Running from chaos and mania

• Kingsandems's Profile
• About this blog
• Entry from Isla Margarita

Trip Start Jun 26, 2008 Previous
Entry Trip End Jun 2009 Next
Entry

  Isla Margarita, Venezuela
Saturday, August 16, 2008

Well, time to leave Santa Fe! We awoke crack of dawn to get packed and showered and into our usual Backpackers uniform of zipoff trousers, hiking boots and some sort of shirt that does not show the sweat too easily.

I was convinced my little black pencil case which has all my most sentimental items was "lost" which went to stolen soon after it became apparent it was gone. Unpack, repack, recheck everything and every corner. Then after the boss suggested checking under the backpacks, it was found ! Joyous moments are rare and this was like finding a fourleaf clover ! Over the moon, and running 15 minutes late we left the beach posada and walked, no make that ran, into town to the bus station (the long (safe) route), this took us 10 minutes longer than expected. We arrived just in time to get on the Por Puesto that was jammed to capacity, we found space right at the back when two people scrunched up to make space. I was sweating like a banshee. Our bags had to go in the stairwell where the back doors open. This later proved a near fatal mistake as the doors were opened on route with the bus still moving, I had to do a lunge to grab them both from falling out!

The rest of the trip was uneventful, however we did get to see just how beautiful the coastline is between PLC and Sante Fe

Leaving the mainland

. We arrived into Porta La Cruz dead on 7 with an hour to get the Fast ferry to Isla Margarita...

Another fun start to a day of travelling. By now we have statrted to get the hang of being ready for the unexpected. Essentail combat tools are: Phrasebook, and to remember an important tip from Mr Richard Boorman (when faced with danger, smile, walk right up to the nearest person and say hello with your hand out in friendship - SO FAR SO GOOD, Boorman it works !!!) ... money and massive amounts of humour round it off!

Get to ferry Terminal: chaos, loads of people in many queues... All people have various forms with photocopies of identification in triplicate. Sherbit!! Now what?? I leave Ems in the queue and head off to the information counter there are 50 people all round it no queues for service, I see the forms and reach over and grab a few of each for good measure. Back in the queue things are moving fast. A lady comes round and makes some announcement that I dont understand, Ems advises me that the Fast ferry is fully booked, I doubt her spanish is that good, and keep my optimism and positive outlook as the queue is still moving and people dont appear upset or worried. Ha! So what does she know? The screen upfront with the various ferry departures all look the same and Ems again advises that the fast ferry is fully booked. We get to the ticket window with 15 minutes to go till the ferry leaves... YES!!

Just then the guy at the window puts a sign up that says CLOSED ! I head over to the other window which the guy takes my form and then proceedes to dissapear, come back 5 minutes later, rearrange all the paperwork on his desk, do some cash counting and other filing!! I look at him in disbelief

Breeze.... heaven

. He then types in our details on the computer, hits the print button only for the printer to jam... Back into his back office he heads to get some more ticketpaper to reload the printer with... SH1T ! Now we have 5 minutes till the ferry leaves. He finally gets it working, I give him the 100 or so BS that we need for the tickets. With no time to check my change, he hands over the tickets and notes,  smiles broadly, and says in Spanish that we should run if we want to get the ferry on time... What a smart arse!!! We dash out, sprint towards the twin-hull fast looking ferry. We are intercepted by an official who looks at our tickets and points towards some RUSTBucket of a thing with a queue 1km long full of peasant looking people!! Ems laughs at me, we drag the bags sweating again like banshees to the back of the queue with people staring at us with mild amusement!! I check the tickets whcih state Premier class, cost BS26 each.. well at least we made a saving !! We board the rust bucket between the large lorries carrying fruit and building materials. The ferry is very old, we opt for cattle class as First class is in darkness with some tvs blaring out spanish cartoons and the aircon is broken. Cattle class is almost empty, the large windows are wide open and the breeze is heavensent.

The Fast ferry, which left on time, is just visable on the horizon as it takes just 2 hours to make the trip to the island. Our trusty rust bucket takes 5. We decide to chill out and enjoy the trip

The ferry we wanted to catch

. Apparently this is what travelling is all about!! My patience is getting slightly better.

Ems goes on a mission to find sustance... returning with some much needed water, I am sweating myself thinner !!

ISLA MARGARITA:

Two ferries arrive at the same time and we walk half a mile to the land again sharing the narrow walkway with 2000 or so other people and trucks and cars all trying to get to the island proper.
If this is the "quiet time" I am really happy with the sharp descion that we made to come here now rather than on Saturday.
The island is quite big with about 300 thousand peole or so but gets alot busier over the holidays, the main one of which is this weekend in the middle of August. We have booked at a posada which is out west which is very barren and looks like the desert scenes you see in american movies with loads of cactuses. The posada is on a larger ranch which specialises in Horse riding across this interesting landscape. Both the Posada and Ranch are run by French people who have built the place with a lot of flair. We have a stuning pool and views of the ocean..
See website: www.cabatucan.com
Check out the Posada which is under excursions. Both the ranch owner Luc and the Posada owner Mic are very friendly and we can highly reccommed this place as a little piece of heaven for those who want to chill out or do some horse riding!!!

This place is serioulsy chilled out and teaming with stunning birdlife, amazing huge butterflies of every colour and patterns

The rustbucket we did catch

. Very hot here but our room is airconned and Ems cannot wait to tell Janet how much the decorating touches reminds her of our trip to Antibes.

We chill by the pool with books and binoculars to watch the birds, lizards, butterflies and other wildlife! Ems is reading the Old Patagonian Express and I am reading Inca Kola, as it seems fitting to get into the swing of things by reading about South America.

At dinner it turns out our host Mic, was a Chef with a resturant in Villefranche Sur Mer. Her food is amazing and all well within our budget... Wonderful stuff.

We chat to Luc who tell us that if we follow the horsetrails we can take a lovley walk into the hills, and since it is overcast decide to set off at 2 pm, unluckily forgetiing the Venzuelan rule- rain at 3pm every single afternoon, even in the desert. We are on a ridge when the thunder, lightning and rain begins. This explains why so many cacti are in full flower. The bridle path soon becomes very sticky clay and by the time we arrive back, 2.5 hours later we are 4 inches taller.

Travellers tips: Views on People in Venezuela: Most of the experiences we have had here so far are that people are very friendly and hospitable and helpful and interested in strangers.

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

Posada Rio Grande	The french touch	Sierra	Storm approaching
Chilling with the birds, bees and butterflies

Slideshow Print this entry Share

Previous Entry Next Entry