Blogs from Insular, Venezuela, South America

Sorry to arrive quite late with our first South American entry....but we have been either running... or either without any connection the last few days. Our first flight was from Madrid to Caracas on Iberia. Let me tell you I was not really expecting anything good about Iberia...they have a terrible reputation, and we found it out right at check-in with a very non-smiling staff. But we did get lucky as Ma'ri and I both ended up upgraded at the gate...always nice, nice seat, even better wine....an easier way to survive nine hours on a a plane. Caracas is not a safe place, and I was very aware of this prior to our visit. So no time to put ourselves in dangerous situation. We had a pick-up at the airport, arriving late afternoon to bring us ... read more

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

So I landed in Margarita hoping that Jay, the captain of the boat I was going to sail the southern Caribbean with, would be there to meet me. I had been in such a rush climbing a mountain that morning, and getting my stuff together in Caracas, that I absolutely forgot to write down the vague instructions of where his boat was, nor did I take any back up hostel info that I normally would have taken. So basically if Jay was not there (and I’m not sure he got my email) I was screwed. I arrived at 11:30pm and I got my luggage and entered the tiny airport. It quickly cleared and I was the only one standing there. No Jay, no nobody except some employees. I walked around with all 50 lbs on my ... 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

Arriving at the airport in Caracas at 6.30am (remember we have had very little “sleep” at the airport) we are immediately faced with the biggest problem in this country!!! We have no local currency or dollars with us and the cash points at the airport do not accept our cards. We had read that there are two exchange rates used in the country - the official at 3.7 and the unofficial - what ever any one wants to use!!!! We swiftly discover that holding pounds means that we will get stung as Venezuela seems to have a grudge against our currency. The Euro trades at 3.2! Obviously no one can do maths here! We know we are getting screwed but we have no choice to exchange money from a local tout (common practice here) and manage ... read more