Trinidad was not on our list of countries to visit, but it was the best way to fly from Caracas to Georgetown as there were no direct flights. We decided to stay a few days since we were there. It was strange arriving in Port of Spain. We had been travelling South America for two and a half months, so this english speaking Caribbean island was something very different. The taxi man spoke english and drove on the left. The cars were more modern and drivers more courteous. We stayed with Mona at her bed and breakfast, a lovely old colonial [View Full Entry]

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We were told that Caracas was big, ugly, unfriendly and dangerous. I am sure it is all those things but we went along determined to make the best of our time there. We were staying at the Hotel Floresta at Altamira. We had an 8th floor room with a great view. And a fridge! Our first job on arriving was to book a hotel near the airport for the night of the 30th. We had a very early flight and were warned that the road to the airport was dangerous at night. Only trouble was that because it was Copa America [View Full Entry]

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The drive from Maracay is magnificent, up a windy narrow mountain road then down the other side. So very pretty and a great view. There was a fair amount of traffic. The bus drivers are mad, barely slowing down to squeeze past the truck, and shouting a lot, persumably telling us to hurry up because we had plenty of room. Well ... maybe as much as an inch. Lots of cars had to reverse to let us past. And we had to reverse 2 or 3 times to get around some corners. Lots of fun! We stayed at Posada Alamania [View Full Entry]

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The original plan was to go rafting first at the Arassari Trek campsite in Aguas Blancas near Barinas but with all the recent rain it was decided to go do the wildlife bit of the trip first. We had Alan as our guide. A Barbados-born naturalist, he knows everything about the wildlife in Los Llanos. And he is particularly keen on butterflies and brought his butterfly net along on the trip. We were reunited with Cameron who had been driven over the border from Colombia by Dave. He was stopped 17 times by the National Guard who all figure [View Full Entry]

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Cartagena to Merida Originally we should have been traveling overland to Venezuela but trouble at the border meant that we had to fly. It was a difficult day. We took a 11:25 flight to Bogota, and should have flown to Caracas soon afterwards but, shock horror, the flight was delayed. It was only a couple of hours but it was likely to mean that we would miss the night bus to Merida. At Caracas we were a little worried about immigration. First, we were told you need proof of onward travel, which not everyone had. Second, we were told we would [View Full Entry]

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Of all the cities that we have visited so far in South America this one we have liked the most. With a history of pirates this town has forts and a Spanish colonial center next to a high rise resort area on a fantastic beach. But it is hot! When we left the plane the hot moist air hit us. Jose met us at the airport. He would be our host during our visit. He explained some history on the short ride to the hotel. We were staying at Hotel El Viajero inside the walls of the old town. Rooms had [View Full Entry]

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Of all the cities that we have visited so far in South America this one we have liked the most. With a history of pirates this town has forts and a Spanish colonial center next to a high rise resort area on a fantastic beach. But it is hot! When we left the plane the hot moist air hit us. Jose met us at the airport. He would be our host during our visit. He explained some history on the short ride to the hotel. We were staying at Hotel El Viajero inside the walls of the old town. Rooms [View Full Entry]

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We took a minibus from Bogota. He was an hour late then drove like a mad bugger north to Villa de Leyva. It took a while to get out of town. All the streets have been numbered. Carreras (avenues) and Calles (streets). We were staying around Calle 13. We saw signs for Calle 100 and more before we started to hit countryside. It was very pretty with lots of farmland - cows and crops. We stopped at the Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá. There was an old one that had to be closed because the water was making it unstable. The new [View Full Entry]

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Getting to Bogota This was the 4th leg of our Dragoman trip. We started in Quito and went to Otavalo where we had already been. It was a little more interesting this time because we caught the Saturday market. Didn't buy much but it was lovely to experience the full market with streets and streets of stalls. We left Otavalo very early in the morning. The hotel provided us with a packed breakfast. It was a couple of hours drive to the Colombian border. We were stamped out of Ecuador and into Colombia without incident. A guy called Russ met [View Full Entry]

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It was Saturday and our host in Quito, Byron, took us out for the day. He brought along Angela. We took a metro bus out to the last stop past the airport. We changed to a bus for Mitad del Mundo (the middle of the world .. ie. the equator). The entire journey of 1.5 hours cost only 35 cents. Always nice to have a local showing you the way. Basically the middle of the world is a big complex of tourist traps. Still it had a funny kind of charm. Got some great views from the top of the [View Full Entry]

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