Day 2

Following the daughter of Casa Luisa owners, Carolina’s advice, we caught  the bus to El Hatillo, a very colourful and pretty suburb of Caracas. Carolina shared a taxi with us to Caracas bus terminal and kindly accompanied us to the right bus which was headed for Maracay (6,000 Bv)

In Maracay we changed to a bus to Puerto Columbia, the road to Puerto Columbia was a bumpy ride along a narrow mountain road through the jungle. We were entertained by local teenagers singing and drinking rum at the back of the bus, I was pleased to be able to sing along with them to Rocking in Free World by Neil Young :-).

Once in Puerto Columbia we looked around for the posadas that Carolina had recommended, we ended up at one with no name, its recognisable feature was the stars on the wall at the front. When we entered the posada we caught a glimps of the slightly chubby owner in just in her pants and vest, predending we hadnt seen her, we expected her to run for cover in embarasement, to our suprise she came and spoke to us and this was how she remained for our stay, as the pants lady. We went for a walk to find the beach and had pabellon crillo (the national dish of venezuela) (6,000 Bv) at a restaurant for dinner. After a few beers sitting on the sea wall it was time for bed. [Read more]

Arrived at Caracas Airport after a 2hr flight to Madrid then an 8hr flight to Caracas. Got an official taxi to our Guesthouse costing a huge $60! A bridge from the Airport to the city center had collapsed meaning the trip from the airport in to the centre passed through some very dodgy areas. After reading all the dodgy stories about kidnappings from the airport we had no choice but to pay!

It took 2hrs 30mins and passed through a few Shanty towns. Only got a bit scared when the taxi driver started texting someone then wound down the windows when we were stuck in the large traffic jam.

I kept a close eye on the wing mirrors and watched the kids selling tintos (small coffees) to the passersby very closely ready to run at any moment.

Arrived at Casa Luisa at 7pm met by the lovely Luisa, had our first Castellano conversation, we did so well that Luisa had to call in the english speaking daughter to translate.

Went to the supermarket and then made a huge omelette that got stuck on the pan and to be saved by Luisa and her Husband. Got a lot of advice from Carolina (Luisa’s daughter) about Puerto Cloumbia, had a few cheap beers (750bolivars each!) and went to bed, happy to have made alive.