A Caribbean adventure

Get a coffee, this is quite a long update.

Since I last posted in Mérida, my travels have taken me Northwards and Eastwards. I first traveled to Coro on the north western coast at the base of penensula Paraguanà. Here I checked into the Posada Turistica Gallo where, as it turns out, everyone speaks french - the owner Eric, his wife and the other travellers! This was a good opportunity to grease my French a bit but found myself invariably throwing in Spanish words (I can`t grease my Spanish because it`s still missing a few large gears). My first day in Coro was spent taking it easy as I had arrived at 5:30am - more reading, some beer and naps in hammocks.

The second day I went on a 4x4 tour of the peninsula with the owner and two girls from Slovakia, Katerina and Susana. The vegetation is arid and sparse and some areas are covered in sand dunes (although not as impressive as those around Ica, Peru). We visited the national park Médanos, home to some interesting and rare species of lizards, spiders, and a prehistoric plant species dating 35 million years back. Other parts of the tour included the salinas, a dip in the sea near a big wreak, flamingo watching and the first church ever built in South America (now designated a chapel by the Vatican).

the oldest church in South America

another 8-legged critter, this time in blue and orange

a very pink salt lagoon

As for traveling, I decided to skip Chichiriviche and the surroundings as a chemical spill in the 90s has apparently killed much of the coral and I figured diving might be disapointing. So the next day was a long hard day´s traveling, from Coro to Valencia to Maracay to Puerto Colombia.

Finally, the real Caribbean, with it´s romantic allure of turquoise waters and coconut palm beaches! Almost as soon as I arrived I was offered a room by one of the locals. They do this often and their prices more often than not beat those of the posadas. My first day in Puerto Colombia was spent seeing the town and the beautiful Playa Grande (big beach). I heard at one of the tourist shops that the diving in the area was among the best in Venezuela and that there was a "dive shop" at one of the nearby beaches, Playa Cepe. I decided to go check it out and got one of the boats that go from beach to beach. "Yes, Yes. It´s possible to come back today" said the skipper, so off I went. About 40 min and 4 beaches later I was dropped off at playa Cepe - smaller, more isolated and truly beautiful!

playa Cepe

The diving, as it turns out, is extremely unorganized: "Yes tomorrow, if we can get a boat. We´ll see how many people there are. Don´t know at what time we´ll open" kind of thing. So I spent some time on the beach reading and waiting for a boat back. Nada, and the sun was getting low. Schedules here are very unreliable, especially if it`s quiet, and you have to be flexible. By sunset I was chatting to a local, Omar, and his girlfriend from Austria (if I remember her name, I´ll put it in here). By sunset we were having some of the traditional drink in these parts - rum! (see Pirates of the Caribbean). As for sleeping, I borrowed a hammock from one of the local artisans and strung it up right there between two palm trees.

The next morning I decided not to go through the hassle of organizing a dive and went snorkeling. The visibility was excellent and the water the perfect temperature. There is quite a lot of sea life and I even saw a long horned cowfish. Around midday I got a boat back and spent the rest of the day swimming at playa grande at Puerto Colombia. I`ve never seen such clear waters - it was perfect!

undu da sea...

sunset in Puerto Colombia, with the remnance of a more dangerous era

dusk on the Caribbean

I have since decided to move on and Saturday I had another hard days traveling; from Puerto Colombia is a beautiful bus ride to Maracay, over the mountains (2000m+) and through beautiful cloud forest on a very bendy road. From Maracay I traveled to Caracas and straight to Puerto la Cruz, a modern city with a pleasant beachfront. Today I plan to go to Santa Fe and stay there for a while before moving on to see the famous oilbird caves and possibly Isla Margarita.

the road between Puerto Colombia and Maracay

Adios all