and Mauritia flexuosa . The densest formations also include Micropholis guianensis , Licania membranacea , Swartzia viridifolia , Pouteria engleri , Qualea albiflora and Astrocaryum mumbaca . Common trees in

1247-810: The highest Brazilian mountain outside of the Amazon region, and the third-highest overall, after Pico da Neblina and 31 de Março. Due to its location in a national park in a border area that is also part of Yanomami territory, access to the area is restricted and depends on a special permit by the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio), the Brazilian government organisation responsible for national parks. The permit can be obtained at ICMBio's office in São Gabriel da Cachoeira , but all climbers must take an accredited local guide. A four-day trek each way should be expected, three of which consisting of

1290-470: The highest point in Venezuela outside of the Andes. For 39 years, based on an uncontested measurement performed in 1965 by topographer José Ambrósio de Miranda Pombo, using a theodolite , the elevation of Pico da Neblina was thought to be 3,014 metres (9,888 ft), but a much more accurate measurement performed in 2004 with state-of-the-art GPS equipment by cartographer Marco Aurélio de Almeida Lima,

1333-735: The highest points the temperatures may fall to 0 °C (32 °F). The park is in the Guayanan Highlands moist forests ecoregion. It has a great variety of vegetation formations with different endemic and rare plants. The first botanists who visited the park consider that it is one of the places with the greatest biodiversity and endemism on the planet, but there has been a lack of detailed studies to confirm this. Vegetation types include campinarana (3%), dense rainforest (35%) and contact between campinarana and rainforest (62%). The vegetation formation include terra firme forests, igapós and small areas of campinarana. Submontane forests climb

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1376-514: The mountain is not directly accessible from the urban seat of the municipality, which is about 180 km (112 mi) away, and federal authority over the national park, the Yanomami reservation and the border security area supersedes municipal authority in all practical respects. The nearest city is actually São Gabriel da Cachoeira , about 140 km (87 mi) in a straight line, from where virtually all climbing expeditions depart. The mountain

1419-462: The name Cerro de la Neblina , which is used in Venezuela to refer to the whole massif. The subsidiary summit on the Venezuelan-Brazilian border was named Pico 31 de Março in Brazil, but it is now known as Pico Phelps in Venezuela. In the 1950s, it was not yet clear whether Pico da Neblina was in Brazilian or Venezuelan territory, and its precise elevation was not yet known. Therefore, it

1462-466: The north of Cerro de la Neblina lie the smaller outcrops of Cerro Aracamuni and Cerro Avispa , both reaching approximately 1,600 metres (5,200 ft) in elevation. The massif was first explored in 1954 by an American expedition led by Bassett Maguire of the New York Botanical Garden that performed an aerial inspection and then climbed the massif's northwestern slopes. In January 1999,

1505-549: The north. To the south it is bounded by the Rio Negro . The park and the Balaio Indigenous Territory surround the 36,900 hectares (91,000 acres) Morro dos Seis Lagos Biological Reserve , created in 1990. The park would be included in the proposed Northern Amazon Ecological Corridor . The Pico da Neblina National Park was created on World Environment Day, 5 June 1979, by President General João Figueiredo . The park

1548-523: The open forest include Humiria balsamifera , Eperua purpurea , and Hevea rigidifolia . Other trees in the most open formations are Attalea racemosa , Pouteria guianensis , and Caryocar glabrum . The areas of campinarana contain caranã ( Mauritia carana ), tamaquaré ( Caraipa grandiflora ) and Pau-amarelo ( Lissocarpa benthamii ). Endemic flora include Didymopanax plurispicatus , Hortia neblinensis , Casearia neblinae , Gustavia acuminata and Heliamphora neblinae . The park

1591-504: The park is in a border area there is a military presence, which also causes problems. The park suffers from conflicts associated with the presence of gold prospectors and extractors of lianas , which cause irreversible damage. In some areas the prospectors cause mercury contamination. There is also illegal mining , logging and extraction of forests products. The Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio), Fundação Nacional do Índio (FUNAI: National Indian Foundation) and

1634-812: The park. The park overlaps with the Médio Rio Negro II Indigenous Territory in the south. The west of the park contains 93.73% of the 257,000 hectares (640,000 acres) Balaio Indigenous Territory , approved in 2009. The northwest overlaps with the Cué-cué/Marabitanas Indigenous Territory . There are 46 communities in the indigenous territories, including members of the Yanomami, Tucano , Tuyuca , Desano , Baniwa , Koripako , Carapanã , Baré , Tariana , Pira-tapuya , Yepamasã , Kobéwa and Warekena ethnic groups. The overlap causes problems due to conflicting demands of park management and indigenous sovereignty. Since

1677-413: The same altitude correction. The Neblina Massif is composed of a tilted block of sandstone overlying Precambrian metamorphic rocks . The peak is an impressive sharp rock pyramid or tooth, towering high (when the peak is visible) over the nearby lowlands on the Brazilian side, as the Imeri range quickly rises from only about 100 metres above sea level to about 2,000 metres at the base of the peak in just

1720-449: The southeast. Soon after the expedition, the highest peak, although unclimbed, was named Pico Phelps in honour of eminent ornithologist William H. Phelps Jr. At that time, the peak was thought to lie entirely within Venezuelan territory. During the 1962 Brazilian expedition, it was determined that the highest summit lies entirely in Brazil. The Brazilian expedition renamed the summit peak to Pico da Neblina , causing some confusion with

1763-523: The utmost precaution in avoiding insect bites but also to discuss preventive and/or therapeutic strategies with qualified physicians who are familiar with tropical diseases . Robson Czaban, a Brazilian photographer who climbed Pico da Neblina in 1998, reports on his adventure account (in Portuguese) that there are always some gold panners on a small plateau just below the peak, at about 2,000 metres (6,600 ft), called Garimpo do Tucano, which serves as

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1806-428: Was created by decree 83.550 with an estimated area of 2,200,000 hectares (5,400,000 acres) to protect fauna, flora and natural beauty. It is classed as IUCN protected area category II (national park). At the recommendation of the Federal Public Ministry the park was closed to the public from 2003 due to uncontrolled tourism which was causing social impacts on the resident population and environmental problems. The park

1849-420: Was still widely held for many years after the peak's discovery that Brazil's highest mountain was Pico da Bandeira (2,891 m or 9,486 ft), between the southeastern states of Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo , in a much more populated, developed and easily accessible region. Only in 1965 it was found and became widely known that Pico da Neblina was the country's highest mountain. Pico da Bandeira remains

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