Cabanas Vacacionales La Haciendita Merida

... went up - the instructors practically threw my friend Helen and me off the mountain when we arrived. When I reached the bottom, I realised why: my friend Duncan had also taken off, but right after his take off, the wind changed, and the other two were stranded at the top. To add insult to injury, when Susie and Ally tried again this morning, the wind was still not right - so they did ...

... for the 4 night boat trip down the Amazon.

The next day we went butterfly hunting by boat in the national park, with our tour guide having discovered several new species in the region. Aided by his huge butterfly net we saw up close quite a few, including one of the species he had discovered (a large bright blue butterfly). Fantastic stuff - very surreal, and quite different from what weŽd normally be doing on a Monday! We were heading back ...

... up it! I needed an icecream! We got the bus back, collected the laundry and enquired with Eli if he had any tours leaving soon but it sounds like business dries up in January. So we decide it is time to leave nice, safe Mérida and get the bus to Ciudad Bolivar all the way on the other side of the country. For safety we dine at the Posada restaurant. It was delicious! Hopefully future meals will be as great!

... they produce salt. The scenary was desertic and really beautiful, kind of similar to what you can see in the Death Valley in Arizona. It was really amazing, and we got a very bad suntan! LOL After Araya, we enjoyed a 20-hours bus trip (!!!) to reach Merida, where we are going to spend a few days. Today, we went to the nicest hot spring I've ever seen in my life, in the middle of the jungle, only reachable after hours of tough trekking! It looked just like a very tiny super-hot pool ...

... this is really a pain for us, coming from Colombia, where a stable economy is enjoyed and the need for foreign currency is non existent. It seems all businesses work with the black market, but we are left to take money from atms at the official, and very low exchange rate. All that we really wanted to do is book a tour to Los Llanos, a four day trip in Amazon lowland plains that includes wildlife viewing, horseback riding, river rafting, and one long day of driving ...

... compound this, the main reason I came to Merida was to go up in the highest cable car in the world. I tried in vain to get a ticket but this is a seriously popular ride (loads of Venezuelans and Colombians come here especially). Queued for hours left and came back again but no joy. Time to move on I think so catching the local bus to the main bus terminal I booked my bus ticket outa here. It leaves tomorrow night at 9.30pm and goes straight to Ciudad Bolivar (the main town to ...

... unbelievable!! Thank god Sarah and I havnt that would put a bit of a dampner on the whole trip. I met a guy I bumped into in Salvador Simon. We are all going on a tour to Los Llanos tomorrow, Sarah and I managed to get a really good price (much beter than the others) so we have to keep quiet! Anyway, its sad to leave Merida as we are staying in a really nice place but im looking forward to the safari in Los Llanos!

... However, unaware of our blunder, Ingrid continues to rub the mistake in our faces. She starts describing El Congo, making it sound almost magical. In the middle of a lake, three hours by boat to the closest town, a community of 2,500 people live on stilts, some spending their entire lives there, never once seeing the rest of Venezuela, not even putting a foot on solid earth. And by the way Ingrid describes it, they ...

... to the bottom for 11.30 having stocked up at the bakery (with fantastic pastries and cakes -lethal) for lunch. We have to try hugely out of our way to get to Los Llanos (the plains were all the wildlife is) as the road has been completely washed out which is a tad annoying. Scenery on way is beautiful though through valleys with fantastic views and slightly hairy looking roads. We arrive at a ...

... quite quickly, and the view was, quite simply, amazing. We soared back and forth across the ridge to gain height, and I found it, I was very glad to discover, far more pleasant and relaxing than IŽd feared. Unfortunately, soon after we were airborne, the weather deteriorated, and it started to rain. My instructor soared close to those left on the ground, and shouted that we were going to descend to the bottom of the mountain instead of landing back at the ...