Hotel El Parque Merida

Merida has been a pleasant enough town... not so unlike other South American towns I have visited. A bit quiet and unassuming, I suppose that is because it is the "off season" right now. Which is fine with me because I enjoy quiet places! Everything here is quite expensive EXCEPT for gasoline. You can buy 105 liters of gas for less than $1.00 but a ...

... in Bolivia, there aren't many Western chains and most shops seem independent. There aren't too many points of interest in the city though either, the main square, like most in this part of the world is called Plaza Bolivar, where the small cathedral stands and there are some smaller squares and churches dotted around but most people are here for the extreme sports available. Canyoning, paragliding, mountaineering, mountain biking and also safari trips to the ...

Merida is a bit of a mess with the student protests. I'm not thrilled by the prospect of staying home all weekend, so I sign up on a trip to Lake Maracaibo, the largest Lake in South America, but also home to one of a kind natural phenomenon - Catatumbo. Catatumbo is a thunderless lightning that illuminates the skies over the lake near the river basin of lake Catatumbo almost every night. It is beyond my capacity to explain what causes ...

... her son came by on his mule. All wrapped up warm in multiple layers we continued to talk. It got very cold...to about 5 degree celcius! After the neighbours left....we gazed up at the stars, listened to music and made poncha crema with rum, condensed milk and flan under candle light. After a cold, cold night......I woke up early to search for mules back at the town, to take me up to the teleferico stop about 5 hrs away.... The journey was long...but ...

... gradually changing landscape as we descended. In places it didn't look that different to New Zealand. Another surprise was seeing tiny humming birds, which I didn't expect to see in a alpine setting. We had been told it was a four-hour walk but after three we asked the mule drivers how far to go when they passed and they said two hours.That got us walking faster, thinking we would never get there. It was a beautiful valley we walked alongside. Very steep with small ...

16.10. 2007, utorok, cesta Puerto Colombia-Maracay-Merida   V utorok doobeda sme este polenosili na Playa Grande, ja som prisiel vo vlnach o potapacske okuliare, G stratila svoju oblubenu motorolu V3 a poobede sme nasadli na miestny autobus do Maracay. Vyborne je, ze atobus zastane hocikde, hned ako prejavite volu nastupit don (heh, nie ako na SK, kde vam sofer so skodoradostnym usmevom zavrie dvere pred nosom....)Takze sme nemuslei cakat na ...

... great price and head back to the hostel to rest and prepare ourselves for the busy week coming up. Canyoning begins with a hike through some harsh forest, in just our swimming shorts/suit in order to get to the river we are to canyon down - Canyoning for those who do not know is a mixture of absailing. jumping, sliding and walking along a river and waterfalls - Brilliant!!. We finally arrive at the river and get into out wetsuits, harnesses and ...

... above sea level, and we begin our assent through lush tropical forest. The climb is steep and zig zags us along undulating ground, clambering under falled treeīs, crossing small rivers, climbing up big steps. With the weight on our backs - approximately 15 - 20kg and the demising oxygen as we climb we find the walking incredibly difficult. It is 5pm when we arrive at our first campsite. 3200 meters above sea level, 9km from the start and next to a lake with room for about 6, 2 ...

... almost taken in by the clear water in the beer bottle. I thought, being a village, maybe El Congo had a more sophisticated system to deal with their waste than flushing their **** straight into the water. I was wrong. While I was a mere seconds from getting in, at least I didn't actually swim in the ****. While unlucky Steve was in the shower, I gave the kids our typical Canada stickers and pins. Five minutes later, they were ...

... microwave with it constantly swaying about for some reason. The next day we understandably slept in and wandered out late afternoon to buy some fresh food to cook, which by the time we got back couldnīt be bothered to cook so instead ate left over peanuts and went to bed watching cable. Ahh the hectic schedule of the traveller. Got up nice and early this morning to check out the Zoo and the botanical gardens which were small enough to only take up ...