Blogs from Puerto la Cruz, North-Eastern, Venezuela, South America

Another sunny morning thank God. Pure bliss - Jason Mraz in one ear, the sound of the ocean in the other, sunbathing surrounded by palm trees. But sure enough, the clouds rolled in from the hills and whilst it didn't rain this afternoon it wasn't the best weather for the beach, not without the bat and ball I was pining for anyway! Our final dinner here (I should note that our "posada" seems to be the only guesthouse serving food!) was deep fried prawns and a mixed grill of fish and seafood, plus of course one last cocktail and beer.... read more

So after our purchase of dry bread for breakfast (and lunch, again) we hung around for our boat to depart (South American 9:30 turning into 10:15). Four couples already in the boat, we coasted the shoreline until the boat was full to capacity (5 kids, parents and grandparents!) Today was the Saturday of the Venezuelan bank holiday weekend for Independence Day and the beach was full of national holiday goers. On our way through the waters of Mochima National Park, we soon caught sight of a dolphin, then two, then five or six of them swimming together. The children squealed and we tried (and failed) to catch a photo. Very happy with that. After an hour we were dropped at a beach, deserted, with water so clear you didn't need a snorkel to see the fish. ... read more

Unfortunately, Santa Fe has no cash points, no banks and no change houses. So this morning we decided to catch a mini bus to the nearest town with a bank - Puerto la Cruz 45 minutes away. Using some of our last Bolivares to get there, the morning consisted of trying 3 cards in 5 different banks, 10 different cash points, with no success. One of the machines told us to see their representative, who told us to use our passport number, so we tried that too, but no luck. We had some back up travellers' cheque, but we hadn't even seen anywhere to change them and the banks would not. Our closest option came when a black market changer suggested he could change cheques, but we definitely had a reluctance to give them to him. ... read more

Like a dream!! So what happened when I got off the boat? Exhausted but relieved to be alive and to somehow be strong enough to face the journey ahead, I stepped off with all 50 lbs or my three bags. I had been the only blond and only foreigner (so it seemed) on the ferry of several hundred of passengers. As I lugged my life down the dock, it seemed a million faces stared at me. I passed the strange taxi men offering me rides along with their hopeful smiles and prolonged stares. Where was she?? Where was my friend’s sister? Where was I? Walking around feeling awkward I mustered up the courage to ask someone where the hell they think my friend would be waiting for me. Way beyond the other end of the parking ... read more

Wednesday 11.03.09 (continued) ´Had no luck changing travellers cheques - only cash is king here (dollars or euros - not pounds). The day was turning out to be a waste of time, waiting around for Luis to organise a tour which eventually didn´t materialise. However Teresa, the teacher I met in the Post Office the previous day, met up with me and took me for a tour around the town and along the Orinoco. She was a mine of information on the history of the place. We saw the people who live permantly under black plastic sheeting along the river banks, who eek out a livlihood from fishing. The dredging of the river and the reclaimation of the land provided some area for people to settle. She told me about the indigenous Warrao people who live ... read more