Venezuela - Land of Rubbish and Animals!

Exceptional
Plastic
Iguanas
Chavez

We crossed the border into Venezuela and exchanged our dollars with a nice black market guy for an exceptional rate of 20 Bolivars to the Dollar - official rate from ATM's and banks was a little over 4.

Chavez died the day before we crossed the border so we arrived into Venezuela during their week of mourning. Most street walls and houses were bedecked with Chavez graffiti and the national flag - the majority of these look did not looked recent and had been there for quite some time. It was quite a sight to behold. Speaking of sights, Venezuela is the most litter ridden country I have ever come across. There are no such things as dustbins and people just chuck their rubbish everywhere. Plastic bottles and bags were strewn all over place.

We set up a bush camp in the hills with the scenic Roraima tepui, (supposed inspiration for Arthur Conan Doyle's 'The Lost World'), on the horizon. It was a lovely setting for a bush camp and a lot of us rose the next morning to watch the sun rise.

One of the few observations we have noted thus far is that fuel is ridiculously cheap here. It cost 10 Bolivars to get 235 litres of diesel, that's $0.50. Motorbikes do not even have to pay any money to fill their tanks as it does not amount to a legitimate currency amount. Despite Venezuelans issues with America, they all drive huge, dilapidated, fuel guzzling V8's.

Enroute to our second camp in Venezuela we made our way through the Gran Sabana savannah region, stopping off at beautiful waterfalls and swimming areas. The two most noteworthy were Quebrada de Jaspe, a small waterfall rolling over amazing red rock, and Salto Aponguao, Gran Sabana's most spectacular waterfall at 105m high and 80m wide.

Another popular attraction of Venezuela is that there are animals everywhere here. At a campsite in El Dorado we were surrounded by dogs, a Rottweiler puppy, a cat, a turkey, hens, parakeets, a macaw, and to my dismay, a caged caiman and a leashed monkey. Mikkel also came across a spectacular tarantula, which he gleefully presented to a horrified Pete. (You must not let on your weaknesses to anyone in this group as it will be used against you.)

We stayed in Ciudad Bolivar, our stop-off point before Angel Falls, and were again met with more creatures. This time there were deer, tortoises, iguanas, a caged monkey, and more dogs. While the monkey was caged, his space was very large and he seemed to happily (and cheekily) play tag, and hide & seek with his best friend the German Sheppard, which was adorable to watch. Here we also became familiar with Venezuela's national drink, the Cuba Libre (rum, coke and lemon). Luckily there were lemons growing in the campsite and we were allowed grab them. Terry bought a bottle of rum from the bar and acted as chief cocktail maker.

Next stop Angel Falls...