South America Part 2

South America - (part two)

Venezuelan Adventures

We did make the two Venezuelan trips inland (map) and though rather rushed we thoroughly enjoyed them. The visit to Angel Falls involved a stopover in Ciudad Bolivar, situated on the southern bank of the Orinoco and with some interesting 18th century buildings. The flight from there by (30-year old?) Cessna was a new experience, and we had the company only of the pilot, the rest of the space being occupied by a consignment of plantains, eggs, spaghetti etc which we were to enjoy later during our stay in Canaima National Park. We travelled by Curiara, a typical indigenous boat (but with the addition of a 48HP Yamaha outboard!) up the Carrao River to the camp where we stayed 2 nights: the first night we had a tremendous rainstorm with vivid lightning. This ensured that our trip next day up the rapids on the Churun River took place without our having to get out and push, and also that the Angel Falls were in full flow. 980 metres high, these are the tallest falls in the world, and as we swam in the river below it was a magical sight to see them finally emerge from the clouds above. The Auyan-Tepui from which the water gathers to make the falls is one of many mesas which are a dramatic sight.

The second trip was to Merida from where we took the teleferico (the world's highest and longest) to Pico Espejo (4765m).We had been warned of the cold, but it was the lack of oxygen walking uphill that was our main problem. We decided to walk down from the Loma Redonda station (4045m) rather than take the mules, but it was a 6-and-a-half hour slog! The flowers were wonderful, but by the time we reached the pueblo of Los Nevados we were soaked from rain and exhausted. After a hot shower, hot chocolate and a meal we slept soundly. We returned to Merida the next day by jeep along a hair-raising track along the mountainsides (3.5 hours).

The next day's excursion took us into the Sierra Nevada National Park where we rode ponies to the Laguna Negra through more spectacular mountain pastures. We saw a pair of condors soaring over, and later visited the Condor Station where we could get a closer view of the couple of birds in captivity. Only too soon we needed to move on, and so our last sights of Venezuela were in the offshore islands of Tortuga, Los Roques and Los Aves. Our memories of these include catching a pelican on our fishing lure (and managing to release it without damage to it or ourselves) nerve-wringing passages through coral reefs (but beautiful sea colours from turquoise to azure) and anchoring within 40 feet of mangroves where hundreds of magnificent frigate birds, red-footed and brown boobies were nesting and roosted - what a noise! And so to the Dutch Antillean islands of Bonaire and Curacao. We were delighted to be greeted in English by jolly, polite and welcoming customs and immigration, and thoroughly enjoyed our short stays. Hiring a jeep for a day on Bonaire gave Rosie the opportunity to play rally driver on the rough one-way dirt roads in the National Park. We saw iguanas, parakeets and lots of flamingoes. Snorkeling in the clear water enabled us to see lots of fish, including coral-eating parrotfish in their vivid purple and turquoise colouring. The best memory from Curacao was the coffee shop where we ate a huge slice of delicious cinnamon-flavoured Dutch applecake with cream! Yumyum!! Sadly, we had to miss Aruba, determined to keep to schedule for Alex's arrival in Panama in December. We were lucky with the weather for the passage, which though rough in parts, gave us good winds and little rain. Lots of lightning (particularly dramatic at night) from storms which all missed us by a couple of miles or more. We did hit a tree in the outflow of the Rio Magdalena which was full of water hyacinths, logs and other debris. The only other memorable incident was being called up by a large passing container ship: the radio operator grilled us for details of who we were, where heading etc, so that Jim began to think we were being set up for attack by the Colombian pirates. However, more likely (since we are alive and well) the radio operator was bored and wanted a chat: he was en route to Sheerness with a massive load of bananas!

So, here we are in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. The entry into the harbour was rather hair-raising: we decided to come in by the small craft entry through a gap in the submerged wall. You guessed it - only one stick marker remained, plus an oil drum, and without the sun behind we could not determine which side of these we should go to miss the hazards below! Coming closer we could see the green colouring on the end of the drum, so edged cautiously past on, we hoped, the "right" side. Not my best experience! We live to tell the tale! We were welcomed into the Club Nautico by a charming young lady who assured us we could use all the facilities "all the day everything open Okay no problem" and were given a free beer. The system is that you run a tab and pay once a week - first place ever we've met this, so initial impressions of the country are very favourable. Yesterday evening (Sunday Nov 18) we took a walk into the old city, along with friends Liz and Robert whom we met previously in Dominica. Everything was quiet, but we were able to get a taste of this key outpost of the colonial Spanish empire, dating from 1533. We saw the old town walls constructed in the 16th century, the later colonial architecture with overhanging balconies, and peered through the open doorways of churches to glimpse fine interiors where services were in progress. We can't wait to see more!

Rosie & Jim Zoro SY Avalon