Posted 10:28 AM by MelanieandSteve
PUERTO COLOMBIA, VENEZUELA, 15-19 June 2005

BUENOS, Y BESOS, FROM OUR SECOND GO AT CUZCO, PERU: Since last time, we left cascades for the Caribbean and we hung out for four days with two friends for some fine Venezuelan vacationing.

EXPRESS OCCIDENTE OR ACCIDENTE? After Angel Falls, we kept traveling with friends Jim and Claire on an overnight bus to the Venezuelan coast via the city Marakay. Our bus service was called “Express Occidente”, but when the driver ran the bus off the road in a rainstorm, we wondered if “Occidente” was a typo for “Accidente”. The bus got bogged in the soggy soil, and after an hour of mucking about in the mud, our crew made no progress in getting us out. Finally another company’s bus picked us up and took us the rest of the way to transfer point Marakay.

PARTY BUS WITHOUT THE PARTY: From Marakay we caught a souped up hippy-style city bus with big speakers, tweeters and woofers mounted in back and surf stickers stuck to the school bus-like metal interior. The driver blasted a Venezuelan/Columbian beat all the way with far too much treble. The Caribbean beat sounded like a beach party, but there was no beach and the stone-faced people on board were not partying.

CLOUD FOREST ROAD TO THE COAST: The bus ride took us from hot humid low lands to shady cool cloud forest passing through thickets of bamboo with four-inch wide chutes. The road reminded us of Maui Hawaii’s road to Hana and the “Seven Sacred Falls”. The curves on the narrow road were so tight it was hard to believe a bus could fit. Ours barely did. We frequently stopped to let other cars pass, and we had to back up to make three point turns around some of the sharpest curves.

PUERTO DEL PESCADERO, FISHERMAN’S PORT: Puerto Colombia was a hidden fisherman’s village with a tiny cove, a turquoise coast, and a selection of ways to enjoy a secluded beach paradise. The tiny town had streets so narrow our bus had to suck in its belly to squeeze through. Each colorful city block was built as one conjoined building, and property lines were distinguished by changes in bright color of paint and roof level.

CLASSIC CLUNKERS AND COOL PEOPLE: The relaxed people liked to reach out. Some stopped us for chats. Others volunteered help or offered advice. Many people drove beat-up seventy’s American cars. When one group of Rasta-looking guys in a low rider Chevy pulled over to offer us a ride, it looked a lot like a Hollywood scene from an LA gang drive-by. But these guys were nothing but nice. We did not need the ride, but needed directions since we were walking the wrong way. We could barely make out what they said since they were so eager to help that they all spoke at once.

DAY AND NIGHT PUERTO COLOMBIA WAS ALRIGHT: One of the best things about Puerto Colombia was that it was relatively safe. Fun days on the coast and timeless nights out at a selection of safe social spots were a welcome break after warnings everywhere else we went in Venezuela to “be in by dark”.

MAKING OURSELVES AT HOME: We and our honeymooning friends found a two-bedroom apartment in a fun hostel, and soon plans to stay for a day stretched into four nights. We sampled a selection of atmospheric restaurants, spent two days on the palm-tree-lined local beach and one day on a more secluded paradise.

SECLUDED SANDS, GETTING THERE: On one humid day we hiked over steep hills in dehydrating heat toward the small and secluded Diario beach. The hike was hard and the day was so hot that halfway there we turned back. We decided instead to hire a boat. We arranged for a ride from Juan, a young local fisherman in the village. We all piled in his boat next to his smelly piles of fishing nets. On his way out to sea to lay his fisherman’s gear, he dropped us off at Diario. We stayed and sunbathed, body surfed, and slept for three hours until Juan picked us up again on his way home from work.

LIVE SATURDAY NIGHT BEAT: Saturday nights were alright for party in Puerto Colombia. Late in the evening on the cove was a weekly drumming performance and party. Venezuelans from all parts caravanned to this town for the show. A stage was set up at the cove for a Cuban and Caribbean beat jam session. First the musicians played in the town’s streets where crowds gathered and rallied excitement. Then by the night everyone migrated beachside and the drumming and dancing went on forever. The show outlasted us as we dove into bed before any sign of the show ending.

A DIFFERENT KIND OF A PARTY: One last special event in this town was Claire’s Birthday. We got up early to surprise her with decorations. We hung white TP streamers, blew up some balloons and set up a couple of candles. Then in this hot humid climate, we surprised her with frozen fruit popsicles in place of a birthday cake.

ACCIDENTAL SYMMETRY: After our bus ran off the road on our way to Puerto Colombia, we had another small bus accident on our way back out. In another beat music bus on the tight forest roads we sideswiped a small car. Then after that swipe got all sorted out, the bus stopped for another unplanned hour when one passenger got terribly sick. Still eventually we made it back to Caracas airport on time for our flight to Cuzco, Peru.

NEXT TIME: Feeling at home in our familiar nest on return to Cuzco, the Incan Naval of the World.

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS TO: Ed W., Thomas P., Peter T., and Lliam F.

Posted 1:22 AM by MelanieandSteve
ANGEL FALLS, VENEZUELA 10-14 June (Also CARACAS, BOLIVAR, AND CANAIMA)

HELLO FROM STEVE AND MELA IN VENEZUELA: Since last time we landed in Caracas Venezuela very much not in the mood for its warnings about crime and uncommonly high cash demand. So we decided to skip that big city for something more fun. We stopped in cities Bolivar and Canaima on the way to Angel Falls, the tallest falls in the world. Then we left for the coast.

CARACAS OR CACA-S: We arrived in Caracas with intentions to stay in the city. But one annoyance after another at the airport allayed all our interests. There were lots of warnings about crime, and the best hotels in the guidebook all doubled as rent-by-the-hour love motels. Taxies were renowned for dropping off wealthy westerners nowhere and leaving them with nothing. This happened to one of our friends. The supposedly safe government taxies reaped benefits from the bad ones because people pay inflated prices for peace of mind. Caracas-based travel agencies that we talked to seemed over-eager and under-honest. So eventually, enough was enough and we simply chose to get out. Friends with similar experiences who stayed for two days in Caracas told us they renamed Caracas, Caca-s?

CIUDAD BOLIVAR:

HOSTEL HAVEN CIUDAD BOLIVAR: After a nine-hour all-night bus ride to Ciudad Bolivar (that cost a fraction of the would-be cab fair back in Caracas), we arrived at our relaxed hostel haven. With an open air atrium, thematic room decorations, a helpful staff and a serve-yourself community kitchen, we chilled out in the tropical air and brushed off our bad start with Caracas.

THE CITY WAS NOT THE ATTRACTION: Ciudad Bolivar on the banks of the Oronoco River did not have that much to offer, but we loved our night in at the hostel. There, we got to know Claire and Jim whom we would join the next day for a journey to Angel Falls. Later we would link up with them for even more travels.

CANAIMA AND ANGEL FALLS:

PUT-PUT PROP PLANE OVER RAIN FORESTS: In the morning, we made for Canaima, the access city for Angel Falls, in a five-seater put-put prop plane over jungle and rainforest. From there we would launch our three-day excursion.

HEADING UP A CREEK WITHOUT A PADDLE: There was no road access to Angel Falls, so in Canaima we climbed into a ten-passenger canoe and motored against the current on rapids of the Carrao and Churun Rivers.

SPECTACULAR PRE-ANGEL FALLS SCENERY: The scenery was all splendour. It was a lot like our trip in the Amazon except that the high acidity in the water here resulted in fewer mosquitos and less wildlife but a cleaner and more comfortable climate. Lush jungle flora was foreground to a powerful backdrop of dramatic tall cliff sides and buttes. Like cylindrical mountains with vertical faces, many had multiple side-by-side waterfalls streaming down. Blue butterflies as big as birds fluttered by and swallows swept over the water.

BIG WATERFALL IN THE SKY BEFORE BIGGEST WATERFALL OF THEM ALL: One time on our trip we got pelted by torrents of rain with such force that our rain jackets were futile. But as we arrived at Angel Falls the rain clouds cleared up and unveiled the magnificent mother of all tall falls. Top to base, the cascade was a kilometer tall and the longest drop of any falls in the world. A steep hike led to a natural sunny stone terrace where we sat to soak in the streaming-down splendour. Then a trail took us to a pool at the base where we dove in for a heavenly Angel Falls swim.

ANGELS IN THE SKY BUT NOT IN HEAVEN: Angel Falls was not named after winged creatures but after a winged U.S. plane pilot who in 1937 landed above the falls and got bogged in the mud. Jimmy Angel and his three passengers took eleven days to hike down the steep cliffs and get back to civilization.

MORNING LIGHT HIGHLIGHTS IN HAMMOCKS: We camped on the opposite side of the river and after a Bar-BQ dinner and an evening of cards we all dozed off in lazy camp hammocks. The morning glow of a glorious sunrise woke us in our cosy cocoons. From there we could see an amazing view of the colourfully lit cliffside cascade.

HAPPY FALLS: Our boat ride back to Canaima was three hours long. So we broke up the ride with a stop for a swim at Cascade de Felicidad or Happy Falls. Scrambling up slippery rocks we went sliding back down splashing into the crystal clear pool.

SALTO SAPO: After lunch and a siesta in Canaima, we re-boarded our boat for the Sapo Falls. A short boat ride and a hike took us to a thunderous foment with an A-bomb-like explosion at its base. Sapo had a mid-cliff undercut overhang, so dressed in our swimsuits we got drenched when we walked behind the gushing white wall of water. Then we hiked above the falls and warmed in the sun overlooking the river and an indigenous village below.

SALTO HACHA: This waterfall was spectacular. It was hard to believe Hacha Falls could be even better than Sapo. Hacha`s water was bigger and more powerful. Here again we walked behind the falls and here the water was so thick that the light inside was as dark as dusk. Some swallows flew by us under the falls, and we wondered how they got in through the thick wall of water.

BEING THERE, LAST LAZY DAY IN THE SUN: We spent the night in the comfort of Canaima`s hostel and we lazed away the last morning at a beach by Ucaima Falls. We caught our prop plane back to Bolivar. It was a thrill now to look down from the sky and recognize all the falls and swimming holes we had visited.

NEXT TIME MORE TO SEE IN V: We had a great set of fellow travellers on our trip. We made plans to keep travelling with two of them, Claire and Jim. We all jumped on a bus to the cloud forest and Caribbean coast of Puerto Colombia, Venezuela.

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS TO: Helen F., Laura M., Annika S., and Ed W.