There and back again…

This was a very packed day. We didn’t need to wake too early, though in hindsight it would have been much better had we got up at the usual time of 6:30am. After a good breakfast we walked through the village to the beach below the waterfall. This was the same cascade we had stopped to take photos at on the way up the river two days ago. A boat driver was waiting for us at the beach and after a quick group photo we all jumped on the boat.

The route we took was straight across the lake formed where the two out of the three heads of the river cascaded over the falls. We landed on a small beach on the other side and walked up through the forest to the other waterfall.

The path lead beneath the waterfall. Fi and El opted to stay on the side of the waterfall as they didn’t want to get wet having no dry clothes left. The rest of us walked along the path that led through the waterfall. The spray and noise from the waterfall was amazing. As we got towards the half way point, the only light illuminating the path was the coming through the waterfall itself. With the spray you could easily imagine being underwater so people suffering from claustrophobia would probably not have enjoyed the experience.

Looking through the waterfall at the halfway point I was reminded of the scene in “Last of the Mohicans” where Hawkeye and the Mohicans jump through the waterfall. I wasn’t going to try and repeat it though as I’m sure you’d get crushed on the rocks below. We were soon onto the far side of the waterfall where there was an excellent view point looking back at the waterfall.

As we were stood taking photos the guide managed to find one of the yellow and black frogs. This is one of the classic animal shots that I wanted to get. The frog excretes a poison which covers its body. The yellow and black is a warning sign to other creatures. The natives use this frog to load poison onto arrows and blow pipes for hunting. As well as offering great views of the waterfall, the view point also provided an excellent diving/jumping platform. I was thinking about diving in, but not known the water well I decided to jump it.

Eventually it was time to head back through the waterfall. We picked up El and Fi and walked up through the forest and through a small area of savannah to the top of the waterfall. With the blue skies the views from the top of the waterfall were great. In September, at the height of the wet season, the river completely covers all the rock pools and the river is much deeper making the rapids we had passed through much more dangerous. On top of the waterfall was the remains of a broken boat which had been deposited by a previous storm. Looking at the wreck reminded me to be very grateful that the motors didn’t fail on our way up or down the river. It doesn’t bear thinking about!

We went back to the compound for lunch. I wasn’t feeling too great so skipped lunch. I think I must have picked up the bug that Laurie had on the way out. We were very keen to get our flights out as we had to get back to Cuidad de Bolivar to pick up our night bus tickets. This is perhaps were things started to sour a bit. The guide who had obvious ulterior motives had asked the Swiss girls what time they wanted to leave. The had given a late time. So at lunch we pushed him to get us to the airport. He said that there was a plane waiting for one group but that the other group had to wait for a flight coming from Santa Elena. There was a lot of frustration in our group so we split into the same two groups that we had flown out with my group taking the first flight.

When we got to the airport our pilot was visibly annoyed. He said he had been waiting since 8:00am and was on the point of refusing to take us. There was obviously some bad communication going on as we could have got to the airport earlier, but also it was always the plan to visit some more waterfalls in the morning. Our group checked into the plane. We had collected a tip for the guide but I gave this to El as we said he should only get the tip if the second group managed to get out on time.

We all piled into the plane, taking the same positions as before. The take off was relatively smooth and we were soon airborne. The view from the plan looking over the waterfalls we had just visited was amazing and I was grateful that I was sat on this side of the plane.

Our journey back was largely uneventful though there was a little bit more turbulence than previous. After about 1½ hours we were back on the ground at the airport. We met the representative from Gecko tours and we bought our tickets for the night bus. The only person on the other flight who was also doing Roraima was John. Unfortunately we couldn’t buy a ticket for John as you have to buy the ticket in person using your passport as ID. Everything seemed to be going smoothly though we were worried that the other group would be delayed. They were due to leave at 3:00pm from Salto Angel. We waited in the room for the plane to arrive.

Eventually the plane arrived and with El leading Fi out of the plane I could tell that things had perhaps not gone as smoothly as our flight. If Fi had got down and kissed the tarmac I would not have been surprised. Eventually El and Fi made it through to the restaurant. Fi was still visibly distressed even after sitting down for a while and eventually we managed to get the story out. El gave everyone their tips back and said she hadn’t given him the tip. After our group had left the guide completely ignored the remaining party instead spending time with the two other girls. The girls had still dragged their feet being slow to get their stuff together. To be fair on the guide I don’t think that he was that bad. He showed us where we needed to go, answered our questions and looked out for us for the two days we spent at Angel Falls. He caught the frog, showed us where it was safe to swim and jump. Ok he was trying it on with one of the Swiss girls, but from his point if he showed interest in someone and the feeling was reciprocated then what was the problem. Eugene asked him as we were leaving whether he liked Switzerland. His responded for the rest of today and then I forget about it.

John, Fi and El didn’t leave that far behind schedule. The pilot took off down the runway and as soon as he was airborne banked sharply to the right. In fairness this would have given the passengers a fantastic view of the falls and I would have liked it if our pilot had done this, but it wasn’t the thing to do when you have passengers who have a phobia of flying. Fi pretty much broke down at this point and spent the rest of the journey in fear. Once you pass the threshold of panic and fear it is incredibly difficult to regain composure. With the adrenalins flowing the body goes into fight or flight which can’t be acted on when strapped into the back of a small plane. Once the pilot levelled out he got out his paper and proceeded to read it whilst flying the plane. This made Fi and El more nervous. When John, who was co-pilot, asked the pilot to stop reading he pushed the yoke forwards momentarily putting the nose of the plane down. This was probably the final straw for Fi, who though the plane had gone into a nose dive. Given her fear of flying I think it’s remarkably brave for people to continue to fly. I’m just glad that I’d don’t suffer from such phobias.

Meanwhile back at the airport John was having difficulty buying his ticket. When the first group had bought our tickets we had asked the rep from Gecko whether they would sell out. He said that they never sell out. John couldn’t get a ticket though. In a sort of karmic moment the Swiss girls where now the ones forced to wait around whilst we got John’s ticket sorted out. Eventually it was sorted by the guy from Gecko phoning the ticket office to buy a ticket over the phone. He then walked round to the office and transferred the ticket to John’s name. Problem sorted we got into the minibus and headed back to the compound, stopping briefly at a pharmacy to pick up some supplies for the Roraima trip.

When we got back to the compound we packed for the Roraima trip. I wasn’t feeling too well at this point and not looking forward to a night on a bus. It took me a while to pack as I was using my small pack instead of the big pack. Everything just about fitted into the rucsac, but it was a tight fit and I had to strap the thermarest to the top of the sack. I ordered some fries for an evening meal but didn’t feel like eating anything. I had asked Donna to change some money for back to USD but the rate the offered was 5.6 so Donna hadn’t changed it. I said that I would be happy for any rate otherwise I would be stuck with unusable Bolivars. Donna was eventually able to get 5.5 for me but it was all small bills which won’t be much use until I can get back to the US.

We said goodbye to Donna, Dion, Fi and El and left after 8:00pm to be there for the 9:00pm night bus down to Santa Elena. Ironically Santa Elena is near to Angel Falls and in the same Caimera National Park. It may have been easier to get a flight from Cuidad to Bolivar to Santa Elena calling at Angel Falls and taking all our gear with us. The night buses throughout Central and South America are very cold and have the air conditioning turned up to max. Consequently everyone had warm clothes, sleeping bags or blankets for the journey. I would hate to mistakenly get on wearing only shorts and tee-shirt; you would probably be hypothermic by the end of the journey.

The coach itself was very nice, modern and clean. Perhaps the best public transport I’ve been on since the Visul in Cuba. The coach left on time and we started the journey. What we would do in one night is what the truck would do in three days down. I was lucky enough to get a seat next to the window and asked Karen if she would like to sit next to me. I’ve heard enough stories about night buses and people getting things stolen by pick pockets so although spreading out over two seats would have been nice it would be better to have someone I knew and trusted in the seat next to me. Apart from the toilet starting to smell towards the end of the trip the journey went relatively smooth. I probably got about 5 hours of sleep though it wan’t good quality sleep as I was quite uncomfortable.

John, Eugene and I planned to get up early to see sunrise on Angel falls. In theory the direction of sunrise should have bathed the falls in the morning sun. However it was not meant to be with a low mist shrouding the waterfall and pretty much everything from the jungle upwards. It was really disappointing, but that’s nature.

After breakfast our group walked down to the river and were taken across to the other bank by boat. From here we walked up into the jungle to the falls. Walking up through the jungle my sandal which I had bought in Oaxaca, Mexico, finally gave up the ghost with the back strap separating from the sole. My first pair fell apart in Medina after only two days. I was now in need of another new pair. I am kicking myself for not buying a decent pair of Teva’s in the UK and I’ve probably spent the equivalent cost now of a good pair. As we were walking through the jungle it was fairly obvious that the guide and the brunette Swiss girl were enamoured with each other. If the guide was at the front she would overtake the rest of the group to be near him of if he was at the back she would stop to fasten her shoes, coincidentally ending up at the back also. We reached a view point where I theory we would have been able to see the whole of the falls. As the sun got hotter through the morning the mist was burnt away. The top half of the falls was still in mist though which was a real shame.

We waited at the view point, but it was fairly obvious that the mist was now clearing quickly. So we walked down to the plunge pool below a secondary waterfall below the main falls. Here we could swim and play around in the waterfall. The water was freezing though but after a while we were used to it. When everyone had had enough and got out to dry we walked back up to the view platform.

The mist had cleared some more and we could occasionally see the top but eventually we had to leave so that we could get back for lunch. El and I were at the back of the group and quickly got separated. I’m not sure how we managed to get so far behind but we probably got down about 10 minutes after everyone else. When we did get down to the river the mist had cleared and I could get another photo of the falls from the river. We were boated back to camp and had lunch. Just then the heavens opened and we had torrential downpour. We were so lucky that we were back at camp otherwise we would have been soaked to the sink in seconds. The soil around the camp couldn’t handle the volume of water so the surrounding jungle had about an inch of standing water. Whilst we waited for the rain to clear I took the opportunity to catch up on some sleep back in the hammock. After about an hour the rain had cleared and along with it most of the mist. The group readied to leave the camp.

Eugene and I took the opportunity to head back to the clearing to take a photo of the falls without the mist. I can’t understand why more people didn’t head back with us to the clearing. I guess the others just wanted to leave. It would be great to come back another time and spend a few days in the jungle and not be rushed. The guide was telling us about different routes up to the plateau which creates the falls. There is a five day from the same side we were on, which basically continues beyond the viewing area we’d seen earlier. Another route goes from the back of the plateau and takes twelve days. There’s definitely much more to see in this area and considering that it is perhaps the must see tourist attraction in Venezuela, there are remarkably few people. In our trek to the viewing area we saw no other groups, and we only passed a handful of other boats on the river. I guess the reason for this is the relative isolation. The only way to get to Angel Falls is to take a flight into the area and then a boat trip.

The boat trip back down the village was relatively straightforward. Again because of the rain and the water in the river we stayed in the boats and shot the rapids. The skill of the boat drivers was remarkable. The knew the exact location of the paths through the rapids, skilfully navigating the rocks, stoppers and eddies. We arrived back at the compound in the village after about 3 hours. Once back at the village we had a quick (cold) shower before the evening meal. We didn’t stay up that late as most of us were still feeling sleep deprived from the previous nights interruptions, plus the beer was really expensive, 10B for a small can (2 USD). I guess this is because all the supplied are flown in, so most things about twice the price they are in other towns and cities. 1.5l of water was 12B instead of 5B. When we left the guide was plying that ancient love potion, alcohol, on the two Swiss girls.

Angel Falls! This is the one thing that made me want to come to Venezuela. I had always wanted to see this, but I honestly can’t say why I felt this way. So far everything I had seen and experienced on the trip had been a bonus, so quite literally Venezuela had exceeded all my expectations.

This is starting to sound cliché, but yet again we were up early. We had left the tables set up for breakfast so we could be quicker in the morning and we were all finished, packed and cleaned away when the minibus was ready to leave at about 7:15am. It was a short drive to the airport, but that was lucky as it was a tight fit with nine of us plus packs in the back of the bus. In addition to the eight from the Dragoman tour, two Swiss girls joined as well. Laurie sat in the front as he wasn’t feeling too good. We arrived at the airport and went to the Gecko tour office. We gave them our passport details and then we went next door to the Sunshire Air office who we would be flying with. This took very little time and we would split the group into two lots of five people for the flights. In my plane were Laurie, Eugene, Renee and Karen. The other plane took Fi, El, John and the two Swiss girls. After a short wait in the airport restaurant we were ready to check in. Check in basically consisted of walking through the metal detectors and onto the tarmac. Going through the security guards picked up my scissors in the first aid kit. Bearing in mind that these are safety scissors and I had walked through several international airports with these I thought they should be OK. But the security guard was a “jobs worth” and I think I finally convince him that they were no threat by jabbing them into my hand. El had her tweezers confiscated, which was a real disaster for her as I have not know anyone to spend as long plucking their eyebrows as El.

However when we went onto the tarmac the manager of Sunshine Air came with us and gave us all the confiscated tweezers and scissors back. The plane was a small single prop cesnor type for five passengers. It is the smallest plane I’ve flown in so far. Laurie was sat in the co-pilot seat with Eugene and Me on the next row and Karen and Renee in the bag and our bags behind them. Our pilot was fairly young and we were told that he had dual citizenship of Columbia and Venezuela which I joked would come in hand for drug running! The plane taxied down the runway and turned round to take off. I’m always amazing at how quickly these small planes are airborne. The flight took about 1hr 30 mins and was pretty smooth with very little turbulence. The view from the plane was amazing. We passed over mountains, forests, lakes and rivers. The air was clear and we could see for hundreds of miles. I’ve always wanted to learn to fly and everytime I get in a small plane I say that I’ll book some flight lessons when I get back. As we got closer to Salto Angel we started to see more of the table top mountains that characterise this region. As we came in for the landing we flew past a large waterfall near to the village. The landing was smooth though it was interesting that we landed on the dirt track next to the landing strip and not the tarmac landing strip. Eugene hates flying and although at times he was hanging onto the seat beat for life he said that he enjoyed the flight. I think the scenery we flew over was enough to distract anyone from their fear.

We were met by our local guide from the local tour company. We waited for the other plane to arrive and then we got the truck to the compound at Salto Angel. We left our passports at the compound just in case they got damages or lost on the trip. After a quick drink of coffee we left the compound to start our journey upstream.

Before getting in the boats we quickly stopped for a photo opportunity at the top of the large waterfall we had seen from the plane on the way into land. Then it was on to where the boats left from. Initially the plan was that we would carry on up the river for about 40 minutes and then get out and walk through the Savannah whilst the boats came up through the rapids. However there was enough water in the river to allow up to actually stay in the boat whilst the boat drivers took us up stream. As a set of rapids if you were coming down stream it would probably be about class 1 white water. However going up stream was great fun and we would get waves coming up over the sides of the boats and crashing into us. Within five minutes everyone was soaked and Fi and El were screaming away as they got drenched with the waves.

We passed through the rapids and we could take our life jackets off to make the seats more comfortable. The landscape as we drove upstream was absolutely amazing. It would seem as though every time we passed around a corner or bend in the stream the vista was better than the last. After about another 40 mins from the top of the rapids we stopped for lunch we a small stream ran into the main river. As if on cue the mist lifted completely and we had blue sky and sunshine for the duration of lunch. After lunch we had a swim in the waterfall and plunge pool that formed in the stream just before flowing into the river. The sun was so warm that we could dry our t-shirts which had got drenched from the rain and the river water that crashed into the boat.

After lunch it was back into the boat and onto the camp where we would be staying for the next night. We continued past majestical land forms and waterfalls next to the river before passing through another series of rapids. One of the things that struck me about the river and jungle we passed through was that there was a distinct lack of birds. This was in complete contrast to the boat jouney up to Lake Maracaibo were literally every tree would have some form of bird life, iguanas or monkeys. I’m guessing that there are two reasons for this. The first is that the shear size of the national park and the amount of water in the river and streams meant that there was more choices for the wildlife to go. The second could be due to the river itself. The colour of the water was a deep red from the tannins in the vegetation that the water flows through. This makes the river acidic and therefore it holds less aquatic life. Less aquatic life means fewer birds and other animals further up the food chain. It also explained why we had fewer mosquitos at the camp. But I could be completely wrong about that, it wouldn’t be the first time!

There are a few really memorable things I’ve seen that really lodge in my memory. My first view of the Grand Canyon, sunrise in Monument Valley and dawn on the way up Huyan Potosai. My first view of Angel Falls was similar. The boat rounded the final corner and we could see the mass that forms the Angel Falls Teupo. In the centre was a rock face stretching from the jungle to the sky topped by cascade of water. This is the tallest single cascade waterfall in the wall at just under 1km in height from the top to the plunge pool. It was a really beautiful site.

The boat pulled into the opposite bank from the side with Angel Falls and we disembarked for a short walk through the woods to the camp. From the camp we could take another short walk a little bit further upstream to a clearing in the jungle where we could get a better view of the falls. The weather in this region is in constant flux, especially as this was the rainy season. One minute we would have blue skies and glorious sunshine. Five minutes last the mist would come in wrap the views in a blanket of whiteness. In the time it took us to disembark the boat, drop our things at the camp and walk another five minutes to the clearing the mist started to come in again. We waited at the clearing for to see if the mist would lift again, but it didn’t seem to want to and then it started to rain so we walked back to our camp. The evening meal was well on the way for preparation when we arrived back at camp. Chicken roasted on skewers around an open fire.

It was about 8pm when dinner was served and we tucked into roast chicken and rice. The chicken tasted absolutely amazing. Probably a combination of the way in which the chick had been prepared and our hunger. Washed down with “Big Cola”, no less! Bearing in mind we had been on the go since about 5:45 this morning we were absolutely shattered so our group got into our hammocks. The generator and the lights went out about 9:30 and then the fun started! We weren’t the only group at the camp. The camp itself was a large open building which the dining tables and the hammocks were strung up in and a collection of out houses for the toilets and showers. There were perhaps 35 hammocks in the building. Our group took 10, including the Swiss girls. The rest were taken by a Venezuelan group. One the lights go out its usually the signal for silence so that people can get to sleep. I’m not saying that all the Venezuelans were inconsiderate morons but some were talking, laughing and joking. They weren’t even whispering but talking at the top of their voices. I think it is probably because they are city types who had never been in the natural environment. After about an hour our group, and to be fair some of the other Venezuelans were getting angry and saying “Ssh!”. Eventually I had enough and boomed in my most polite Spanish “Hey Amigos, Hacer Silence Por Favour!” (I don’t know if this was right but it had the desired effect and from that point there was relative silence so we could get to sleep, punctuated only by El chirping “Thank you!”. This phrase modified slightly to “Hey Amigos, Silencio Por Favour” has now become part of trek mythology.

Because we still had xxx km to go to Cuidad de Bolivar we made a very early start of 5:30am on the truck with the intention to drive for a few hours and stopping for breakfast on the road.

We stopped about 9:30 for breakfast at a petrol station. It was here that perhaps the single most bizarre public toilet episode happened. The gents toilets had a tiled trough against one of the walls. I had finished and was walking our as a Venezuelan walked in. Eugene followed him into the toilet to find the guy was not using the trough but just pissing all over the floor. Not even using one corner, but the whole floor. Given that it was 9:30am the guy could not have been drunk, well maybe he was! Why, no one knows, but Eugene was certainly traumatised by the experience.

Back on the truck it was another solid morning of driving, punctuated by a quick shopping trip to buy food for our cook group for the evening meal and lunch. We carried on driving eventually stopping at a driveway to what looked like the road to an abandoned industrial complex. It turned out to be the driveway to someones house. They turned up shortly after we set up, but they were pretty cool about us eating there and were interested to here where we had been and where we where going. It was at this place that I had my first encounter with fire ants. For such a small insect they really do pack a punch with their bites. We had accidentally set up one of the tarpaulins on top of a nest and they soon swarmed over the boxes so we had to move the boxes out of the way. Lunch was the same basic sandwiches with ham and cheese, but we had also bought a fruit loaf whilst shopping which was a really nice change.

Eventually we made it to Cuidad de Bolivar. The compound we were staying in is run by Swiss expats who also organise the Angel Falls and Roraima trips. We opted to stay in a bunkhouse whilst the girls opted to upgrade to a room. The set up at the compound is really nice. There was a small bunkhouse with about 8 bunks, plus a few small rooms. There was a dining facility, pool and internet. I think that it was also possible to camp if you needed to. The evening was spent packing for the three day excursion to Angel Falls and then cooking the group meal. I really enjoy cooking, but hate washing up. This was the first meal that we had actually cooked on this trip. We cooked meal balls, together with a vegetable pasta sauce. It tasted pretty good but we had way too much food and it was a shame to see it go to waste. After the meal we sorted out the cost for Roraima and Angel Falls. Both of these trips are considered “optional activities” and not included in the full cost of the trek. I can understand Roraima not appealing to everyone, but Angel Falls is perhaps the thing to see in Venezuela. I think that Dragoman probably do this to keep the cost of the trip down. The total cost for Roraima and Angel falls was about 3000 B, significantly less than we had originally been told. This was a real inconvenience for me because I had changed travellers cheques in Merida based on the guidance by Dragoman as to the cost of the trips. This meant that once I allowed for about 300B to last me to the Brazilian border, I had around 800 B left with very little chance of spending it before the end of the trip. Also the rate that the swiss were working the prices out was based on an exchange rate of 5.6, again higher than the 5.2 average I had achieved for travellers cheques and cash in Merida. I asked Donna about changing my left over money back to USD and said that I would take 5.5, losing out a bit on the way. I stayed up a bit later to use the internet. There was wi-fi but no one knew the code so I had to wait until the computer was free. It was probably around 11:30pm when I went to bed. A late night by the trip standards so far!

Another early start. One thing about this particular trip is that there is very little partying due to the early starts and consequently early beds. I think that the next leg from Manaus to Rio may be different. The plan for today was to drive through one of the famous ranches in the area, the Sedelo Ranch. This is world renown for conservation and it is where a lot of the wildlife documentaries are filmed. Our hope was to see the Capybara. Before we reached the ranch we passed over a stream where hundreds of egrets and herons were roosting. As we got out to take photos Donna spotted a freshwater stingray on the surface of the water under the bridge. I had dived with stingray in Belize, but I had never seen a freshwater stingray. In fact Alan said that it is incredibly rare and that since going digital he had never been able to take a photograph of a stingray and no other group had seen them whilst he has been guiding.

As we drove along the road we saw four family groups of Capybara. Some were really close to the road and we could walk up to the fence to take photos. The Capybara is a member of the rodent family and the biggest of the group, similar in size to a pig. Catholics are not supposed to eat meat on Good Friday, but a past pope said that eating Capybara is OK, because it lives in the water like fish! I kid you not! As a consequence the Capybara is a really popular meat to eat at Easter time. This ranch is protected by armed guards but some of the other ranches such as the one we visited yesterday used to have Capybara, but last Easter one of their former employees with a group from the village came onto their land and shot all the Capybara. This storey is being repeated all over the wetlands, especially as much of the wetland ranches are now being turned over to the general population.

Instead of writing a diary, Eugene composes a Haiku poem each day. In honour of the situation with the Capybara I wrote this one:

Eat Capybara
The Pope said it is OK
Now they are no more

The road on which we were travelling used to be unsurfaced like the others we had driven on. Since the road had been surfaced the speed at which the trucks and cars drove had increased. As a result a lot of wildlife has been the victim of roadkill, including several Giant Anteaters, one of which was a female with a baby on her back.

We drove on a bit to a bridge where the idea was to fish for piranha. We had reels with metal hooks baited with Chicken. Unfortunately, either due to the rain, or the high level of water in the rivers there was no Piranha to be caught. It was good fun though.

After about 45 minutes of trying to catch fish and only catching weeds and occasionally Venezuela we called time on the fishing. We took some group photos before Alan left us to return to Merida. Alan’s driver, Frank, asked whether there were anymore photos to be taken I thought mine was the last so I said “uno”, John however wanted a shot so said “no two” except “dos” came out as “doozo”. At which everyone burst out laughing. It made a great photo for me though.

It was a shame to say goodbye to Alan but travelling is all about meeting interesting people and then saying goodbye. I had a great time at Lake Maracaibo and Los llanos and I would highly recommend Alan to anyone want to visit this area.

Our goal for the rest of this day and the next day was to get to Cuidad de Bolivar which was our staging post for the Angel Falls excursion. The plan for the rest of this day was to get as close to Cuidad de Bolivar as possible to leave as little driving as possible for the next day. We drove continuously, about xxx km, stopping briefly for a truck lunch and a few toilet stops. We saw an amazing sunset on the road and even some lightning storms. Unfortunately we couldn’t stop to take pictures. We eventually stopped for an evening meal at a large service station where two major roads meet. I had mixed skewers of pork and chicken which tasted pretty good. We were quickly back on the road with the goal to make a town called El Sombrero in order to find a small Posada to stay for the night.

To call El Sombrero a hick town would probably be insulting to other hick towns. Accepting that many small towns look their worst in the dark, this was certainly no exception. We drove around town for a while looking for a place to stay. As we drove round we passed a shack with a huge bass beat that seemed crammed full of men and women for a disco / meat market. The hotel we decided to stay in could not fit the truck into the compound so Donna and Dion opted to stay on the truck at the truck park, whilst the rest of us had rooms. The rooms were basic but clean. We had a slight problem with our room in that the room to the bathroom locked as soon as you shut the door. We told the night porter about this and he tried to get it open with a coat hanger. It looked as though we would be without access to a toilet for the night but I had a go with my Gerber multitool. Just pushing the blade into the key slot and turning it was enough to open the door. Very relieved on two accounts we made an effort to keep the door open during the night. I forgot though about 2am and had to go through the process of opening the door with the blade again.

There was so much to see in terms of animal life in Los llanos and the best time to see wildlife is either early morning or dusk. So it was another early morning. Up at 5:00am to be in the van at 5:30am. The sunrise was particularly nice which was a good sign for the day ahead.

Our first port of call was a ranch that Alan knew where they were trying to preserve wildlife. As we drove to the Vellis Ranch we saw another three Giant Anteaters making their way back to their day time hiding place. Two were walking together about 25m apart. The birdlife in los llanos is amazing and Alan was pointing out several species as he went along.

We climbed over the gate at the Vellis Range and made our way along the path to the main house. Along the way we stopped at a pool to watch the Cayman in the water. As we did some Scarlet Ibis flew overhead. These are such beautiful birds. After a while we carried up to the main house where the owners came out to meet us. At first they kept their distance because they thought we had swine flu!

The rangers are having a hard time at the moment thanks to the government. The Venezuelan government is undertaking a populist policy of taking ranges over and dividing the land to the people. The government has taken over some ranches because paperwork was not in order. Another more aggressive policy is undercutting the ranchers using imported beef to force them to sell the ranges below market value. Say the locals can produce beef for 12 B a head. The government is buying beef from Argentina and Brazil at 16 B a head and selling it for 10B, using money from oil exports to fund the shortfall. If not for the oil, Venezuela would be heading into the same mess that Zimbabwe is in now.

One of the profitable businesses that the Vellis range still has is breeding roosters for cock-fighting. I don’t agree with blood sports, but it is still part of the culture here and it was interesting to see about 200 cockerels in pens in a small yard. After a spot of breakfast from the van we drove round the back of the ranch to a small lake where we could watch the cayman.

As well as the caymen we were in for a special treat because an Orinoco Crocodile had also taken up residence in the same lake. The Orinoco Crocodile has been hunted almost to extinction because the skin is beautifully textured, making it perfect for crocodile skin produces. Luckily due to breeding and tracking programmes the numbers are starting to rise again. This crocodile had been christened Louis by the rangers. After a while watching the crocodile and cayman we walked back to the range and then headed back to the compound for lunch.

Lunch was a simple affair of sandwiches and fruit after which some people had a siesta before the afternoon/evening boat ride. I managed to catch up a bit with the blog, organise my photos and clean the bus windows; one of my team chores. The boat ride left from the river opposite the compound. The idea was to head through some of the water ways to look for birds and wildlife. Los llanos is a very rich area for wildlife because of the relationship between the water and the land. The area is crisscrossed with waterways with the land between being mainly grasses. At the start of the wet season the grasslands are fully of insects. As the water level rises the grasslands become submerged and the fish from the river move into the area to lay their eggs. The fish eat the insects and the birds and other animals eat the fish. However some of the ranches and villages have started burning the grasses to keep the insects at bay. Theses are then the same people who are complaining that the fish stocks have collapsed in recent years. It’s a classic example of man interfering in a natural process without realising the implications. Properly managed this area would make so much money from environmental tourism, but it would require education and a political will.

The boat was another of the long thin speedboats that seem to very popular. The whole group could fit on one boat with Alan at the front. After the rain storm on the return from Lake Maracaibo we at first thought we would be on for a repeat performance as the heavens opened about 20 minutes into our journey. It was during this rain storm that we saw our first Pink River Dolphins. But a combination of the weather and the dolphins were not showing off we decided to move on. The rain stopped and the sun came out drying us all up pretty quickly. As we moved from the main river to one of the side tributaries we came across another pod of river dolphin. This time we stayed a while to enjoy these amazing animals. The river dolphin has some different evolutionary trends than the ones you see in the oceans. The first obvious one is the pink colour. This is because the dolphin has less need for blubber and so the blood vessels are closer to the surface. The second is that the dorsal fin is much smaller than the ocean dolphins. This is because the food that the dolphin hunts is much slower than in the ocean so it doesn’t need high level of streamlining and slow speed agility it more important. The third and perhaps most interesting is that the river dolphin has an unfused neck vertebrae similar to humans which allows the dolphin to move its head from side to side and navigate the flooded forests with much more efficiency. This is also why river dolphins don’t jump out of the water as they would crush their vertebrae each time they landed. After a while we had to carry on up the river otherwise we would see nothing else.

As we moved upstream we saw birds, hawks and lots and lots of iguana. Alan was also able to catch one out of a tree so that we could get close to it. The one animal that we all wanted to see though was an Anaconda, but because the rains had started and the grasslands were starting to flood our chances were becoming less.

One of the birds that lives in this area is called the Hoatzin bird. It is a very primitive bird and infact the chicks still have claws on their wing joints like Archaeopteryx. They lose these claws on maturity but whilst they are chicks they use them to climb trees back to the nest. Some of the families of birds have thousands of species like the duck forms, but this family only has one species. Seeing this bird in flight I was very much reminded of the pictures of the fossilised archaeopteryx I have seen previously in books.

It was a fantastic trip up the river. After about an hour we turned round and started the journey back. As the sun set and dusk was upon us we would shine torches into the bangs in the hope of seeing snake eyes staring back at us. However all we saw were hundreds of silver beads in the grasses. Alan told us that this was the reflection from spiders eyes. It was dark when we reaches the main river and as Alan shone the torch into the bushes he spotted orange eyes. We took the boat into the bush when the boat drive who was directly behind John and me suddenly plunged his hand into the river and pulled out a baby cayman. It was an amazing piece of skill. With one hand on the torch, he steered the boat and then caught this member of the crocodile family with his free hand. Alan then showed us some of the features of the cayman including the bony ridge connecting the eye sockets, giving rise to the name “spectacled cayman” and the double eyelids.

We arrived back at the compound about 8pm giving us enough time to have a shower before tucking into a meal of fried Piranha. I sat up chatting to Alan for a while before turning in for another early night as we planned to get up again at 6:00 the next day so we could be on the road early.

Today started with a knock at the door at 5:00am with our laundry. It was all there luckily as I was so half asleep that I could easily have missed something. John went into the shower and decided to shave his moustache off, promptly knocking about 10 years from his looks. He said that he was trying to trim it and slipped but whatever it was a good move. I remember when I was about eight my dad shaved his moustache off. My sister was about five at time came running into the room looking for him, saw him without the moustache, screamed and ran out of the room. The groups reaction to John’s lack of facial hair was more favourable though. Except for Eugene who for the first hour thought we were talking about John’s new hair cut.

Alan met us in the reception of the Posada and we were soon ready for off. As we left Merida for the last time the peaks were really visible and we could get great views across the valley with the sun glinting of the remains of the glacier on the Pico de Bolivar. We continued up the valley to the pass over the Andes. We stopped for a breakfast of chicken empanada and fruit juice at a small village shop. Though there was a post office in town next to the shop it wouldn’t be open for a few hours. I was really hoping to get a card of to my great aunt for her birthday but this was looking increasingly impossible.

We stopped briefly at a river where we were hoping to see a rare river duck. This is one of the few ducks that cannot be raised in zoos. The reason is that it lives in very fast flowing rivers making it almost impossible to recreate its environment. Unfortunately we were unlucky and we didn’t see the duck. So it was onto the next village of Mucachi.

Before we reached the village we stopped briefly at the side of the road and bought some fresh strawberries. The shop owner was also selling Mucachi puppies. The Mucachi is a breed from this area of the Andes and is a cross between a Saint Bernard and Pyrenean. In fact the next village we stopped at was Mucachi, which means “Place of the Sun God”.

When Simon Bolivar came through the Andes on his way to Merida he passed through this village. They gave him a Mucachi dog and a boy, Tin Jaca, from the village went to look after it. The boy and the dog stayed by Simon Bolivar’s side all the way through the campaign but were both killed in the last battle. There is a statue of the dog and boy in the main plaza of the village, which must make it one of the few places in Venezuela that doesn’t have a statue of Simon Bolivar at the centre of the main plaza.

Whilst we were at the village we also saw a group of teenages giving a marching display. It looked as though they were practising for a festival. The name of this group was Tin Jaca, the same as the boy from the village. These youth groups are gaining in popularity now; their purpose is to indoctronate the ideals of the “revolution” into tomorrows youth. I’m sure that someone once tried something very similar in the 1930’s in Germany.

We watched the display for a bit and then got back onto the truck to continue up the mountain pass. We stopped briefly at a church before continuing on to the Sierra Nevada National Park. This was the second of Venezuela’s 42 National Parks, inaugurated in 1950. From here the water either flows down towards Merida and Lake Maracaibo or towards Los Llanos and eventually to the Orinoco. It would have been nice to do a short walk from the car park, but the mist was quiet low and we still had a lot of distance to travel that day.

From the National Park we started our decent towards Barinas. On the way back down the valley we stopped for some pictures overlooking a large reservoir. El and Laurie recreating the bow scene from Titanic. Why I’m not sure, but I’m pretty certain it was just an excuse for Laurie to put his arms around El!

We stopped for lunch at a really nice restaurant. The speciality was BBQ beef though El had a chicken plater and Karen had a vegetarian option. Some of the beef was a bit grizzly but most was really nicely done. Again the vegetables tasted much better with the hot sauce.

From our lunch stop we drove back through Barinas and into the los llanos. Los llanos means “the planes” and is a huge extensive series of low lying land and water ways fed by the run off from the Andes. As we turned of the main road onto the smaller back lanes we stopped the truck to use the roof seats. The Dragoman trucks have the facility for four roof seats at the front of the truck and four at the back. This is perfect for safari situations like los llanos. We drove down the lane for about half an hour when Donna spotted a Giant Anteater in the undergrowth close to the road. When we stopped the truck the anteater had moved deeper into the undergrowth so Alan crawled under the fence and crept round the back of the bushes where the anteater was hiding. Suddenly the anteater sensed Alan and bolted from the cover, across the field in front of us. It was amazing to see this rare animal so close.

Further along to road we saw another ant eater in the distance and also some cayman basking in the evening sunset. By this time the sun was setting and we had to close up the roof seats and continue on our way.

Our destination was a small village called San Vincent where Alan and another guide had bought a small compound we would be using as base for the next two nights in the los llanos. On the way through the village the truck had to pass under a series of low telephone cables. We managed this without too much problem but in the past the truck had taken out someone’s phone line. Sometimes the tour leaders have had to stand on the roof and lift up the cables using a broom while the truck edges under the cables. We drove through the village and along the river to Alan’s compound just as the sun set. The colours through the sky were amazing.

The compound was fairly basic with a kitchen opening onto a court yard and a room of bunks on the ground floor and then space for hammocks to be strung on the first floor. When we arrived the electricity was out in the village. Ideally we would have strung hammocks up but because we had to leave the hammocks at Lake Maracaibo when we had to catch a taxi back to Merida. There were a few hammocks with mosy nets but not enough to go round so most of us would sleep in the bunk house. Luckily the electricity came back on about 10pm and the fans in the bunk house could work.

Tuesday was a free day that we could either spend resting our take the chance to do some other activities. Not one to rest I had decided beforehand to have a go at the canyoning in the mountains around Merida. Canyoning is basically travelling either up or down a river bed, climbing or abseiling waterfalls. I’ve only done this once before at my friends stag do in Wales. It was great fun previously so I though this would also be good fun. Laurie had also decided that he would like to try canyoning so there would be two of us which would be good.

We had to get to the offices of Arassari for 9:30 which was on the other side of town, near the cable car. Merida has the longest cable car ride in the world though it’s not working now. Apparently some Swiss engineers came out a few years ago, inspected it and condemned it. There has been rumours that some other engineers had been brought it who have said that its OK and that it will reopen. As with most things in Venezuela there seems to be much going on under the surface that we aren’t aware of, but someone told us that the cable car is a political point scoring issue between rival politicians.

Laurie and I left the hotel and walked across the square, taking one of the streets down to the main square. We stopped briefly for some breakfast at a small café before continuing to the main plaza and then took a street to the left that ran to the cable car. Arassari offices are set in an amazing house perched on the edge of the valley with amazing views up towards Pico de Boliviar (the highest peak in Venezuela). Our guide, Edgar, sized us up for wet suits and then Laurie and I squeezed into a four seater Toyota 4×4 with Edgar and a driver and set of for the river. The jeep we were travelling in had pretty good ground clearance and at one point on the way out of the city there was a traffic jam so our driver just did a U-turn straight over the central reservation. We were soon out of the city though and on our way up the valley. The road was incredibly steep and single tracked reminding me of the concrete track that runs from Loughrigg Fell down to Ambleside.

After a while we stopped the jeep, stripped to our swimming trunks and hoisted the sacs holding our wetsuits and harnesses onto our bags. The reason for not putting the wetsuits on at the car was that it was a good 30 minute walk on some fairly steep paths and we would have been sweating heavily if we had started walking in the wet suits. After a fairly steep downward path through the forest we reached the top of the river, or at least the part of the river that we would start our journey from. Wetsuits and harnesses on we were ready for action and although we may have looked like something from the “blue oyster bar” it was good to see that the wetsuits and harnesses were in fairly good repair.

The first section of river was fairly easy and although it was a bit slippy under foot there was nothing too technical. We soon reached the first of the three waterfalls we would be abseiling down. The first of these was 8m high and Edgar quickly secured the ropes to a bolted abseil chain. I was impressed with the ropework from Edgar and he obviously knew his stuff. We had a descender on our harnessed but we also had a safety rope which Edgar controlled from the top. Laurie was first over the edge and after a few minutes it was my turn.

Though I’ve abseiled lots of times with mountaineering this was the first time down a waterfall. As I went over the edge and started making my way down the water pressure in my face was quite breathtaking, not only with the force of the water but also the cold temperature. However after dropping a little further I was able to breath easier in the air space beneath the water and continue down to the plunge pool. I waded through the pool to the other side where Laurie was waiting.

One down, two to go. Instead of abseiling down, Edgar took a short cut round the back of the waterfall where a path led to the pool. We had a quick drink and then it was on our way to the next one.

The next waterfall was 12m high. When we reached the top of the waterfall Edgar set up the ropes through a bolted steel rope loop and called us over. He gave us the choice of abseiling through the water or to the side. The water looked even stronger than the previous so we opted to abseil at the side of the waterfall. This time I went first. With not having the water in your face this was much easier, but still tricky to get to the bottom without slipping. Laurie came next and was soon at my side.

As we were coming down the river we noticed that it had been raining steadily and as Laurie and I were waiting for Edgar the water level started to rise. I wouldn’t call it a flash flood but the waterfall definitely became much stronger and the water level in the plunge pool rose. We were in no danger though and Edgar asked us to move further up the bank until the water receded.

At first it was nice to have a rest but it soon became obvious that the water was not receding and if anything it was getting stronger. This presented a problem as Edgar was still at the top of the waterfall and Laurie and I were at the bottom. After about half an hour, with no sign of either the rain stopping or the water level dropping we had to find another plan. Edgar got the two end of the rope and in turn through a coil to me at the bottom. He then asked me to tie this round a tree. As soon as he did this I knew that he was hoping to set up a Tyrolean traverse from the top of the waterfall to our side. Grabbing the ropes as Edgar threw them to me and using some carabiners I set up the ropes on our side. When the ropes were ready Edgar edged himself down the rope before committing and swinging out over the gorge. We were all soon back together and Edgar was obviously pleased to be down. We recovered the rope as I’m guessing that Edgar had just passed the rope through the hoop of metal rope.

It was obvious that we would have to abandon the third water fall (25m), but I was also pleased at the safety conscious attitude of our guide. Because we were not near the bottom of the gorge we actually had to hike up out of the gorge and then back down to the village. We first set of to the left of the river and quickly gained height climbing through the forest and into farmland. We met a farmer along the path and Edgar asked him the way to the road. The farmer was under the impression that it would be quicker to go back and come down the right side of the gorge. So we hiked back down into the gorge, crossed the river and climbed back out on the right side of the river. It was about a 45 minute hike back to the pick up point where the jeep was waiting for us. The water level in the river at the pick up point did not look particularly high. Either this was deceptive due to the width of the river or perhaps the flood had passed and maybe if we had waited at the second waterfall for another hour we could have continued. Regardless it was fun, and though I am slightly disappointed not to have abseiled the last waterfall (25m), we definitely made the right decision to hike out when we did.

We were soon back at the office in Merida and then it was a short walk back to the hotel. We stopped for something to eat at the main square. The restaurant was a sort of fast food diner and they had a video screen showing 80’s music. But the annoying thing was that it would show about 15 to 30 seconds of a music video and then switch onto another song. It was like it had been designed for someone with Attention Deficiency Syndrome. Back at the hotel I picked up some postcards to post, found the directions to the post office in town and set of back into the centre. I got to the post office at 4:33 and was told by some pompous ass at the counter that they closed at 4:30. If I had known how difficult it would have been to post things in Venezuela I would have argued a bit more strongly. Venezuela has perhaps the worst postal system in the world. Maybe its something with these communist countries because Cuba seem to have lost all the post cards and mail I sent from there also.

In the evening a few of us met up to go to a vegetarian restaurant that Fi had found earlier that day. The food was really nice; I had pasta with a spicy tomato sauce. I don’t know why it was but the topic of conservation seemed to revolve around meat which was ironic considering we had made a conscious choice to go to a vegetarian restaurant. After the meal we then went to a small jazz bar that sold great hot chocolate and hollow pastries with chocolate. Fi and El had spent their afternoon here whilst Laurie and I were having our adventure in the canyon.

When we finally got back to the hotel we were told that our laundry was still not ready. There had been a problem with the water in town. We were obviously quite annoyed about this, not because there was a problem with the water as this can’t be helped, but because we had been told that our washing would be ready several times instead of telling us the truth. We explained that we would be leaving at 6:30am the following day and we were promised that the laundry would be ready by 5:00am. In the end they made a phone call, we assumed to the laundry and handed the phone to El.
“They speak English” the receptionist said as she handed the phone to El.
“Hello, I believe you have our washing” El began.
I think the response was something like “Who is this?”
El responded “Who am I talking to”
It turned out that the hotel had rung Alan, our tour guide in for lake Maracaibo, in order to explain the situation to us. It was funny the following day to hear the story from Alan’s side as he’d just got of to sleep when the phone went. He assumed it was his alarm going off to walk up for the following day so turned it off. It then rang again so he turned it off again and then the house phone went. He picked it up to “Hello, I believe you have our washing”.

In the end the laundry owner stayed up till 2:00am to ensure that everyone’s washing was done and delivered, though it was pretty expensive at 35 B.

We had a bit of lie in today, we has a lie in for this trip, waking about 8:30 to grab some breakfast before taking the boats into the flooded forest to look for more wildlife and butterflies. One of Alan’s great passions is butterflies and we were hoping to see two that he had discovered, whilst out on the boat today. From the hut we journeyed further into the lagoon and then into some of the flooded forests. On the way we saw a bird called a Northern Screamer, a primitive and rare bird that is part of the duck family. Some ornithologists make the trip just to see this bird. Further into the forest Alan started hanging butterfly bait onto some of the trees. His bait is a mixture of rotting banana and molasses (sugar cane). Butterflies usually feed on a liquid diet and perhaps the most common is rotting fruit, however in these flooded forests the fruit falls from the trees into the water. Therefore the butterfly here actually feed on resin from the trees. Almost as soon as we arrived we saw the blue morpho butterfly he named after his granddad (Morpho Helenor Packeri) . At first we though it may have been a blue plastic bag above the waterline, but it was the butterfly we were looking for and Alan was able to capture it. Unfortunately my camera chose this moment to give up the ghost. I had burnt though my batteries, spares and spare spares during the night. All the sets must have been less than half charged. Luckily John was able to lend me a set, but I missed this shot.

The other butterfly we tried to catch was the one Alan named for himself (Morpho Rhetenor Hightoni) . We did see the butterfly, but unlike the other one it is a high flying butterfly and even with the 5m butterfly net Alan could not reach it. Seeing Alan stood on the front of one of the boats waving a huge net around I couldn’t help wonder how many times he had fallen in. The answer was apparently quite a few.

We hung around for an hour to try and catch the elusive high flying morpho. We saw it a few times, but it was always out of reach. I did see an amazing zebra butterfly on one of Alan’s fruit baits. I’ve never really taken much interest in butterflies, but Alan’s enthusiam for the subject is infectious.

Just before miday we decided to give up the hunt and head back to the hut for lunch. Before this though we managed to get another swim in the lake. The water was still warm, but slightly cooler than the previous evening. One of the women in the village had made a really nice fish dish with flaked fish and vegetables. As we finished lunch we saw one of the boys from the village out fishing with a line. He managed to catch one in front of our hut and dutifully posed for a photo opportunity.

Fed, rested and feeling a bit cleaner we packed up the boats and left the village. On the way back we called at another village called Congo. Unlike Ologa, Congo has no attached land so the villages keep everything, including pigs and chickens on their stilted houses. Taking the boats through the main routes through the village I was thinking of the scenes in the UK last year when so many people were flooded from their homes.

Here people live like this all the time and they have adapted. If we continue to build on flood planes in the UK then we should also adapt the design of our houses accordingly. In the centre of the village is a church, which although not the most impressive church I’ve seen, it was certainly imposing and almost slightly out of place when considering the in the context of the village.

It is very difficult, and expensive for these people to get fresh fruit and vegetables out here on the lake so Alan handed out several kilos that we had brought with us. By doing this he has built a very good relationship with the people of the villages in the area and in time hopes that the benefits of responsible tourism to the locals will become obvious to them, thereby heading off much of the negative stereotypes that westerners have in Venezuela thanks to the current government.

After Congo we headed back to Lake Maracai via the Catatumbo River, instead of the way we had come. We saw three more dolphin at the mouth of this river before we turned onto the lake and headed for home. As we crossed the lake back to Chonco we could see the sky turning very dark to the east. The storm was soon on us and though not the worst storm I’ve been through, it was an amazingly exhilarating experience to skimming over the water in an open small boat whilst the wind ripped at us and the rain battered us. I had to keep my sunsglasses on, as without them I would have not been able to see anything and at on point the rain was so hard I though it was hail. We made the safety of the river and Chonco without any problems and soon changed into some dry clothes at the dock whilst we waited for our minibus back to Merida.

After waiting for an hour Alan managed to get in touch with his driver and was told that the gearbox on the minibus had failed. Alan had to negotiate with a local taxi driver who had a minibus to take us back to Merida. We had to leave some of Alan’s kit back with the Eddie, the head boat driver, but there was plenty of room for us and our personal gear. When we started of the driver had some Venezuelan drum & bass blasting out through the speakers. Regardless of the quality of the music, you could actually feel you ribs moving with the base. Fearing some form of internal bleeding or at least ruptured ear drums we convinced the driver to turn down the music. The journey back to Merida took about 2 hours and we stopped for some Arapas, a Venezuelan fast food, on the way. In Venezuela they have a soft drink company called Hit. It looks identical to the packaging of Fanta so I guess it’s a local brand name. The flavours they come in are different to back home and they have a grape flavour. Its like vimto on steroids! Very sweet, but I like it. Probably not doing my teeth very good though. Eventually we made it back to the hotel, but the last two days had been a great experience. At the hotel we were able to change more money and do laundry. In Merida we could get 5.5 for cash and surprisingly 5.1 for travellers cheques. This was a really nice surprise as I though I would be restricted to changing travellers cheques at the official rate. It meant that the optional excursions to Angel Falls and Roraima would be within reach so I changed 600 USD travellers and 200 USD cash for 4160 B.

Today was a pretty early start. It was also Fathers Day, so a text message back home to say Happy Fathers Day Dad!

We would be overnighting at the lake so all we needed was a change of clothes and gear for overnight. I was a bit on the last minute again, but managed to keep the overnight gear to a minimum, leaving everything else in the large rucsac and holdall. We left the large bags in a spare room at the hotel. Knowing that there was a good chance that I could get rained on at the lake I left the laptop with my large rucsac, locked up in the room, but made sure I kept a backup of everything on the toughdrive which I took with me. We would also be leaving the dragoman truck in Merida, travelling in a minibus provided by our guide. Our guide, Alan Highton, has been working as a guide and wildlife photographer in Venezuela for twenty years. He specialises in butterflies and the Catatumbo lightning storm as well as conservation in Los Llanos. The minibus was similar to the Trek America buses and it was interesting to be back in one of these again after travelling in the Dragoman bus. We left the hotel about 6:45am and started our journey our of Merida.