Blogs from Mérida, Andean, Venezuela, South America - page 4

15 juillet 2008 Parapente Déjeuné à la panadéria qui est ici une boulangerie, visite du musé d’archéologie qui se trouve dans l’université de Mérida. Promenade dans la ville, repos dans le parc en attente de notre randonnée en parapente prévue pour 3 heures dans l’après-midi. L’heure venue nous partons en jeep pendant 45 minutes, nous longeons une rivière avec des paysages à couper le souffle dans une vallée. Arrivée en bas de la montagne nous voyons des parapentes qui atterrissent et c’est notre tour maintenant de monter avec la jeep jusqu’à 3,000 pieds plus haut avec les pilotes. Nous ne sommes que tous les deux à prendre notre envol. France est fébrile mais quand même en confiance avec le pilote Éraldo qui a 20 ans d’expérience en tandem. Guy est avec le plus petit des deux ... read more

13-14 juillet 2008 Voyage dans les terres du Vénézuéla Après avoir planifié soigneusement notre voyage, nous embarquons dans le dinghy de Monique et Jean-Claude de la Fée verte qui ont l’amabilité de nous conduire à la marina de l’autre coté du canal à Bahia Redonda d’où nous prenons le taxi pour le terminus au centre ville de Puerto La Cruz. Ouf! Il est 10 heures à l’arrivée et nous sommes les derniers passagers qui embarquent à la course dans un autobus dit Express à deux étages avec des sièges qui se transforment en lit et le service de toilette. L’air climatisé est au maximum et il nous faut porter une veste de polar et un chapeau. Pendant le trajet qui a duré 21 heures, nous avons fait des arrêts au 3 heure dont deux arrêts ... read more

Our journey to Merida was one of the longest we´ve endured in South America (so far that is.... wait until we get to Brazil!!!). We were up at 6am to get a flight from Quito to Caracas and we were hoping once we arrived in Caracas that we would be able to get a flight from Caracas to Merida....... but no such luck. Caracas airport was a bit mad too! Loads of guys roaming around trying to get you to change cash or purchase some tour! When we found out there was no flights it was time for plan B.... an overnight bus :-) We managed to get a taxi (after a bit of haggling) to take us to the bus terminal for our night bus to Merida. When we arrived we bought tickets on a ... read more

So I set up this blog, thinking that I would use it to post my pictures so everyone at home could see them. I figured it would be a good way to stay connected to everyone at home, and have them enjoy the same things I’m enjoying. I figured I would write every day, or at least every other. But today is the first day I’ve actually had time to sit down and write! But that’s a good sign- it means I’m busy! I’ll start at the beginning, but I know that know matter how hard I try, no one else will be able to understand exactly what’s happening here. I arrived in Venezuela on Monday (May 19th) after an overnight flight. Flying solo wasn’t too bad. The only thing that worried me a little was ... read more

Well, another week of interesting and exciting events has passed since my last update. I was originally going to write about my weekend in the mountains, but I have since been provided with much more interesting information. As many of you will know, the country of Venezuela is experiencing a lot of political unrest right now. For those of you who don't know much about what's going on, I'll give you a little bit of background information. Chavez (the president) is in the process of trying to reform the constitution. This is a fairly common occurence in Venezuela. But, it's obvious to me that he has alterior motives...and anyone who actually reads these reforms would HAVE to agree. I'm not going to say that they're all bad...no, in fact, I think many of them are excellent ... read more