The Countdown

Well, here we go, the first attempt at a blog - we'll see how long we keep this up during the trip!!

Colin and I leave in exactly 3 sleeps to go backpacking to South America for the next 3 months. We fly Calgary-Toronto-Caracas, Venezuela. We've got return tickets booked for mid-September out of Buenos Aires, Argentina, but have definitely done our research to ensure we can extend if need be. Something tells me we might not be ready to come home then... :)

We've got the first couple weeks sorted out to help get our feet wet. With the help of Jakera Lodge (an awesome outdoor adventure company/Lodge that we'll be checking out), we've got our first night hotel booked just outside of Caracas with airport pickup. We then fly out again early the next morning straight to Isla de Margarita (with a name like Margarita I don't think I need to explain this Caribbean Island more than that!). The Island is a duty free port and is only a stone's throw away from Aruba and Trinidad & Tobego. I heard today the water temperature there is 26C!! Slightly warmer than the Tofino ocean waters we last experienced!

My parents have been more than generous and dontated us a week of their Time Share, so when we arrive there we're staying in what I like to call the most "pimp daddy hotel" I've ever been to. It's called the Hesperia Playa El Agua Beach Hotel. I'd post some pictures from the website, but will wait to post some taken with our own camera and seen with our own eyes :) We're very excited to sit on a white sand beach, sip some rums, ride scooters around the island and try out some surfing! A very relaxing and luxurious way to start off the big adventure, anyway - probably very different than the rest of the journey will be!!