Hello,

finally found some time for another tepui field trip report. One of the most incredible landscapes I have ever been to was the valley of the crystals on Roraima tepui.


The ground was totally covered with millions of quartz crystals.


Some of those crystals in detail - really big ones among them:






And among those crystals - cps growing on pure quartz, like D. roraimae




Utricularia pubescens, growing together with D. roraimae


And even U. quelchii! (remember reading that this species MUST have an open, light soil mix? )


Hard to give an impression of this stunning place (esp. the sparkling of the crystals was something that I wasn't able to catch). Just the best shots I could get. Hope you like it

Martin

spectacular!! WOW!!! just incredible shots martin. Damn!! I do want to visit these places one day. thanks for sharing.

AMAZING! U. quelchii growing in quartz.

Thank you for posting this.

Hi Martin,

wow, what a nice location.
These crystals are really very beautiful, a very good contrast to the plants growing there.
And very interesting that U. quelchii can also grow in such substrates.

Many thanks for sharing.

Best regards,

Dani

Truly amazing place!
crazy how these plants are able to grow among the crystals.
The D. roraimae and U. pubescens make a beautiful contrast.

Nadja

These are the most incredible pics I've ever seen...the colour contrast between the red D.roraimae and the pure white quartz is fantastic!

Hi Martin,

are stunning shots, I need to know this site personally.

Thanks for sharing.

mythic place,so beautiful !!!!!
thank you

Thanks for the nice comments

Gerald, I guess you have been there too, haven't you?

Absolutely wonderful.
Thanks for sharing ;-).

Martin, that sure brought back some memories. We'll have to get ourselves organised and get back there one day.

Absolutely gorgeous! A very fantastic place to visit!
Many thanks for sharing.

Aymeric

Great to finally see some good pictures of this amazing place! I've heard about it from several people who had been there for various reasons over the years. Quite a bit of the original crystals had been poached over the years, but for the last 10 years or so, the locals guard them pretty well. I heard a few stories of how someone got caught with a few as he attempted to leave, and was encountered by a few armed guards who actually escorted him on a 3 day journey back to the site and made him put it back exactly where he found it, and charged him with their salaries and expenses, plus a severe fine afterward. - Rich

really amazing...!

WoW! Breathtaking combination to see d. roraimae, nicely intensively redden up and the snow-white perfectly symetrical huge quartz crystals! The whole place looks like from another planet and is one of those precious spots in the world everyone would like to see before they die. Lucky you! Great pictures, thanx for posting them here for us! Too bad pics cannot transmit atmo of such place!

Very nice pictures!
Our guide told us not to take crystals. Backpacks are opened when you leave the Roraima area. If the rangers discover crystals, our guide would loose his license for 6 months. Plus a severe afterward for us so...
Is it the crystal valley that is close to the triple point? (The one I didn't see, but I don't think so). There are a few places where you can find crystals.

Hi Darren - already ages ago - about time for a return ;-) Yes, we do have to go back there one day!

Laurent - the place was indeed near triple point. BTW - of course I have put the crystals back to their place after taking the photos. No souvenirs from the tepuis except the pictures and the memories.

Regards

Martin

Yes, of course, that was not in my mind. I was telling my own experience.
I have lots of pictures too, and pictures can't tell how it was (in april)...
I only regret not to have collected a few seeds of utricularia humboldtii and quelchii.
Sorry for my english.

Regards,

Laurent.

Astounding photos. Thanks for sharing them.

Greg

Great place and pics!

The plants seem to enjoy this inert substrate

But the quartz doesn´t encourage flowering on U. quelchii, does it?

Else I must pay the "world of stones" shop a visit and look for some quartz chrystals to add to my U. quelchii soil....

I don´t think I´ll ever visit this place myself, but I hope to fly there as a ghost after I´ved died!



Cheers,

Andy

that place is really beautiful! It is amazing how some plants manage to survive in hostile environments so .... really beautiful!!!

hi martin
not yet !!!! but much studied
I prepare this exceptional trip carefully

where is heliamphora ????
have a nice day all

Actually, ... That's Not-R-'Bard'-Question.

Quartzite-Sand is Not-as-INERT as-We Once-thought and is-in-Fact Quite-POROUS ie FULL-of Intertices.

It'll Actually 'Dissolve'-in-NEAT Sodium-Hydroxide to-Form Metasilicate ... Which Could-be-Viewed as Kind'a'-like: "LIQUID-Glass" ... Which Afteral is-R Supercooled Fluid anyway - Which-is 'Why' Windows after-about 100-Years are 'Thicker' on-The-Bottom than at-The-Top!!! >(*~*)< / >(*U^)<

Hi,



luckily it seldom rains NaOH on Roraima...

Gerald, sorry less time at the moment - but there will be a next report - with Heliamphora.

In between, a pic from friends who shared this trip with me - and a little bit of product placement

That's-R-'Nice' Joke ... but The-WEDGE-Reaction of 'Gley'-Podzolic Coastal-Plain Soils is-Capable of Producing BOTH Extreme-Acidity as-Well-as 'Bound'-Hydroxyl-ions of-the-Order of NEAT Sodium-hydroxide ... and Whenever You-Have The-Capicity to 'Break'-Bonds in-Chemistry You Also Have The-Ability to-Make-Them as-Well!!! >(*~*)<

Basically The Combination of EXTREME-Acidity & Alkalinity Always Tends-to Produces 'SALT' in-some Variation or-Form. IE [HCl + NaOH]

So-Having 'Discovered' that Quartzite-Sand Has-R Cation-&-Anion Exchange-Capacity on-R Lower order of ~100g/Litre Compared to-Peat's MASSIVE ~250g/Litre (Sphagnum) I'm 'Exploring' The-Possibility of Some-form of Back-Reaction from 'Salt' ... Somehow to-'Meet' or Match-UP-with The-Chemistry of The-WEDGE-Reaction.

I'm 'Expecting'-Something ... but I-don't-Know Just-'What' It'll-be ... but I'm Anticipating that it-Has-to-Be 'Surprising' ... for-Otherwise Nothing-else will 'Quite'-Fit The-Puzzle, I-Guess!!!??? >(*~*)< / >(*U^)<