Hotel Las Lomas Merida

... many times to catch an anaconda, tree boa, and a caiman (Small croc). He was very informative though and kept things interested. A little too informative on birds and butterflies though.. not so interested in them! He took us down the river.. I really should take note of the names of these places.. anyways, we got to see pink river dolphins which were so hard to photograph.. I do have a photo of some water where it re entered.. so basically a splash. We also went down ...

... it is 1US to 4.5 / 5, and 1UK pound is officially 3.12 and on the black market it is 5.5 / 7 depending on where you change). This is a problem as things cost comparably with Western European prices 'officially', but if you are paying having changed on the black market everything becomes very cheap. So as we didn't have much US dollars on us we originally thought that there would be no chance of us being able to raise any money to make things cheaper. However ...

Hid my US dollars (Venezuelan officials have a history of sticky fingers as the Dollar fetches nearly double the official exchange rate on the back market for the government overvalues their own currency) in my boots and crossed the border into Venezuela. After a few backhanded comments about the US and Obama saving my country from her problems I was in with minimal fuss and cavity searches. Venezuela (though I only remained a shade ...

... due to all the time that has passed. Senseless and too exhausted to argue. The owner has a german account and would exchange my money with the black market rate if I transferred to his account, my only problem is that I have my flight in 2days from Cucuta and would take at least 5 days from my English account. Luckily (again) I have a friend in Germany who I could contact, she agreed to transfer the money and with German efficiency the money was in his account the next ...

... lunch back at the hostel with the other canyoners...I tried to find some bus tickets back to Caracas. There was absolutely nothing for the next few days as all the Venezuelan tourists had to journey back home in time to start work again after the holidays. It´s incredible how many Venezuelans travel during Christmas. You see family after family making the most of their time off. It´s the first time I have seen local tourism to such a great extent in Latin ...

... by two pulsing points of light, one almost directly above us and the other to the west. They pulsed alternately like stuttering fluorescent bulbs, and then the lightning started in earnest in he east. The effect was amazing because the night was otherwise totally black, only lit by the explosions of light which sometimes resolved into an intense white bolt. Later on some action moved back to the north with flares that turned the whole northern ...

... nicht zum durchfahren, sondern zum in den mund stecken. es gibt urwaldforelle mit schinken-kaese fuellung. interessant, aber sehr gut. danach fahren wir weiter nach barinitas, laden unsere sachen ab und bedecken unsere huebschen hintern mit schwimmbekleidung. es geht naemlich zum raften. irgendwo im urwald, neben nem reissenden fluss, werden wir abgesetzt, bekommen eine einfuehrung, die nur zum teil auf englisch uebersetzt wird (der teil, in dem es darum geht, was passiert ...

... The anticipation for the cookies dwarfs that of a bouquet at a wedding, and sure enough, as soon as the boy catches the bag, he`s off. Speeding away with the others in hot pursuit, but unlucky for him, he´s on a stilted platform, where´s he going to go? When we return to camp, the others are gone, apparently jealous of our impromptu tour. Still feeling the rush from the cookie-thing, I think it`ll be fun to join some other kids ...

... that her dad had gone out again and her mother was on the phone and it you could never, ever get her to listen or disturb her when she was on the phone to her friend. Although when it started to rain down rather hard she took pity on us and eventually convinced her mum to come out (still on the phone) and open the door for us. Yes everything is definitely possible in South America. Next day we got up and bought bus tickets to go to Coro. At last we were going to get to the coast for ...

... forward to a chicken flavoured ice cream just so that he could say "mmm tastes like chicken". Simple things people, simple things. With no idea when either will reopen I have signed up for a weeks intensive spanish course in the hope that I will be able to understand Andy´s Chilean family in 2 months time. In the meantime we are already planning tonights alcohol consumption and are looking forward to a good nights sleep in the quiet uneventful town of Merida. Yaaaaay.