Venezuela (including Boa Vista, Brazil)

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After our hitch hiking experience to the border and awaiting the police to finish their lunch (late!), we catch a cab to the bus station and manage to hop on a coach destined for Boa Vista, Brazil. Our timing couldnt be worse as we arrive late Friday afternoon and so have to spend an unplanned weekend in Boa Vista and await the Venezuelan consulate to open on Monday morning. It turns out to be a blessing in diguise as we have a great time out and about in Boa Vista. The lady at our hostel takes a liking to us (to much of a liking if you ask me!) who asks her friend to take us out and show us the sights. We seem to be the attraction of the weekend and at various points throughout the weekend are drinking in a random front living room (we thought we were entering a bar!), having a BBQ at the hostel owners house and joining the election celebrations of Lulas party being re-elected (Lula has been a very popular president over the years but was required to step down).

Other memorable moments of Boa Vista are perhaps those worth forgetting - I discover a small beetle (or perhaps a tick) embedded in the skin of my toe where it had been for three days; I had thought it was a scratch or a spot until I realised it was alive and getting bigger from drinking my blood! For those with the benefit of facebook, have a look at the spider which we discovered in our bathroom, next to the toilet - big enough to fill a large dinner plate! It was so big we wasnt sure how to kill it (a lighter and an aerosol can being the favourite); but we decide to leave it despite the bathroom door being always open owing to there being no door handles! It was gone the next morning, hopefully to some other room and not in a our backpacks!

After Boa Vista, we catch a bus destined for Cuidad Bolivar in Venezuela. This trip is made with some trepedation as we have heard bad stories about the lack of safety and the targeting of tourists for muggings, including from the police. We are stopped 5 times by the Venezuelan military police on our way to Ciudad Bolivar but thankfully they only want to see our passports. As usual, the journey doesnt pass without incident and are the vicitims of a blown tyre along the way which contributes to our arrival in Ciudad Bolivar at 1am instead off the scheduled 8pm! We hastily catch a cab and head to a reputable hostel where we wake the owner to arrange a bed for the night.

In the morning we have a visit from a German guy who was directed to our hostel as it is owned by a German. The mans story sums up the problems of Venezuela. He was visiting Venezuela with his wife and two children, one being two and the other yet to reach one. The family were robbed of all their money and belongings (i.e. all thier luggage) at gunpoint by three men in the main square at San Felix, in broad daylight and in front of the police station. When they asked the police for help, they were advised to come to Ciudad Bolivar as it had a German consultate. They had to sell their wedding rings to pay for the transport but were told by the consultate on arrival that they had to go to Caracas instead and this is when the poor guy arrives at our hostel. Anyway, my travel buddy, Christian, being a fellow German, kindly helps him out with cash for transport to Caracas and some food for the family. I also heard first hand from an English guy who had been robbed of America Dollars that had been stashed in his large rucksack but was then stolen by the military police when checking through his bag whilst a colleague slowly frisked him as a distraction. I also here that Caracas is now the most dangerous city on the planet, which doesnt surprise me in the least. Unfortunately, the current president, Chavez fails to acknowledge the issue of security (no doubt blaming capitalism or the US), which is contributing to a growing disolutionment amongst those that I meet along the way. Most I encounter are hoping that Chavez doesnt get re-elected in 2012 otherwise there might be a desertion of talented people away from this beautiful country.

So, it is against this background that I decide that my visit to Venezuela be restricted to Angel Falls. I do not regret this decision in the lightest as the trip is definitely a highlight of any of my travels and one I would recommend to anybody heading over to this side of the world. The trip is made cheaper owing to the black market being hungry for US Dollars; the exchange rate with street dealers is almost twice that of the official rate. I dont know how it works and I dont ask! Oh, and anybody heading Ciudad Bolivar with the aim of visiting Angel Falls - book it through Andres and Rodman at Excursiones Salto Angel (www.saltoangel.com.ve). They were the cheapest (1700 Bolivars all inclusive) yet the most friendliest of people who help with everyhting. You even stay at their agency for free, throw in breakfast etc. They are not in any guide book but are very deserving of custom.

The Angel Falls tour begins with flight from Cuidad Bolivar to Cainama. The flight is a very enjoyable experience, although probably not for the pilot who keeps telling me off for knocking his levers (I fortunately get the front seat next to the pilot!) The plane is tiny but this does allow great views out of the windows of the emerging jungle and growing mountains known as the The Tepuis (which influenced Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 1912 book 'The Lost World'). Geologically these sandstone tablelands area the remnants of a thick layer of sediments (some 2 billion years old) that gardually eroded, leaving behind only the most resistant rock islands. These islands are huge - imagine a rainforested Grand Canyon-like landscape and you won't be far wrong.

Most people visit Angel Falls as part of a 3 day all inclusive tour using Canaima village as the base (its worth noting that Canaima is a very safe and friendly place). However, 4 days stay is commonly allowed at no extra cost (other than food) so I stay the extra day which then allows us to hire one of the planes for a prvate fly over Angel Falls. We pay around 120 US$ for hiring the plane which allows 5 fly overs of Angel Falls. The flight to the Falls is just as impressive as the Falls themselves being set amonst increasingly massive Tepuis. There are no signs of human intrusion in sight, just huge forested landforms intermittent with the occassional waterfall. Angel Falls isn't typical of other waterfalls. The amount of water isn't substantial and a lot of it evaporates as it falls its 979m; making it the highest waterfall in the world, being approximately 16 times higher than Niagara. The cascade pours off the towering Auyantepui, one of the largest of the Tepuis. Angel Falls is not named, as one might expect, by a divine creature, but after an American bush pilot Jimmie Angel, who landed his four seater airplane atop Auyantepui in 1937 in search of gold. Whilst its name has simple origins, the wider area captures a landscape of times long past. It is no surprise that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was inspired by these sights which have remained largely untouched since he saw them from his own eyes.

The following day we are taken for a boat ride to see up close the Laguna de Canaima waterfalls which we had so pleasantly viewed from our landing plane the day before. These waterfalls and the Laguna are deserving of attractions in their own right being the point at which awide stretch of the Rio Carrao turns into a line of seven magnificant waterfalls. This attraction takes on even greater significance when we are taken for walks behind the waterfalls (which I had not expected). The waterfalls contain vast amounts of water and stretch over long distances thereby making for an unforgettabe experience. I had not walked behind waterfalls before and doubt that this experience will ever be bettered by any other falls. Health and safety is not an issue here as you negotiate your way through the side of the falls which vary from raging white water to a serene carpet of falling water. Most in our group dont say a word but savour the moment in silence. Its almost to perfect a scene and worthy of the expense if these falls were visited alone.

The following day we commence our trip to Angel Falls. This begins with a 4 hour ride in a large local wooden canoe intermittent with short walks (to allow the canoe to negotiate shallow rapids). To break up the trip we stop off at smaller waterfalls for a soak and to savour the amazing forested scenery of the massive Tepuis. Our first view of Angel Falls is a restricted one as clouds obscure our view. However, our arrival at the hammock ground is only another step on our trip and now set off on a 1.5 trek through the jungle to the base of the Falls. Our first true sighting is through the gaps of some hillside trees which captures the moment brilliantly. The Falls are so high that the water appears to falling in slow motion down the huge vertical chasm, presumably worn away over the years by falling water. We are allowed even closer and manage a well desered swim in a large collecting pool where the views opposite the Falls are as impressive as the Falls themselves. Anybody thinking of heading this way should definitely visit this area (although be warned that the Falls run dry over the dry months, so plan ahead). Hopefully, my pictures on facebook provide an indication of how impressive the area is (and hopefully will remain).

On return to Ciudad Bolivar, I decide to make a quick exit of Venezuela. Flying is too expensive, so I opt for a series of buses to the north western border with Columbia. This begins with an overnight coach to Valencia (chosen merely becuase it avoids Caracas). The journey is without incident and very comfortable. I had travelled with a Canadian couple with whom we say our godbyes after helping each other locate forwarding transport. I catch another coach from Valencia (which for the record appeared a relatively safe and orderly place) and head for Maracaibo. This journey is with incident - a blown engine 1 hour away from Maracaibo. The coach was packed owing to it being a public holiday (thus containing many people returning from the northern beaches). The coach company arranges the cheapest possible taxis - clapped out and unmarked US cars which wouldnt be good enough for the scrap yard. We have to wait a couple of hours for the taxis - well, I have to wait a couple of hours after every arriving taxi is selfishly accommodated by whoever is strongest or loudest to claim it as their own. As such, Im in the last group of 5 from 50 people to be transferred into Maracaibo. I arrive around midnight without any option to find accommodation. I opt or the nearest to the bus station - Hotel Caribe. This is located in the old centre in an area of dodgy reputation but decide to have a local walk around the following day. The old centre has undergone some worthwhile refurbishment of what appear to be colonnial streets and buildings. I come across a place called Caribe Concert which has a westernised decour but still in sympathy with the more aged surroundings. It is an impressive set up with a restaurant, various bars, swimming pool, pirate ship and stage. After chatting with the owner, I discover that it is actualy attached to my hotel, so I decide to stay an extra night and spend the rest of my tme lounging by the pool and watching the regional 'pop idol' like contest on the stage in the evening.

I discover that no bus companies run to the Columbian border some three hours away from Maracaibo and therefore hunt down a shared 'colectivos' at the bus station to take me to the border. These 'colectivos' are - again - clapped out US cars. The car is the worst condition yet seen and has no passenger windows, just the front and rear windows!...I could even see straight through the bare metalwork of my door to the passing road below! I share with three women and are driven by a mean looking guy; like a retired boxer with a chip on his shoulder. However, he turns out to be very helpful and all 4 of them are quite defensive when it appears the Military Police want to check my luggage, possibly in search for a reason to ask for a bribe. Other than the dubious interests of the Military Police, the journey passes well and negotiate the border crossings through Zulia with ease to enter into Columbia. It is only after my arrival that I am told of the following advise on the British and Foreign Office web site: 'We advise against all travel to within 80km (50 miles) of the Colombian border in the states of Zulia, Tachira and Apure...Drug traffickers and illegal armed groups are active in these states and there is a risk of kidnapping'. Oh well, Im here now in Columbia without any signs of trouble but will be keeping myself updated more frequently of events! Read my next blog for more.

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