Hotel Hospederia San Javier Merida

Well I left you all back in 2008.. so, since then I have been Paragliding, which was awesome though not as thrilling as the first time you do it. I did get to fly up in the clouds which was pretty cool... literally. I was pretty much in the air for 45 minutes so was kinda over it by the time my hands turned blue. The scenery was amazing though. I must admit, the scariest part was the van ride up the mountain. I really am surprised we didn´t go over the edge! One girl in ...

... particpants and we shortly realised why. It was hell. The trip in total was about 42km, with the first 27km all uphill. Portions were so steep that if you stopped it was difficult to start again. Parts of the track were in the shades of woodland and were quite muddy, it was a dirty business getting through them. Julie sought refuge in the truck for several parts, stowing the bike in the rear. I fought on, I swear I nearly threw up. As we climbed further the cloud ...

... guide. *** For more on the lightening of Catatumbo read on: http://theuniverse.bizarrearea.com/cata tumbo-the-everlasting-lightening.php. The text below is a copy/paste from that website. I think it is an English translation from the Spanish Wikipedia. "The Lightning of the Catatumbo is a located singular meteorological phenomenon to the south of the Lake of Maracaibo in Venezuela whose name comes from the Catatumbo river. This ...

... car systems tomorrow, where we can hit 4,800m for our first view of the Andes mountain range. The streets are divided up in grid like patter, unlike most other latin cities and towns that normally have streets that go in any direction. The buildings here are colourful and the streets are clean. We discovered an Ice Cream place that is in the guiness book of records for the most flavours. It wasnt open but we will return later to sample the Cervaza ...

... enough Dollars? (aha ha) etc). He was a bit coked up and started telling me he was studying music at the local Uni. As a test I asked him who his favourite composer was and after 5 years of apparent study all he could come up with was Mozart. Bought myself a load of fruit, water and a DVD with the Simpsons movie, Die Hard 4 and the Illusionist and sweated it out in my tiny cell of a room. It seems I haven't brought enough Dollars with me into Venezuela. The official exchange rate ...

... like about 'civilisation', and it is amazingly difficult to find even in Venezuela, and, when found, often means 'slightly warmer than the mountain stream we took it from'. In a climate like Venezuela's this is not really a problem but it helps you appreciate the hot water when you find it, especially when you are tired and sore. The next day we caught the jeep back to Merida, a four hour trip, supposedly next to hair-raising cliffs, but it was so foggy that we couldn't tell.

... to meet up with them later. When I did as opposed to the drink I suggested we went to get a burger, Vera´s sister who currrently lives in Merida has a load of 17 year old friends. So Vera and I piled in with the 4 17 year olds and went cruising round the town like a chav in Cheltenham. It took ages but we finally got our burger. It turnes out Anna has dengue feaver! So does Amber and Tommi - 3 of us in the ...

... cartoon-like lightning bolts, our expectations get lower, leading us to say things along the lines of: ¨That one lit up the clouds really well,¨ or ¨That`s been the third flash in the last 10 minutes, awesome!!¨ While continuing to gaze hopefully at the sky, we`re startled by a splash behind us. ¨What was that?¨ Sara asks. ¨Someone went to the bathroom,¨ I reply. ¨No, it wouldn`t just go in the water.¨ ¨We`re in the middle ...

... to 5768 metres. There are 4 stations on the way up where you have to get off and get the next one up. Sky is clear and conditions look good but as we get near the top the wind is blowing v hard. View is fantastic of the valley and surrounding mountains and is well worth doing despite being quite pricey (think it was about $16 each). Outside the top there is snow and ice and one of the station ...

... next. I put on the helmet and harness, and the instructor clipped me to his harness. We were stood on a grassy outcrop, at the edge of what I might dramatically call, "a friggin big mountain". It sloped down gently for about 5m, before becoming steeper, and then disappearing into nothing. I was given instructions on what to do with my hands ("hold here") and what to do when the time came ("run off the edge"). The instructor tugged at the wing to catch the wind ...