Hampton Inn & Suites Maracay

... official rate has increasingly diverged from the market rate.

The bus ride to Choroni was stupendous, going through the Henri Pittier National Park, a large area of outstanding beauty. During the two hour trip the scenery changed remarkably from jungle and tropical rainforest to mountains andcloud forest. The ascent was fairly steep, the road narrow and the hairpins as hairpinny as it is possible to be. Sometimes we passed another bus with literally a hair's ...

... stopped at a mirador to take in the magnificent views and to drink coffee only to find several Venezuelan cyclists on a break having just cycled up from la Victoria, which is where we were heading. We made small talk but we both wished we had better Spanish to be able to talk to them properly. We're considering doing some Spanish lessons when we get to Colombia as we feel it's better to get them sooner rather than later. In the meantime we'll ...

... some cool atmospheric bars that were reminiscent of the cosy 'chill out' bars in Ibiza.We met a bunch of people from Caracus down for the weekend who invited us back to their appartment for a party. Having been so devoid of nights out we joyfully accepted and had a giggle till it was time to take Emma back to her boyfriend having let her hair down a bit too much u (if I was going out with James I would probably have pulled all mine out!)

All too soon it ...

... clinging to the bars in the aisles or trying not to fall out the back door. Lean on the horn to ward of on-coming traffic around corners, and play the same song that everyone plays and re-plays in EVERY CITY in Venezuela at maximum volume for our listening pleasure. Rancho Grande is the Biological Station located within the cloud forest portion of the park, just off of the road. Although it is possible for ...

... head hits the roof :( Maybe we move back a row when we want to sleep if we can. Did I mention its a 24hr bus trip!? We leave at 11am and should arrive tomorrow at the same time. The trip is uneventful, a few movies and I decide to get my bag from the rack above just as a National Guard comes up the stairs. Guess who got singled out for a few questions??? The other locals must have wondered why us gringos were holding things up. Night night, time to nod off.

... the harbour where the hippy community sell lots of bracelets and necklaces. There were cars sitting with their boots open pumping out loud Regatone Latino music and boy racers cruising about in their old bangers with a beer in hand! This was one thing that just wouldn't happen at home. The Police went past and didn't batter an eyelid. Venezuela´s been cool but we´re now ready for some altitude! And an escape from the mozzies.................. Next stop Ecuador.

... that available on the "black market". This is less dodgy than it sounds, almost all hotels and tour agencies exchange dollars for bolivars at back market rates, and its been fustrating so far knowing we are paying double what we should be for everything because of the rate we obtained. enough of that. We arrived here by taking about 5 different forms of transport (partly becuase our first bus broke down), the last of which was supposed ...

When we arrived in Choroni, the Fernando´s friend dropped me off right outside the restaurant where my group was waiting for me. The hotel´s owners came to meet me and tell me all about their hotel, El Montañita. I wasn´t hungry but Marcelo had ordered pork and left it, so I bagged that for later. In my room, the bed and headboard were formed from concrete. Mattress was pretty ropey too. The shower only had a cold feed and there was a hole in the roof to allow the steam out ...

... drink some more beer and try and relax. We get our heads down and prepare for the following day. We wake up and on exiting the room see that the hotel is right next to the sea, and right under the flight path!!. We eat breakfast, meet up with Andrew again and all decide to go for a wander around the local neighbourhood - safety in numbers and all that! It feels like Beirut! Busy commercial streets, filthy streets, nothing much to do. We grab a drink and decide to ...

I started the day at 7am wondering around the town taking pictures. I must of snapped about 140 in the span of two hours. The locals were all very gracious. Not only that I was approached by two boys who were extremely photogenic. This was good because I needed to test out all my new equipment. The results are more than I could of hope for! Colorful orange and blue longboats dotted the inlet that let out to sea. Fishermen jumping into the water to make way for ...