the land of beauty queens and really, really cheap petrol

We landed late in Caracas airport so chose to stay somewhere nearby.
The following day we braved the metro in Caracas to get to the bus station. It was spotless. One of the cleanest and most modern I´ve been on. We took the bus to Maracay and later moved onto Puerto Colombia which, according to some, has the nicest beach in Venezuela. Yvonne was still suffering from a throat infection so we stayed there for a few days to relax. The beach really wasn´t great and there wasn´t much else to do there so we were happy to leave.

Merida was our next stop. I think this was one of our favourite cities so far. It was a great climate and a nice relaxed atmosphere. Aparently its where the wealthy Venezuelans choose to live. The hotel, casa alemana suiza, was really nice complete with hot water, tv, pool table, free internet, friendly staff and great view. While there we went on a safari to the flatlands, los llanos. It was a nice 4 day trip and we saw more wildlife there than anywhere else so far. Yvonne was still having trouble with her throat so we spent a few more days in merida to recuperate. We met a few germans and I checked out the nightlife a little. It was a heady mix of salsa, rock and reggae with freindly locals and the streets were very safe at nice which isn´t always the case.

And so to Colombia. We had to overnight in a place called Maracaibo on the way. Unfortunately it was a saturday and there was no room in most inns. We ended up staying in a ´love motel´ where we had a mirror over our bed! and the lilting tones of the local ´gentlemen´getting their rocks off to lull us to sleep!! A little seedy but an experience nonetheless.

thats all for now folks!

PS: The busride from Maracay to Puerto Colombia is not for the lighthearted. Numerous toddlers and adults were getting sick on the bus. The busride goes up and down a windy road and the drivers are maniacs. Cleaning baby puke of my rucksack afterwards was great fun.

PSS: We went on the cable car in Merida which is the worlds longest and highest. It goes up to 4700m and it's really good fun. Absolutely, bloody freezing there though!
Ed went Paragliding one day, see photos.
For 4 days we went on a trip to Los Llanos, the flatlands in Venezuela. That was definitely the highlight of the stay. We saw numerous animals and birds there on safaris, horse back riding or boattrips. We also went fishing a couple of times and I caught one big bass and a decent sized piranha for dinner. Ed only managed to catch two tiny piranhas that we threw straight back into the water. Hunter and gatherer my ass ;)

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