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Published: September 21st 2008
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Dear All…Greetings from the tropics...oh I am sorry to say that I now have a lovely golden tan. Shame that my skin is also punctured with the wounds of bloody mosquito bites!! I think they know that one on the toe or elbow will annoy me the most and bite there on purpose.
Santa Fe
had intended to leave here after last e-mail but bumped into AJ a girl from London who was just finishing her 17 month trip through Central and South America....a great inspiration!! Pleased to report that she encountered no problems or bad things anywhere and also travelled solo. Had great things to say about Colombia and Brazil and has burdened me with her lonely planet Brazil copy when she saw I´d torn the pages out of mine to save on weightage, now I have double the amount! So I´ll probably end up doing a bit after all!
Mochima
Next stop was the sleepy pueblo of Mochima. in an effort to make some progress with the language, I stayed in an old lady’s house! Lots of places here had rooms that they rented out to tourists (though I think I was the only one). She was
lovely and made me breakfast and dinner, her children were working in Germany and Switzerland so I think she was glad of the company! There’s no beach here as the coast is mainly wooded with mangroves so you take a boat to the nearest beach which was full of people - have no idea where they come from though! It started raining on the way back so took shelter and enjoyed a beer with a young couple from Maracaibo who spoke perfect English and have invited me to look them up on the way through their city. That evening the rain continued and there was a power cut... I felt rather medieval trapped in my room reading by torchlight and listening to the radio! Mastered the art of going to bed at 9.00 ´cos there’s bugger all else to do!
Cumana
Next stop along the coast was this uneventful town, thought about visiting the salt flats and castillo from here but it was not inspiring enough to keep me! There was however a French Restaurant of all things...serving crepes, pronounced "your CRAP senora" by the very nice waiter. Hot plates too mother! The meal was way more than my accommodation but it was nice to sit in the little court yard with Charlie Dimmockesque river feature and jungle! Titchy would have been impressed!
Caripe
No one seems to know when the buses leave and you will get a different answer from every person. Got to the bus terminal for the supposed 7am one and was told maybe 8 or 9. Jean Claude Van Damme looky-likey security man helped me find a Por Puesto going that way instead which was good timing as a French woman was also going that way too. Tourists are so few and far between that there´s always an instant bonding! We visited the Cueva de Guacharo which was populated by these unusual fruit eating birds that fly at night with sonar, rats (cute ones), frogs, fish, crickets and spiders! The noise was tremendous from the screeching oil-birds and it was oh so pleasant squelching through bird shit however very interesting! Spent another day visiting a waterfall with a national park guide and a taste of the local strawberries and cream speciality! Pretty town set in a valley full of crazily steep mountains.
Rio Caribe
Took 5 Por Puestos (means ‘by seat’, you pay for a seat in a shared car like a taxi) to get here, buses few and far between on the rural routes. Quite a nice port town but nothing much to see though met a Trinidadian lady who ran a cafe and full of advice! Though I think she was trying to scare me somewhat with the pictures of people who´d been shot in the papers! She also complained a lot about the politics, elections here on the 4th which is a big thing as there’s a total divide of support for Chavez and lots of vota si and vota no graffitied on buildings.
Playa Medina
This is definitely the prettiest place on the coast, nice little village and a 3k steep walk down to the beach where you can dine on the barbecued offerings and laze in the sun and swim in the shallow sea. Typical lunch is maize pattie thing (aripa), grilled plantains and coleslaw!
Fish...you will be pleased to know that I ate my first piece of fish here!!! Basically the choice at the Posada was fish or chicken and I was being brave (also very difficult to be awkward when you can´t explain exactly how awkward you are!) so asked for fillet of fish which came in breadcrumbs with boiled potatoes and coleslaw...and I am reluctant to say it was not bad...not going to be eating anything with a head on though!! French guy, divorced, with kids my age was the only other tourist here, he spends 3 months of every year in a SA country and the rest of the year working as a gardener in Lyon didn´t speak much English though so practised the old Spanish (which is still not much better).
San Juan de las Galdonas
Some guy raved about this on the LP but have no idea why, beach is dirty one side and sea too rough the other, people unfriendly apart from bubbly nice lady ´Jenni´ in the only restaurant open. Strangely an overweight and middle aged German couple were staying there for three weeks! Grrr..had to wait 3 hours by the roadside for a camioneta and spent another hours wedged at the end of the row next to two dead turkeys!
Maturin
Due to the slowness of the travelling stayed here a night at the advice of the Por Puesto driver who dropped me off for free in the town centre after leaving everyone else at the terminal. Had a nice Chinese Stir fry, strangely served with French bread?? Most annoying was the influx of beggars and vagrants hawking there wares as I ate...no gracias, I do not want your sunglasses, cake, condoms, plastic toy phone or your sweets on a stick!
Ciudad Bolivar
Sat in a shopping centre now outside a McKids (as in McDonalds) childrens clothes store?? Here to catch up with the e-mails and civilisation before my journey to the Gran Sabana. Staying at a cool German owned posada in a hammock. There are Swiss, German, Austrian, French, Peruvian and one British Guy. Oh and a weird Czech guy who we have dubbed Ray Mears because he lives out in the jungle with the Indians and has come to town to get some supplies, strange that he´s fat and has no tan with all that jungle fodder and sunshine?? It´s weird in this town, the posada had run out of beer but all the shops shut at 8.00, not that we could find one open at 7.00. There are only two apparent bars, one in no hurry to serve gringos and the other in the shopping centre vastly overpriced and playing romantic music. Thank God for the Swiss who had some rum!! Don´t really want to pay 150 quid to see a waterfall...appartently Iguazu is much better and free! Going to go to Santa Elena Uairen tomorrow I think to get on a 6 day trek to Roraima, the flat topped mountain!
Scrapyards with wheels and other vehicles
The most efficient means of transport is a Por Puesto, either a car or a truck (camoineta) with benches in the back. You can flag these down or get them at terminals, by the plaza etc. Basically the journey is shared with whoever else they can cram in and you often have to wait a while for them to fill up before the driver will leave. Last Sunday, sat on the pavement for an hour and a half having a beer with the driver!! Well he bought it! The cars are unbelievably not roadworthy and are mainly 30 yr old Mustangs or Chevrolets that look as if they’ve just fallen from car heaven!
That’s all for now folks!!! Hope you´re all getting that Xmas shopping done and wrapping up warm...there’s plenty of decs out here but nothing at all to buy and no bloody postcards anywhere!!
Love from me x x x x x x x x x x x x x
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