Blogs from Isla Margarita, Insular, Venezuela, South America

We arrived in Isla Margarita on the 28th following a 2 hour flight from Asuncion, Paraguay to Sau Paulo, Brazil; a 3 hour stopover; a 6 hour flight from Sau Paulo to Caracas, Venezuela; an 8 hour wait in the airport; then a short 50 minute flight from Caracas to Porlamar. We traded some American money for Venezuelan Bolivars with some guy at the airport as we knew that the black market rate (as illegal as it is) was way better than the official exchange rate (6.2-6.4 as opposed to 4.5 official rate). Once we landed in Porlamar, we had to take a cab to our hotel in Playa El Agua as no other mode of transportation was available and ended up costing us Bsf.120. We stayed at 'Posada Nathalie' which turned out to be a ... read more

October 22 - 26, 2008 MARGARITA ISLAND, Venezuela After a long day of travelling ( Bogota, Caracas, Margarita Island ) we arrived at Margarita Island and checked into Hesperia Resort for a few day of relaxing. This is a really nice part of the world with beautiful beaches and some great facilities. This is not really what we expected as the countryside is small mountains ( we were thinking flat ! ) and it is a very, very nice place. We did exactly as planned and pretty much stayed around the resort except for a few hours in Porlamar, the main city on the Island. The Hesperia is a very nice resort ( claim to be 5 star - maybe not, but a very good 4 star for sure ). Good beach, good pool area and ... read more

From the great city of Quito we flew on March 20th through Bogota, without getting abducted by anyone interesting, and landed in Caracas, the crime capital of the world according to some. Managed to get through the airport with our shirts and over to the local airport for a short flight to Isla de Margarita. We´ve had a very laid back time here. Not alot to do and one has to just take your foot off the accelerator and chill or you can go a bit nuts. Very hot here. I mean very hot. Our friend Richard very graciously provided us with a comfortable apartment on the beach in the active fishing village of LaGuardia - active for the fishermen. We stayed for 2 & 1/2 weeks and it was a treat to live in a ... read more

I stayed in San Francisco a day longer than planned. Actually I stayed in San Francisco airport a day longer than planned. I assumed what happened to me only happened on airport. It turns out that it doesn’t and I am glad that it doesn’t. I got to the airport in ample time even though my position at the back of the queue would suggest not. I don’t know if it’s a South American thing but pretty much everyone in the queue seemed to be taking the worldly possessions on the flight with them. Ironing boards, TV’s you name it. About 5 minutes later a women came to the back of the queue and said that due to the plane been overloaded they were not going to be able to take all of the passengers on ... read more

Well after a long day on Saturday we finally made it to Margarita. It is very hot and very cheap. Our villa is good, the fridge is full of beer and the pool is welcome after a morning´s sunbathing. We plan on having a few more days here before heading back to the mainland by ferry to go to Cuidad Bolivar to organise our trip to Angel Falls. I have many insect bites already, the others have barely got any! Don´t have any great photo´s to post yet (plus I still don´t know how to!) Will post again once we get to Cuidad Bolivar. ... read more

Message de France 28 septembre 07 Journée de repos, nous avons décidé de faire notre clearout et de partir de Margarita en direction de Isla Coche. Des copains du bateau Grace sont venus prendre un verre dans l'après midi pour nous souhaiter un bon voyage et à la prochaine. Un groupe de bateau se donne rendez-vous par la suite pour souper et prendre l'apéro au restaurant Sunset tout près de la plage. Le coût pour la douane un autre 20.00 pour la sortie. Une soirée très bien réussie avec deux chanteurs américains, navigateurs qui gagnent leur vie en chantant dans les bars sur les plages. Notre souper était à la Thaïlandaise et délicieux. Nous sommes retournés au bateau très tôt pour être en forme pour notre navigation de demain ... read more