On Sunday, I headed out of Caracas for the Caribbean coast. I had to transfer buses in Valencia which was a bit hectic and confusing for a non-Spanish speaker, but I figured it out and caught the right bus to Chichiriviche. Chichiriviche is a town on the Caribbean coast and is accessed from the highway by a 12km road through mangrove swamps. A guy on the bus lived across the street from the place I was staying so he showed me how to get there. I stayed at a great little posada across the street from the beach, with a huge garden and incredible owners (Carlos and Tachi). The guy spoke really good English as he studied for his bachelor and masters degrees in the US. When I arrived at their house, they gave me some of their beer and some of their dinner, which was awesome since I was starving from my Caracas diet. After visiting for a bit, I strolled around town and along the beach. Like most things in this country, the town is really rundown, but safe and friendly. Right off the coast there is a group if islands in Parque Nacional Morrocoy, which I could see from the beach. The beach is also lined with hundreds of little fishing boats, all painted bright colors. There are also huge flocks of these really big birds called Frigate birds that swarm and pester the fishermen. When I got back to the posada, the owners´ youngest son was awake so I played with him for awhile (he is two and a lot of fun). Carlos and I talked about politics for about two and half hours that night. The internet is monitored here so I can´t say alot, but Carlos and his family have been blacklisted by the government and banned from public schools and public banks, etc. Their kids even have to go to private school. It is really sad.
On Monday, Carlos took me to the town of Yaracal where his wife and sister-in-law teach school. On the way out of town through the mangrove swamps we saw a ton of flamingos wading around and poking their beaks into the mud. Cool! Also, we came up to a Guardia Nacional truck and some soldiers. One of the soldiers was poking a big stick in the water, while the other two stood behind him aiming their semi-automatics at the water. Carlos explained that we were driving through the crocodile zone. Apparently Venezuela used to have saltwater crocodiles and only a few are left now. Someone is trying to reintroduce them, but the soldiers go shoot them and such when they are bored. Hmmm. Good use of money. In Yaracal, Carlos and his extended family made a huge lunch of beans, rice, salad and fish. It was great- there were nine people and myself all crowded around a tiny table made for four probably. And the lunch was so yummy. When we got back to town, I went to a bakery and got a huge piece of delicious cake that I suppose was pineapple upside down cake. Oh man it was good. And pretty cheap. I ate it on the front porch of the posada with little frogs churping in the garden, the dogs and Alberto running laps around me, and watching the sunset. The sun was so red it turned the ocean and the little fishing boats red too. It was gorgeous. After sunset, I was reading my book out on the porch and we had a big blackout. All the street lights and all the building lights in the town were out. It was sooooo dark. I managed to find my headlamp so that Carlos and his daughter could light some candles and we could lock the doors and windows. It lasted for about an hour or so and then everything came back on again. Carlos said it happens at least four times a week. Sometimes the power surges so badly it burns through surge-protectors and fries computers and tvs and refrigerators. He was really frustrated about it as is understandable. That night a couple Venezuelan girl, Austrian guy) was also staying at the posada si we agreed to combine forces and get a boat out to the islands. Unfortunately, the posada no longer rents kayaks because people weren´t careful enough with them and they got holes and sunk.
Yesterday we got up nice and early and headed down to the dock to haggle with the boat guys. It was actually sunny which was great since it´s been cloudy all the other days. The Venezuelan speaks perfect Spanish of course so she got us a good deal. The boat guys just took us out in one of the little fishing boats that are everywhere. The water is so blue! It really is turquoise and then the white sand beaches! It is so beautiful. Mangroves, palms everywhere and the little islands dotted all over the bay. First we went to a small bay on the mainland. We were the only people there with the mangroves and palms. Behind the beach were green mountains with limestone cliffs and there was a reef a little ways out with several pelicans fishing. A flock of highlighter pink flamingos even flew over us. Wow. Of course the water is so warm. Carlos lended me a snorkel mask so I swam around the reef for awhile, but most of the coral is bleached and dead so I didn´t see too many fish. From the beach the water got deeper in stages so the color changed gradually from clear to deep blue. It was incredible. The boat guys came back about 3 hours later and fished a bit (they caught some lobsters and octopus and these HUGE snails) and then took us to Cayo Muerto, an island. There were lots of people there, but it was still just as beautiful. You could see back to town and two other islands and there were coconuts washed up on the beach. So Caribbean! After about another hour, we returned to the posada, showered and headed out to Coro where I am now. We had some trouble finding a hotel, but we found a sort of expensive one and then there was another blackout of course.
I woke up this morning absolutely fried from the sun yesterday. Ow it hurts! And that was through 5 reapplications of SPF 50! I am not built for the Caribbean I guess. Hope all is well at home. Love you all!
