El Paují is a small community 70 km west of Santa Elena de Uairén along a rough unpaved road. It started as a remote artist's colony in the 1980s and still has that flavour: organic gardens, hand-built guesthouses, a tiny gallery, and a slow rhythm at odds with the gold-mining country around it.
The setting is the draw. Paují sits among low tepuis and clear rivers, with several short walks to viewpoints, swimming holes, and a sweep of forested escarpment known as El Abismo, where the savanna drops abruptly into Amazonian rainforest. It is a place to slow down for a few days rather than tick off sights.