We had a good time in Venezuela with no hassles which was great! We also met some great people to do things with along the way and had a fast track experience of learning the basics of Spanish!! We are getting by with the main things so thats good! Hard work sometimes though!
Some facts and laughs about our time there:
- You can fill up your 60 litre petrol tank for US$2 in Venezuela, cheapest in the world!
- Every driver is late for a meeting!! We feared for our lives many times at 150km/hr, passing trucks on blind rises or with on coming traffic...there is of course room for 3 cars on the road so use that space! Even buses do it and just hoot in case someone is coming around the next corner...
- You can buy coffee or other drinks along the highway come rain or shine...with the traffic as bad as it is in the capital, Caracas, its no problem to stop for a drink!
- Chavez, the president, has insisted that their currency is strong so has set the rate at 2.15 to the US$...so unrealistic therefore the black market rate is about 3 and in December it was 5! He has also and knocked off 3 zero´s from the currency...
- Inflation was at 37% when we got there, therefore the locals are really suffering !
And now for the things we got up to...
Angel Falls; highest waterfall in the world, dropping 979m from the cliff into a cascade below
After a broken down bus not arriving we were put into a taxi to go across Caracas in bad traffic to another terminal to buy another bus ticket...all not knowing how to speak Spanish! This was our first adventure but we eventually got to Ciudad Bolivar! From there we did a tour to Angel Falls which was a great adventure...got to walk behind amazingly powerful waterfalls which was incredible and also took a wooden dugout canoe up the river and rapids (with an engine of course!) for 4 hours to the falls, swimming along the way and hiked to a great viewpoint of the falls. It was raining most of the hike but luckily we got to see the falls between some cloud spells. We slept in hammocks both nights (new experience for us!!) but think we were tired enough to pass out in them! We were with a great crowd too so had lots of fun!
The Orinoco Delta (the size of the Netherlands)
We then travelled on with a French couple who did the falls with us to the Delta. Was so interesting visting the Warao Indian communities and seeing how primitively they live....and then you walk around their homes and see some washing machines...BIZZARE...they live in open sided huts built on stilts on the banks and then to see that modern influence was quite funny! And then you go to another house and they have a TV and DVD setup...must be the communal MOVIE HOUSE! Saw lots of birds, parrots, macaws, tucans, TARANCHULA spider...yuk!, fresh water dolphin, monkeys, heard and saw some LOUD howler monkeys too...quite a sound! and a caged up puma...and loads of mozzies but luckily we had nets over our hammocks sleeping which helped.
Santa Fe, Carribean beaches
After the Delta we headed to the coast and met some great people to spend time with again. We enjoyed our time swimming, playing bat & ball and going on a boat trip to the islands of the National Park...saw loads of dolphins and got to snorkel which was fun. Unfortunately some of the beaches and the Carribean sea around them was full of litter which had washed down & blown in from the mountain towns.
Merida; the Venezuelan Andes
After a 16 hr bus ride which took 24 hours because of breaking down we arrived in Merida. A great mountain town famous for having the highest cable car in the world and an ice cream shop in the Guiness book of records with over 800 flavours (not each day though!). Some really odd ones include garlic, calamari, cheese, spaghetti etc! We went canyoning one day which was really scary!!! Rather hectic as the water bashes against you/your head while you trying to abseil down this slippery waterfall 12m or 6m high!!! We felt rather out of control most of the time but enjoyed it!
Then next day we went in a jeep to this village high up in the Andes on a cliff hugging narrow road which was just as scary looking at the valley far below! Took us 6 hours instead of 4 on this road...you guessed it...we broke down a few times!! The accelerator cable snapped but nothing a spring and some rope would'nt fix, just the way it had before with other things under the bonnet! Really beautiful drive though and so remote..crazy that people live in these way out places and farm on hillsides as steep!! Stayed the night there and then started a hike the next day across the Andes to the cable car...oh my gosh!! Steep uphill climb 80% of the way for 7 hours...not a great idea for the unfit like us and the altitude didn´t help!! And it was cold, windy and raining so not that fun but was a good experience and practice for Machu Pichu...
And now Peru...
We are now in Peru in the Andes (these mountains may be a theme for this continent like the Rockies were in America!) We are loving the views from our room, there are amazing snow covered peaks all around the town we staying in. Did a tour to a glacier which was great and another hike by ourselves to a glacial lake which was incredible...amazing blue but freezing up there...was even snowing so didn´t stay up there too long !! The taxi ride there was adventure enough with 8 of us squeezed into a Toyota Corolla station wagon along with baggage inside & on top! He even stopped along the way for a passenger to jump out, catch a stray chicken & jump back in...hilarious!
We are meeting up with Guy and Chantelle on the 7th so are so excited to see them and catch up and spend the next 3 months in South America with them...
