VENEZUELA

For this experience Venezuela can be divided in three parts: way to Caracas, relaxation and Christmas in Caracas and travel through the Andes.

After crossing the northern border of Colombia and Venezuela, Debora and Pat kept driving through the north and its flooded areas. The flood problem here was less than the colombian but the heavy traffic of old falling apart Chevys caused a new challenge on the journey. Also the road was full with potholes and had dead dogs that had been run over everywhere.

The gas stations near the border were empty so they could only get gas in Maracaibo. The cost to fill up a tank with good quality gas in Venezuela was only US$ 1,50. To give you a quick idea on todays rates: officially, 1 dollar equals 4 bolivares, but in the black market (and how everyone calculates their money) it equals 8. Therefore it is not recommended that the tourist make calculations with the official rate or he could get demotivated and even give up going to the country. It is also not recommended withdrawing money from the bank in order to not lose money and also not to make dollar currency exchange openly because the dollar has become illegal in Venezuela. The travelers were able to exchange the dollars for the black market rate on the border and through people they knew.

From Maracaibo, where they spent the night at a shopping mall's parking lot, they continued on to Chichiriviche which is a small beach town. They stayed at a hotel where Debora spent a good amount of time playing with the kitties that lived there. Chichiriviche is located inside Morrocoy National Park which has touristic attractions such as sandy islands and caves, but they skipped the chance and left to Caracas the next morning.

Sandy island seen from Chichiriviche

Everyone the couple told they would go to Caracas hurried to say that the place was bad, very dangerous, had a lot of murders, thefts, etc. But Pat and Debora didn't let the comments shake them and went anyways because they wanted to visit and spend Christmas with some of Pat's friends.

Pat knows Dan and Andrea since high school and the couple had recently had a baby, which made the visit anticipated.

They arrived at the address provided by Dan easily. They parked the car in front of a beautiful building and rang the intercom. Donna, Dan's mother who was there from California to spend the holidays answered, and soon Andrea was downstairs to friendly welcome them. After a few minutes they already felt at home, eating, drinking, doing their laundy (for the third time on the trip), playing with the baby Rafael and also with the dog Autana (A.K.A. Chupi: short for Chupa Cabra).

"Let me stay in the bed" face

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Chupi

After a few hours Dan arrived from work and more offers to food and drinks were made. The cook for the night was Bob, Dan's father, who prepared some tasty chicken curry and rice.

The following days continued that way, involving lots of food, drinks, jokes and laziness. The couple didn't do anything else, didn't post on the blog, researched for the trip, paid attention to nothing, all they did was relax and shop for some Christmas gifts. They even forgot to take pictures with the baby!

Everyone went to Andrea's aunt and uncle's house for Christmas eve. By then, the couple had already met many members of the family who were all very friendly and energetic. The celebration was filled with delicious food, including the venezuelan typical dish allaca. Another highlight was the game secret enemy in which the travelers could take part on and give one of the most desired gifts of the night: a Playboy magazine.

After the celebration they spent the night at Andrea's parents' house who were very kind all the time. The next morning they gathered at Dan and Andrea's apartment for a Christma's lunch where more unwrapping of gifts was involved. Debora and Pat got 2 gifts each.

The time they spent in Caracas was very fun and relaxing thanks to Dan, Andrea and their families: "I felt as if I was sucking milk from a tit", says Pat referencing the popular Peruvian song Tetita by Wendy Sulca.

Best buddies

Where is little Rafael?!

D&P

They left the easiness of Caracas experience on the 26th in the morning to go back to Colombia and continue the trip through South America. They passed by Barquisimeto and got to a historic and colonial town called Carora where they stayed the night at a hotel. In the morning they kept going on the southeast road through the Andean mountains. There had been a lot of land slides on the edges of the road, but they weren't too recent because the road had already been reopened. The path through the mountains was long and slow, but also very beautiful. The scenery and the mountain towns (especially between Timotes and Merida) made it worth it to drive the long day without getting very far. They only got to Apartaderos before nightfall where they were tempted to stay because it was such a warm and cute town. They stayed at a hotel/lodge that reminded them of the cold winter with its heavy flannel and wool blankets. In the morning they continued their trip but didn't get very far again because of the windy and steep roads. They had to spend the night at a hostal in Michelena which is relatively close to the border.

First Andes views

One of the many landslides on the road

Apartadero

Exiting through the south border was a nightmare. It took them 5 hours to drive 100 kilometers because of traffic. Most of it was due to endless lines of cars in front of gas stations blocking the roads.

Because the couple heard multiple people say, including cops, that it was against the law to take venezuelan gas over the border, they didn't fill up their extra 5 gallon container they carry.

When they finally got to the border they had to pay 65 bolivares each to exit the country.

Unfortunately nobody inspected the car to check if there was extra gas, drugs, corpses, etc, which made the travelers a bit frustrated.

TRICKS

- Again: try to exchange dollars on the black market instead of withdrawing money because it virtually doubles your money.

TROUBLES

- Roads full of potholes.

- Disrespectful drivers towards stray dogs.