Mi gusto Venezuela!

Our flight out of Toronto was delayed by an hour, so we got into Caracas Monday night around 1030 local time. Things went perfectly according to plan, where a young man with a sign for La Parada was waiting for us and several others right at the airport. By 11pm we were checked into Habitacion 9 and high 5-ing that we'd made it. Even funnier, the first thing we saw when we got to our room - a picture of Pablo Picassos' Guernica, the same one that hangs in our living room!

Thanks to some late night partiers who decided to shower, blast tunes and sing their hearts out at 2am, we only got a couple hours sleep before we were up at 6am to catch our ride back to the airport. We had a quick breakfast at the airport of cafe con leche and some empanadas that were so salty they were inedible. We changed our US cash to Bolivares at the black market rate of 8:1, and after getting a bit of a run around trying to find the right gate, we were on a flight to Isla de Margarita.

From what Colin tells me (I passed out right away due to severe lack of sleep) from the air the Isla looked like the Caribbean paradise we'd imagined and hoped for. We landed at the airport, hopped into a taxi that was a suped up tiny Nissan, and headed into the capital of the Isla, Porlamar. It took a while to find, but we got dropped off at the hostel we'd read about in Lonely Planet called Jinama. We were sweating buckets and tired, so were stoked to be greeted by a super nice lady at the desk who gave us a 4 bed room to ourselves and offered to lock up our valuables for us. We got settled and headed out into the super busy streets to find some eats for our very hungry tummies.

Again Lonely Planet came thru with a great restaurant suggestion and we refueled with rice, beans, plantains, fish and veggies, and of course cervesas. We then went in search of our first Caribbean swim and were disappointed. Porlamar is a vibrant and happening city, but the beaches and water were pretty filthy, and the surrounding neighbourhoods pretty uninviting. We were exhausted, so headed back to our Jinama haven for a nap, then another venture to the plaza to collect sandwich stuff and rum for dinner. The rest of the night was uneventful, and we slept for 12 hours straight!

The next morning we packed up the backpacks and set out for Pampatar about 10kms up the coast. We had a bit of trouble finding an affordable posada to stay at first, but we managed to communicate what we were after and got a cute little colourful habitacion 2mins from the beach. Then, finally, my first Caribbean swim was had! This beach and town is more of a local retreat than a tourist one, so it was neat to see native Venezuelans hanging out with friends and family, kids playing soccer, and all the colorful fishing boats tied up right on the beach. We had dinner at a restaurant right on the playa (seafood feast for me, of course!) and then again collected some breakfast supplies and rum supply for that evening. Just like, Porlamar, this wasn't a big tourist spot, so once the sun went down we stuck to the gated walls of our posada. Colin also started to come down with a cold that evening, which combined with the arctic air blowing from the AC didn't make for the most restful night, but we survived.

The next morning we decided to head right up the coast to Playa el Agua - the place to see and be seen on the Isla. Were so glad we did, as we ended up finding Posada Nathalie, a little guest house run by a sweetheart of a Dutch woman named Nathalie. As it's down season, we had the entire posada to ourselves, including the pool, awesome outdoor kitchen, and the resident dog, Socha. Playa el Agua itself is only a 5 min walk away, so we spent the day going back and forth between pool and beach - paradise found! There aren't a whole lot of stores in the area, and being down season they all closed early, so dinner that night was pasta, canned tuna and ketchup. I didn't even stoop to that level as a poor starving student! We were happy with our arrangement though, and spent a quiet night playing yahtzee (and of course drinking more rum), so poor sick Colin could get some much needs rest. We spent another day here doing much the same thing - with guard dog Socha in tow wherever we went - waiting to check in to Hesperia Beach Hotel on the Saturday.