We were back in the big, bad city of Caracas, where the Dragoman tour ended. But I enjoyed it so much, I decided to stow away on board for the next leg towards Brazil! So it was goodbye to the old passengers, and hello to the new ones. Sally, Suzie and Tony were also staying on board, as far as Rio. On our way out from Caracas, we saw the slums on the outskirts, which was quite a shock. Hundreds and hundreds of basic cinderblock and brick buildings crammed together, literally on top of each other using every single available bit [View Full Entry]

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After a few days of mucking around in the wilderness, it was time for a spot of sun, surf and sand. So we headed to the small fishing village of Puerto Colombia, in Harry Potter National Park. (It's not really called that. It's actually called Henri Pittier National Park, after the founder of the Venezuelan National Park scheme). One half of the park is mountains and cloudforest, and the other half is miles of unspoilt beaches and coastline. 7% of the world's species of birds are found here! On the way to the park, we were boarded by the National Guard, [View Full Entry]

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It was time to head deeper into Venezuela, and we had a happy reunion to kick things off. Dave "The Hat" and Cameron had finally caught up with us. Dave "The Hat" is so called because no-one has ever seen him without a hat, and he has a collection of SEVENTY hats. It is entirely possible that he showers in a hat. Cameron is our overland truck, named after Cameron Diaz. (all the Dragoman fleet are named after supermodels and actresses). When she turned up, half our group ran over and gave her a big hug and a kiss. Dave did [View Full Entry]

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... and other observations, facts and snippets. 1. There are hotels which specialise in renting rooms by the hour. They are known as "Love Hotels" 2. It is impossible to order a large coffee. Coffee is served expresso style everywhere, in little shot-glass shaped cups 3. If you are vegatarian, it isn´t enough to say that you don´t eat "carne" (meat). Chicken is in a different lingustic class, and therefore doesn´t count as meat! 4. There appears to be only one beer company over here: Polar. I´ve drunk plain Polar, Polar Pilsnen, Polar Ice, Polarcita, and Polar Light. They all taste [View Full Entry]

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Another early start at 7am, and a long drive to witness an unusual phenomenon which is unique to Venezuela; the Catatumbo Lightning. There is a particular area, no more than 20 kilometres square, where lightning occurs continually at night. Strikes occur between 30 and 100 times a minute, apparently enough to read a book by. But curiously, these strikes are not accompanied by thunder. Scientists have studied this phenomenon, but no-one really knows why it occurrs, or why it only occurs here. It is not a guaranteed occurance however. On average it will occur about 300 nights each year. Would we [View Full Entry]

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I was apprehensive about visiting Venezuela. I had spoken to three travellers who all said the same thing: "Colombia isn´t too bad these days. It´s Venezuela you need to worry about". Our original plan was to enter Venezuela overland, crossing the Colombian border. Unfortunately the foreign office advice for Colombia had recently changed, and they were advising against travelling within 50 miles of the Venezuelan border, due to increased guerilla activity. The Colombian Army and the Venezuelan National Guard had been mobilised along each side of the border. So, our schedule was changed, and our contingency plan was to take two [View Full Entry]

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Our overland truck was still not with us with us. It was currently taking a significant detour through the backroads of Colombia, avoiding known blackspots where vehicles have been held up by bandits, and avoiding the areas where guerillas were potentially active. It would catch up with us in a few days time. In the meantime, we took another flight to the city of Cartagena, on the north coast. (To give you an idea of the size of Colombia, the country has almost 2,000 km of coastline!) Cartagena is situated on the Carribean Sea, and was one of Colombia´s first cities [View Full Entry]

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We initially had some excitement planned for our next day in Colombia; visiting a bulletproof vest factory, and testing one out. Yes, that´s right, the brave amongst us could try on a vest and be shot at. Unfortunately they were going to charge too much for the "ruined vests", so we didn´t do it in the end. So, we drove four hours north of Bogota to the beautiful village of Villa De Leyva. Founded in 1533, it remains untouched by modern architecture, retaining all the original buildings. If it wasn´t for the occasional car lurching along it´s cobbled streets, you´d think [View Full Entry]

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Today was my birthday, and I had a rude awakening at 5am for the next stage in my adventures. We were heading for Colombia, and it was to be a long day of travel. We had to allow extra time in case of problems at the Ecuador/Colombian border. For this portion of my travels, I decided to use an overland adventure company called Dragoman. They are one of only two companies worldwide who enter Colombia, due to the volatile situations and potentially dangerous areas. I thought it would be safer to use a company with good local knowledge and track record. [View Full Entry]

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My last stop in Ecudaor before heading off into Colombia was the market town of Otavalo. A bustling and colourful affair, Otavalo´s Saturday market is one of Ecuador´s finest. Great for people watching. My favourite sight was a women walking around with twenty fluffy duckings waddling behind her, ready for sale! The indoor meat market was also interesting. It seems that NO part of any animal goes to waste. I saw sheets of stomach lining and coils of intestine being sliced into managable chunks. There were boxes of chicken heads and chicken feet, and great vats of animal bits being rendered [View Full Entry]

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