Cabanas Vacacionales La Haciendita Merida

... bizarre furry foliage, glacial lakes and mysterious clouds drifting across the scene<br><br>- heaving myself uphill (altitude is exhausting!) to reach a stunning thermal hotspring - 38 degrees! A hotspot for the locals on a Sunday afternoon and a wonderful place to take in the mountain views<br><br>- reaching the beautiful city of Merida, for some proper down time after a hectic travelling ...

... for the 4 night boat trip down the Amazon.<br><br>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 we´d normally be doing on a Monday! We were heading back ...

Today we had a slow start as I hadnt much energy. Even Alexander was slightly affected by a few forkfulls of my pasta :( Alexander fixed the camera, we brought our clothes to the laundry and caught a bus to Tabay to visit the hot springs. We figured it would ease the muscle ache from horse riding. After a 1km hike uphill, we found a place that might be a thermal baths but the gate was closed. We continued ...

Hi from Merida!!! Merida is a mid-size venezuelian city in the Andes, by far the nicest place we saw since the begining of the trip! Very charming, in the middle of the mountains, with a much better security than in other places here in Venezuela... I like it! ;-) Back in times for a few days: after Isla de Margarita, we went to la peninsula de Araya, which is located between Cumana and la Isla de Margarita. The peninsula is way less touristic, and thus much prettier, than the other ...

So after five eventful and exciting weeks in Colombia, we decided it was a good idea to spend some time inVenezuela since we fly out of Caracas anyway. After a normal bus to the border, we crossed in an old, 1980´s style Cevrolet car, really a junker, similar to the white trash cars you see on COPS all the time. A strange experience. This car took us and three Venezuelans to Maracaibo, a large and oppressive city on the coast. We got dropped off at the bus terminal ...

... station is overrun with thieves and conmen who try every trick in the book" I agree..its a shithole. Luckily for me all the conmen were probably still tucked up in bed somewhere and didn't have any problems. Changing the subject completely, reading an email from Hannah (the German biscuit girl) I heard news of a young American fella called Kevin that everyone was talking about when I was staying at the Plantation House. For future reference he will be known as Doughnut. A day before ...

... the sun came up. To warm up I ordered a coffee, asking for the small size. What an understatement, I've had drink samples twice the size. However, it was beautiful coffee, milky and flavourful, and I actually found it satisfying. I had to laugh later though when I saw the most massive lumps of processed ham for sale. Such a contrast. Mérida is a really cool town. Nestled between two mountain ranges, the start of the Andes on one side, it ...

... um dann mit der laengsten seilbahn der welt fast ganz auf den pico bolivar fahren. wenn noch plaetze frei sind und die ueberhaupt fahren, dass wussten die heute noch nciht so genau. und noch eine schoene geschichte zum schluss: nachdem wir in unserer unterkunft angekommen waren, haben wir dort gefruehstueckt und franzosen haben sich zu uns gesetzt. diese hatten einen reisefuehrer zu viel, den haben sie dann uns geschenkt und wir haben nun also wieder einen lonely planet!

... of so-so lightning, things begin to change. Rain starts falling, the sky rumbles and the show starts in full. For over two straight hours, big lightning bolts adorn the sky. Not quite like we imagined, but still very impressive. More like watching electric current than lightning, if that makes sense. But there is thunder (although not in unison with the lightning) and rain, so does what we`re witnessing even count? My conclusion ...

... night (I say night, we actually started at 5pm) were two Ozzies, two Canadians, a guy from Belfast and a Kiwi, we decided to go for a drink in the place with the cheapest beer in town called Alfredo's where we sank a few bottles and the banter flowed freely and happily. The Ozzies joked about poms and warm beer so I reminded them about the ashes, they recalled the last time England played the socceroos. Ouch. Of course then I had to the slip in the old Rugby ...