Reeeeeee...
Laxxxxxx....
Ingggg......
Argentina, nope it´s Chichirviche!
Hola & Hasta Luego Amigos!
Well it`s our last day in South America; I´m excited to be going back to London to see everyone and experience normal-ness for a while, but I will really miss this place. Although, Africa is calling and a lot of new exciting adventures lay ahead!
Venezuela is without doubt the rough and tough country of South America. Being only 5 miles (8km) from the airport and in the home stretch I can say we had our close calls, but luckily have come through unscathed and very glad we have visited this wild and whacky place! Venezuela is certainly the least visited country on this leg of the trip; nonetheless we have met a few gringos, Europeans and even a solo travelling Russian girl, many with their battle wounds from Venezuela. If you´re looking for craziness and a gritty travel experience, this is your place!
Our route this past week: Merida > Chichirviche > Caracas
Saturday to Monday - Mountain town: We arrived in Merida on Saturday night with enough time to get out and hit the bars; absolutely what you need after more than 24 hours on buses. The other thing great about the bar was western music which after nearly six months in South America was "music to my ears"! :P
The next day we relaxed appreciated how nice it was to sleep in a bed which was the first time in a few nights. We walked into a shop to buy some food and were greeted by the owners and quickly given beers to celebrate Father´s day with them! Later we went to an Ice Cream shop called Heladeria Coromoto which is in the Guinness Book of World Records for most flavors. I choose a scoop of Coca Cola and one of Cerveza (beer), an interesting mix!
Tuesday to Friday: Tropical island paradise: For the last of our days in Venezuela, we decided to spend them in the National Marine Park of Morrocoy. Having seen pictures of Morrocoy all over bus stations and hotels, we knew this was not to be missed! We took a bus to Chichirviche which is essentially a small port town, excusively shuttling boats to its nearby tropical islands. Imagine (or look at our pictures) what a perfect tropical island looks like; white sand beaches, numerous palm trees, green carribean waters - this is Morrocoy and the nicest thing is during the week it was all ours! The first day we spent on Muerto Island (which translates to Murder island), thankfully we came back a live, but the SUN did try to kill us. The next two days were very similar; we chose the islands of Perasa and then Varadero. Perasa was incredible, it was the smallest and it was completely void of anyone! We relaxed with a few beers and were in total peace! Varadero was a very different place, but with only 10-20 people, how can you complain. By this time, we had learned the trick and brought an iced cooler with us. Nothing like a cold beer on a deserted island!
On Friday, we weren´t so lucky with the islands; I didn´t do my research on Venezuelan holidays and missed that it was their Independence day. Thousands of people descended on little Chichirviche turning the place into a madhouse. They seemed extremely happy to be rid of the Spanish invaders. Nonetheless, the place was still amazing, despite having to share, but we certainly had our fair share of the place that week.
Saturday - Times up: Our last full day in South America wasn´t that crazy, which is good! We had to go back to big scary Caracas into the heart at the bus terminal and get a taxi to our hotel near the airport. All went well (the bus only broke down once) and that night we enjoyed a nice meal reflecting on our past half year of superb experiences.
Today we are flying out in T-minus 8 hours! Wish us luck in getting back to London safely and I will keep you up to date with our new travels.
Friday, July 1st is our 2 year wedding anniversary, so we have a nice time planned in London. Yes, on a trip like this, London is our vacation, thus the perfect place for our anniversary! Whilst Marina is applying for a few necessary visas, I will be shooting over to mainland Europe seeing Norway, Germany, and Luxembourg. On July 21st we fly to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to start to our African adventure!
Until next time,
Dan and Marina
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