Hotel Los Conquistadores Merida

... of us that little room was forever changed and we pitied the poor unsuspecting soul who ventured in there the next day... By this stage we were really in a bad way as you can guess and had to make a tactical decision to stay the night in a hotel (more like prison cell that you could rent by the hour) in downtown Maracay, rather than take the 90 minute cab ride to Choroni at 1am. Turned out to be a wise move. It was an eventful night...

... rivers which had jumping pirahanas. We had quite a few jump into the boat and Allan (our guides) advice was to get your feet up.. so we did. At one time I was sitting next to Luke who had a full grown pirahana jump right into his lap.. needless to say he was up in a heart beat. I had one jump and hit me smack bang in the foot as I had my feet up trying to keep them away from one that was already in the boat. Getting hit by one is supposedly good luck as well so ...

... hopes were raised of a way round following a conversation with some Germans in our hostel. Some of the posadas in town have European bank accounts, you transfer what you want to change into them from your own account and they will give you the black market rate. I can't name the posadas as I think it isn't all above board but if you ask around people will point you in the right direction. Unfortunately it takes three working days to clear and they don't give you ...

... too get some money i put in my credit card to the machine , everything was going great until he asks to put in my pin. Under pressure i some how remembered my code and that was that , Off we went too the beach , laid in the shade went for a swim and thats all you can really do at the sea . We slept on the beach for one night ,rented a tent , am i missing anything else , emmm No , so off we went to Caracas to spend my last few days before i would be flying home

... a week) is a very interesting and beautiful country. Baseball is more popular than soccer, billboards with the smiling mug of Mr. Hugo saying socialism or death abound and she has the most American products and fast food I have seen in any south American country. This final observation seems strange considering the anti US rhetoric that emerges from the government that has gone as far as changing their official time by half an hour ...

... experience!!. By the time we were heading back from the falls it became dark very quickly and we ended up walking through the jungle with no visibility and we also had to walk accoss the river which had risen since we had been there earlier! But we survived and made it to our lodge, where we slept out in the open in hammock. Quite an experience. The next day we travelled back to Canima and were given beds again!!! We then went to see more waterfalls ...

... With this drama and relief I finally gave in to the waterworks which was brooding over the past 2 days. Feeling much better I went to have a pizza and coke - not in the mood for any cultural adventures and in bed by 7pm for another 12 hr sleep in a bed for the 1st time in 3 days with warm blankets and a cold night with a warm shower. I couldnīt be more content. I was supposed to join some Germans the next day on a canyoning experience and woke at 7am to find they already ...

... I guess there is such a huge middle class (albeit diverse) that it is not surprising. I decided to travel back with Molly, an American girl who came canyoning with us, who was to drive up north to the Zulia state wtih her friends a day later. That evening we went to Coromoto again (the icecream parlour with 900 flavours)...and then on to a couple of local bars/clubs with her friends and a couple of local friends I had made in Merida during my time here ...

... Food and Drink we are whisked away in a taxi. The hotel is about 15 minutes from the airport. The room is clean, but the security on the hotel is worryingly high. We drop our bags and head into the bar/restaurant for some food, we are told that dinner, breakfast and lunch are on the company - Great. We look at the menu and order some calamari - "Sorry we donīt have that", okay how about some pasta? "Sorry we donīt have that", how about some prawns? "No Sorry ...

... recommended. We swam in a ĻpozoĻ, which is where a stream widens, and the water moves slowly enough that it feels like a little mountain pool. I swam beneath a waterfall that fell onto the little pozo. It was very pleasant. I convinced Karen to come over to the waterfall, but she got scared when the water got too deep to put her feet down. I helped the situation by putting all my weight on her in my failed attempt to help her, forcing ...