Onto Tucupita on the Orinoco Delta

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Monday 9.3.09 (continued)
´Said my goodbyes to the group at the posada and got a taxi to the bus station. However it was difficult to get one to Tucupito - poor timetable and many changes. So I shared a collectivo to Puerto Ordaz and another from there to Tucupito. ´Chose the Hotel Amacuro there, much to my later regret ..... noisy, smelly, lumpy bed and no natural light! However it was central and the people there friendly. ´Had a meal in local restaurant - milanese chicken with chips and salad ... not very Venezuelan but filling.

Tuesday 10.3.09
´ Got little sleep during the night, so asked for a change of room, quiet and with natural light. Walked around the town; looked for a tourist officce and also a post office...to no avail. In fact ´got at least 6 different sets of directions to the post office. ´Nearly gave up when a shopkeeper drew a small map of where it should be; no wonder I coouldn´t find it. It turned out to be a bland non-descript bulding without a sign - almost like a house. I don´t think people send letters or postcards abroad, judging from the fuss and amount of time it took to get some stamps; just as well I was the only customer. One of the ladies behind the counter spoke good English and when I told of my difficulty in arranging a tour, she offered to be my guide tomorrow afternoon. In the meantime the manager of the hotel was trying to fix a tour up for me with one attached to the hotel. However the price he was asking was very high - a price I wasn´t prepared to pay. He eventually brought the price down a little but not enough - lots of people involved in the bargaining qnd quite entertaining for some of the other hotel clients! While all this was going on the police came into the hotel in force, with shotguns etc and raided room 15. I asked what was going on - apparently the occupant of the room had some hi-tech items whic they believed were stolen. I went for another walk around the town, just to get out of the hotel for a while. I sat and rested in Plaza Bolivar; every town and city in Venezuela has a Bolivar square (after Simon Bolivar), It was quite close to the hotel and central - lots of people around. I noticed that spitting by men in public seems to be accepted habit here in this part of Venezuela (as in Brazil). When I went back to the hotel the police were still there; room 15 was almost ransacked and they weere holding the occupant. I changed and went out for a meal. ´Went back to Mi Tasca restaurant for a meal, this time I tried the Lao Lao (catfish) cooked in Gordon Blue style (with cheese, gratin and ham and mushroom filling) very tasty.
My change of room at first glance looked luxury, with its air con and TV, but what I didn´t realise was that there was a pigeon coop outsite the window (opaque glass); betwen the pigeons, a barking dog and a crying baby next door, sleep was intermittent.


Wednesday 11. 3.09
´Had a long shower this morning to wake myself up and went for brekafast at a local cafe. I was about to eat when Luis (the guide from teh hotel) tapped me on the shoulder. I chatted to him for a while and asked him about changing T.Cheques on the Black Market. He said it´s possible but I wouldn´t get the same rate as for cash. However when we tried some local commercial retailers we came up against a blank. We agreed to meet later on the day and try some otheres he knew. He seems to be well known in the town.

(Apologies, no photos again, I´m having trouble with my card reader and the servers here don´t seem to recognise it; ´will have to fid a way round it)

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Comments

[perica]

I am following your day by day right now ,in amazing(to me)Venezuela so please put in as much info as you can!I can tell you one thing though,dont loose any time in the mail,it isnt sent and when it is,its months late.I have some friends there to whom I used to write and some experiences after(years of exp)I definitely gave up