Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Lo,
We now find ourselves in our last city in Venezuela, Mérida, before we pop back across the border into Colombia in a couple of days.
After we last posted (I think) we had a lovely meal in a restaurant where the owner insisted on putting on The Beatles for our benefit, all evening. The next day we hunted down a bus to Parque Nacional Tayrona, which covers a large area of Colombia's Caribbean coast. On the way through to the beach (apparently the best in Colombia) we heard howler and squirrel monkeys, and saw squirrels, pacas, lizards and all-inclusive tourists. Lush jungle gives way to palm tree-lined white sand beaches and a large natural swimming pool. Unfortunately, due to the long walk through the park we only had about half an hour on the beach before having to go back. On the way out we bought ice creams we couldn't afford and only just had enough cash for the bus. The bus then dropped us off on a main road 7km from the centre of Santa Marta. We had 25p left in cash and so set off walking in the direction we thought might be correct. Luckily it was, and we made it back eventually (despite nearly dying on the way).
Next day it was off to Venezuela. At the border, we were given a rate of 2 Venezuelan Bolivares to 1 Colombian Peso - double what we were expecting. We then got in a battered old American muscle car that someone had put our bags in, it may or may not have been a taxi. Between the border and our place to stay for the night, Maracaíbo, the car was stopped 6 times for document checks (in a 2 hour journey).
We checked into the nearest hotel to the bus station in Maracaíbo, which turned out to be our first "love motel". It was a state, the worst hotel so far, and I'm fairly sure it was crawling with fleas. We also ended up going to McDonalds, as the rest of the city appeared to have closed for the night.
On the way to Coro the next day we were involved in a bus crash. Not exactly a "plunge", but an incident all the same. Nothing major, but it did hold us up a bit. We got to Coro only to discover that it had closed for Sunday. Everything was dead, with no one on the streets and nowhere, not even restaurants, open. The next day we managed to time our venture out with the town's siesta. Everything was shut again. While looking for a laundrette (the only one in a very big town) we stumbled upon the Médanos - an area of 30m high sand dunes randomly situated on the edge of town. It was very windy, and it bloody hurt. Quite impressive all the same. Next day there was a cockroach.
Next was Maracay. Up until now, the money situation had been very confusing. T'internet said VZB2150 per $, hotel owner was giving VZB3500 per $. The latter would explain why everywhere seemed to have doubled its prices since the Lonely Planet was published in March, but we're still not sure what's going on. Something to do with the value of dollars on the Black Market.
Next day was off to Puerto Colombia in Parque Nacional Henri Pittier, via a roller-coaster bus ride through the mountains. Great fun. Despite being a bit dead and rubbish, Puerto Colombia featured the best beach so far, filled with palms for hanging our hammock. Also, on our last Caribbean beach, I finally got round to having a drink out of a coconut. Lovely.
Next onto Mérida on an overnight bus. We arrived at about 8am and accidentally checked into an expensive hotel. We were a bit tired and tend to be lazy when it comes to saving money, so spent the night there anyway, and had our first hot showers since Boquete in Panama (3 weeks ago). The highlight of our time in Mérida so far was going to Heladería Coromoto, an ice cream parlour that features in the Guinness Book o' Records for having over 900 flavours. Vic had coconut rum with kiwi, I had avocado with Solera, a local beer. Lovely. We'll be going back tomorrow, possibly to try the trout flavour.
That's about it, I've ranted a bit more than I'd intended, sorry.
Love, Nic and Vick
- comments