Hotel Avila Caracas

... lovely building and to the West of Plaza Bolvar there are some nice looking colonial style buildings but apart from that the place seems very run down. Many people have told us of the dangers of Caracas and for the first time on this trip we felt a little bit weary as we walked around, we took no chances and left all valuables in the hotel, taking just enough money to get through the day. There seem to be a lot of people hanging ...

... when we first arrived. We are picking up phrases and understanding more of what people are saying to us. I have had quite a few misunderstandings with people here but we are all keeping a sense of humour and being gracious so we are getting by. There are more flies here than I ever thought I would see in one place. I really detest them and have tried to make an artform out of killing them. They donīt have fly screens here and instead pour gasoline over benches, tables ...

... some exotic animals was too exciting. So it was off to Los llanos (meaning the flat plains). Besides the beautiful bird life (I think we saw over 50 varieties of birds) I was extremely lucky to see a giant Anteater who unfortunately was far too fast to take a decent photo off, an Orinoco crocodile having its lunch.

The days were scorching hot but unfortunately we could not swim as the rivers are filled with cayman and piranha. A ...

... by metro, and was shocked at the immediate contrast with central and eastern Caracas. The roads were dirtier, the streets more crowded...and there were small market stalls everywhere. We walked up into the hills, where the ranchos started. The streets are steep and rise quickly...and the concentration of houses in immense! They are all built of brick though...and have roofs. It just looks like a very condensed town...complete with its schools, shops and cafes. There are no ...

... but the allusion cannot be accidental, and I saw the same picture on a wall later on. I soon learnt that the 'young rebels' say 'si' to the reform. I saw a very few black graffiti saying simply 'no'. What is the reform? It is so topical here that no one even needs to explain it, which is a handicap for me. It is a drastic rewrite of the new constitution that Chavez passed in 1999, and the referendum would determine its fate. The most high profile ...

... some breakfast before the others, Marcelo, Leanne & Dawna, had to leave at 11am to start the journey. I went to sleep. At 1pm, I met with Fernando, as arranged, in the hotel lobby. He phoned the airport for me, who confirmed that the bag was there, and we began the 1hr journey down 900m to the airport once more. At last, it felt like I could finally relax. My headache of 2 days subsided as I waited for Fernandoīs friend and his friendīs wife to arrive ...

... is that they were also still going to stay there.....it was 2am now, so I had little choice but to take up the offer, despite feeling that it wasnt entirely safe. But in the morning, I couldnt believe it - all my stuff appeared to still be there!!! I could trust em after all! We then went looking for a hotel again, and amazingly, we still couldnt find one that was empty.....quite a concern. We had brekky, he went to his parents place to change clothes (where I met his mother ...

... Colon (from where all the football matches are transmissioned), having Arepas and Cachapas in the middle of the celebrating Italy fanclub, visiting the Galeria de arte nacional and the Museo de arte moderno and doing some Shoe-Shopping. I must say Gogo has really done a good job in impressing me with organising fire-works (for the Americans on the 4th of July and for the South-American ...

... a cross between owls and eagles and are about the same size generally. The cave was called Cueva del Guacharo near Caripe and it took another long hard slog to get there jumping aboard numerous buses with my not-so-small backpack. Then headed to Mochima on the Caribbean coast to get out to the Mochima National Park to do some diving. Had a pleasant couple of days diving and passed my 60 dive mark... now just gotta become a Divemaster ...

... turned it into * g*me with distinct rules, punishments *nd obvious winners *nd losers, it w*s re*lly intriguing (ok*y it w*s intriguing to me, *nd cute to everyone else who didn't re*lly c*re) *nd I st*rted working out how to p*rticip*te but it ended before I could jump in. Some other people le*pt in *nd tried to pl*y (without figuring out the rules first of course) so they just m*de nuis*nces of themselves to the kids, it w*s kind of emb*r*ssing. The performers *lso let people ...