Hotel Escuela Prado Rio Merida

... book list) was like a Mexican jail, a very grotty room in a very grotty neighbourhood. Had they been asking 5/6 usd we might have taken it and moved on very quickly, but even that room was 20 usd. So, we have decided to take the bus to Merida a place where lots of backpackers go to do extreme sports, mountain biking, hiking etc, and if the lp book is to be believed the hotel accommodation should be more reasonable. We'll see.<br> <br><br> laters

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 ...

... reaction to some mozzie bites - his whole ankle swole up and was hot and bruised. Carmen translated what the old man was saying but his hand actions gave it away a bit!! Anyway pete´s now much better thanks to Ibuprofen, antihistimine and hydrocortisone! Saturday night in Choroni- It seems that when Venezuelans head to the beach they like to drink a lot, an awful lot! Everyone was out on the street with beers or rum it was pretty funny to watch. We sat down ...

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 ...

... t going out of our depth, mum), so after some sea battering we went to recover from all our excersion with juice, of which there are so many types, its hard to know what to get. Wow our lives are challenging right now! For tomorrow, we have booked a day trip into the national park, which involves a 20k walk and swimming in rivers and water falls, organised by a very friendly german lady who runs the next door hostel. perf. My internet ...

After a freezing 12 hour bus ride, we finally were entering Merida. I actually got a bit of sleep this time which was good for once. The hour leading up to entering Merida, the mountains just grew and grew. The morning only was just dawning, as I gazed upon it, through the saftey of my warm blanket wrapped around me, exposing the beautiful mountains that would soon be lit up by the emerging sun. We exited the bus station to bump into Andy, the Czech ...

... park. So far, I have only seen the local bay as it goes dark here at 6pm. There are a LOT of mosquitos chomping away as I write this, but it´s a small price to pay for the beauty of the place. It has several small islands all within boating distance; each comparable to one of the islands from Shipwrecked. Tomorrow, we plan to grab a couple of ice boxes, some snacks and some ice cold drinks to spend a day lazing on Cayo Sombrero. http://www.chichiriviche.com.ve/index-e nglish.htm

... reality, people live in it. The hiking routes are dictated by donkey paths that lead to small sugar cane and banana fields. I´ve never hiked over so much donkey ****. Margarita loves the park very much, and she has taken people on hikes in it for several years. She is saddened that the Venezuelan government has never made efforts to really protect the park--all they did was declare it a park on paper. The wildlife is mostly gone because ...