The "Catatumbo Lightning": Venezuela's eternal storm
Reuters
2014-11-07
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In 1981, then-surfer Alan Highton came to Venezuela from his native Barbados in love with a local girl. Years later he married her, learned Spanish and started to work as a tour guide in the Andean state of Merida, where he lives.
One afternoon, in the distance, he saw the Catatumbo lightning but, as he recalled, "I didn't know it was anything special."
It was not until 1995, when he reached Lake Maracaibo on a visit to see its colorful stilts, when he was captivated by this unique natural phenomenon. Highton bought a stilt house on the lake and started to bring visitors to see the lightning.
"It's the combination of these mountains, the temperature of the atmosphere of these mountains compared to the temperature of the lake and the sequence of winds that causes these lightning storms," Highton, a 51-year-old entomologist, explained.
He made highlighting Venezuela's potential for ecotourism his passion. With the Guinness A
In 1981, then-surfer Alan Highton came to Venezuela from his native Barbados in love with a local girl. Years later he married her, learned Spanish and started to work as a tour guide in the Andean state of Merida, where he lives.
One afternoon, in the distance, he saw the Catatumbo lightning but, as he recalled, "I didn't know it was anything special."
It was not until 1995, when he reached Lake Maracaibo on a visit to see its colorful stilts, when he was captivated by this unique natural phenomenon. Highton bought a stilt house on the lake and started to bring visitors to see the lightning.
"It's the combination of these mountains, the temperature of the atmosphere of these mountains compared to the temperature of the lake and the sequence of winds that causes these lightning storms," Highton, a 51-year-old entomologist, explained.
He made highlighting Venezuela's potential for ecotourism his passion. With the Guinness A
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