Dunes Hotel & Beach Resort Pedro Gonzáles

... of tourism) and there are 5 star international hotels dotted around the island. There are proper roads, large (and expensive) American style shopping malls, restaurants of every persuasion and numerous duty free liquor stores.

We are staying at a friend’s villa, which has been a delight. We’ve been able to chill out, watch TV, make cups of tea and even do some cooking. We have the use of a car and a driver to show us around, which is very ...

... without any trouble! There’s also a lot of “hello lady, you want massage?”, which I’ve not heard since I was last in Thailand, only here it sounds less like it’s coming from a cat trapped in a blender. I’ve also been approached by what can only be described as a tangerine granny who keeps trying to sell me lotions and potions to use to get a tan like hers, but so far I’ve politely declined. Since I ...

... I am so glad, it is imense!! (to follow).

My Spanish is coming along nicely. I was speaking with the cleaner of Tita in the morning of leaving and wanted her to slow down, so I did......."muy desayuno, por favor", she must think he is crazy asking for very breakfast! I will not forget now how to say "mas despacio"!!!! But this was fun tambien.

... mesmo e jogando futebol com os venezuelanos que por sinal săo muito gente boa!
No dia de ir embora um belo perrengue. A estrada estava fechada devido a um protesto contra Hugo Chavez. No desespero para năo perder primeiro voo do dia (eram tręs até Aruba) coloquei o carro na contramăo passando pelo canteiro da pista e fui embora por terrenos alternativos seguindo meia dúzia de carros que alternavam de terrenos ...

... van het dorp, en lekker lezen in de schaduw. Om 18u ingestort en na een nacht van 14u ben ik vandaag weer helemaal fit geloof ik. Ik denk dat ik nog even wacht op de wind (schijnt morgen weer aanwezig te zijn) want ik wil eigenlijk toch wel een paar uurtjes op een plank staan hier. Maar ik denk dat ik morgen of overmorgen toch wel een boot pak naar het vaste land. Hopelijk zijn daar wat meer backpackers en zijn de prijzen wat lager. Groeten vanuit El Yaque, Venezuela

... t seem like the express ferry at all !?!) but we made it to the island eventually! The area is nice, though you need to get out of the city to actually enjoy the landscape. Today, we took a small bus to the other side of the island, in a place called Playa Parguito, next to playa de Agua. Really nice place, with white sand, cool waves and little stands to buy food and drinks on the beach. This is what I call vacation!!! ;-) 

Felipe, the father of the family I am living with is originally from Eastern Colombia, a region severely affected by the drugs war going on in the country. I had an interesting conversation with him a few nights ago, after watching CNN, which severely criticized Chavez´s stance on the FARC... He told me that he agreed with the way Chavez is approaching this problem, and as the release of the recent hostages showed, you need to communicate with ...

... Pampatar...about a 10min walk from the local beach...Her husband, Felipe, built the house from scratch many years ago. We spoke about her time working for the consejo comunal, which she thinks is a great idea...but she decided to leave as the elected president of her consejo had a very rigid and controlling leadership style, which defeated the who participatory objective of the consejo. I spoke to them about wanting to live in a more down ...

... but when it feels threatened, it "puffs" out, turning into a ball, literally, with hundreds of spikes!

Venezuela is super cheap if you change dollars in the black market. One day I made a pathetic intent to spend money, since I had way too many Bolivars and you get next to nothing for them if you change it back. So I went to a pretty nice restaurant, ordered a chicken Cordon Bleu and two Cuba Libre coctails, all in all around $6 USD.
Porlamar, Coastal Islands, Venezuela thrudur

... occasions. Having taken our money, after considerable debate between me and Andy, I watched avidly for signs to indicate whether or not we had brought about insult and for a second I was just about to put my hand in my pocket and grab a few more notes, that is until he tried to give us another one for free. Pleased with our first souvenir purchase and safe in the knowledge that our meagre 1GBP hadn't offended him we declined the free CD and left to get some rather extortionately priced ...