25April.
I went up the Teleferico, the worlds largest and longest cable car system. It comprises of 3 sections and a car takes 40 people. It was built in 1958 in France, and the music they played on the way up felt like I had travelled back to the 50s. but the scenery was pretty good even if mighty cloudy. A few days ago it was clear skies but of course not now. I met the 2 london guys I had met in Los Llanos. They said that Tony, their guide, was a bit of an ego maniac and toward the end was beginning to get on their nerves. I had to laugh. They were also unhappy with how long the creatures were held and Tony even tied rope around the mouth of the caiman he caught. I guess I got the better guide on my trip.
I went in search of food and ended up in this rather nice vegetarian restaurant. Then on the way back I went to an internet cafe. However, as I tried to connect, the electricity went off. So I waited with the staff outside until it came on. The guy working there turned out to be from Edinburgh, Scotland and had been living in Venezuela for 1.5 years. Another chap joined us from Canada. They told me that they never wear shorts as the Venezuelans consider it rude, unless on the beach. Also around here it is rude to haggle as it questions their honest, if you question their price etc. They also said if you disrespected a drunk or beggar on the street etc. Then they would bad mouth you and word would get around and if anyone was going to be robbed then it would probably be you. The French Canadian and I ended up chatting for hours, as the electricity didn't come back on. He is one of the most interesting chaps I have ever met. He lives here but was born in Canada. He is a writer but worked as an investigator in company performance, fraud etc in industry. When he was 15 he decided to not own anything like a house etc. and over the last number of years has written about 600 articles that he has not been paid for but writes as he wants to expose general ignorance and the lies in the media. He has interviewed people from all walks of life even guerillas in Colombia etc. He transported people out of wartorn Kuwait and worked extensively in the middle east and Venezuela and Colombia etc.. He has met Chavez and supports him wholeheartedly and also happens to be an artist, musician, mathematecian etc. oh yeah and also happens to be severely dyslexic. He also said he had been arrested for entering Holland etc as well as the US and Canada. Again, he did not know why but figured it was due to his travelling in the Middle east and that he has quite Arabic features. Although he looks pretty Latin American to me. He had also seen Zeitquest and said that he has been researching the central bank issue for 2 years and has at least another 5 years of work before publishing is possible. He said everything about the central bank, in the movie was true, as per his research. He has had attempts on his life as has people he knows due to his job, as an investigator and his writing. He recommended some books for me to read (The Discoverers and the Pillars of the Earth) which question the whole idea of what poverty is and why we came to have this concept. One is factual and the other is fictional but they complement each other and so I will have to go in search of these. He is also researching his theory that the northern Europeans have a particular gene that makes them more violent than say Indigineous Indians. There is work being done on this by others and he is researching this and about to write on it. He also told me to look up sociopath in Wikipedia. Well lets just say I did that today and it led to some interesting reading.
I went off to bed as I intended to go to Colombia next day.
26 April.
I woke at 6am but was wrecked tired and didn't feel like going to Colombia. I woudl have to set off at 7 but still had to pack. As there was no electricity I couldnt do it last night.
I got up late and went to find food. On the way back, I met the Canadian again and as he was heading to this cafe, he invited me along. We chatted for an hour maybe more, then he was joined by a musician friend of his Edgar. The Canadian ran off to get his guitar and Edgar played me a selection of songs from around Latin America. He is a fab guitarist and singer. The Canadian also played some of his songs and then this old man joined us but as he started to sing and interupt Edgar, we moved to the communal area of the Canadians Posada. I was there for hours listening to their music. Egdar even played my favourite piece of music, Concerto de Aranquez. They are trying to record an album of the Canadians Compositions. A young Venezuelan girl was listening in and later sang a little although she was very reticent about doing so. However, she had a superb voice and could play very well. The guys actually asked her to record wtih them. It was just such a great day. And there was I thinking I could get some reading done.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Good news finally!!
20April
Got the dates wrong in the previous blog.
Breakfast was lovely. Fresh fruit, some great scrambled eggs with peppers and seasoning, Arepas, which are kind of like pitta bread but made from cornmeal and I can eat them. GREEEEEEAT. All the better as we were so close to nature and were able to watch the Caiman swimming in the river and chomping on the fish they caught. We could hear the bones break as they ate them. The capibara were roaming around the river as well taking their morning wash. Several birds came in to breakfast near the caiman and often stood about a foot away. Mind you these were the larger birds like herons or hawks.
Carlo drove us to our boat and we all loaded in. Two of the sons of the camp owner came with us to help Carlo. Sixteen year old Michael and Andy, all of 11 years. We saw the most amazing birds. It was beautiful to see the odd bird perched on some of the dead tee branches that had fallen in teh river watching for prey with their wings outstretched and beaks at the read. There were some great photogenic moments. At one point we neared the bank to get closer to some caiman sunbathing. There was an almighty splash and Michael and Andy were running through the bushes chasing caiman. They caught one and brought it over for a foto. The creatures felt odd to the touch. Later Michael spied a turtle and we circled around for about 10 minutes looking for it. Then Carlo disappeared in to the piranha infested water and reappeared with the turtle in his arms. He brought it aboard and the others took turns to have their fotos with it. I touched it but didn't want to hold it. I don't agree with the creature being handed around for fotos. One foto should be sufficient with Carlo holding it. It is distressing for the poor thing to be held for so long. Moving along the river, caiman were everywhere. Magnificent birds were a dime a dozen. Later we saw the humpback of a Pink dolphin and Michael circled the boat again. Apparently dolphins seduced by the engine and follow behind it. Carlo´s comment was that so are women and started to sing this popular Reggaeton song, I had first heard in Jeri about gasoline etc. What can you say to that...
We must have seen about 10 dolphins. One of them even jumped out of the water. They are called pink dolphins because, although they are grey when young, as they get older, they develop pink pigmentation on their skin from eating some types of fish. Carlo told us that when the dolphins are around, it is safe to swim in the water, as the piranhas and caiman keep well clear of the dolphins. The dolphin herd the piranhas into a section of the river and then use ultrasound to paralyse the fish for a few seconds before killling them. The dolphin use their noses to strike at the heart in the soft underbelly of the caiman and this kills them.
As we were heading home, we saw a family of giant otters playing in the water. They were so cute and we were very fortunate to see them. Lunch was ready when we arrived and was devoured. We had a few hours before the next item, so we snoozed or read or watched the wildlife around the river.
At 3.30, after coffee, we went in search of Anaconda, in the University farm close by. We girls rode on the roof of the van, which gave us a brilliant view of the landscape, as we drove through. It was just flat lands, the odd group or solitary tree, herds of Capybara, some deer and as this was farm land, many Brahma cows and waterbuffalo roaming around. Of course the birds added to the mix. It was just incredible. It felt like being on one of the safaris in the movies.
Anacondas are not poisonous snakes but constrict and swallow their prey and have rather sharp teeth. They can reach 9 metres and rumours of 12 meter anacondas exist. They like shallow lakes, with lots of capybaras, caiman etc. where they can hide in the mud and overlying vegetation and pounce on their prey at will. Carlo, Michael and Andy and another friend of Andy's, Antonio who must have been about 9, removed their footwear and waded into water. They used sticks to agitate the water and force any anacondas to move position. Well before long, a male of 2 metres was found. Micheal grabbed it by the tail and dragged it out of the water with Carlo helping. He then tried to grab its head before it bit him, using his baseball cap and the stick to distract the snake. Once successful we took turns holding its middle or having fotos of the snake around their necks. I didn't bother not because of fear but it had been held long enough. I thought that was it but 10 minutes later Michael found another. This time a female about 2.5 to 3 metres long. Carlo was too far away, so Isabella helped him get it out of the water. However, the poor creature was so distressed that it peed all over the place. Andy took the tail and then tried to get its head. He had never done this before. You could see he was nervous but he knew what to do and eventually was successful. He was so delighted and the others congratulated him. It was special for him. While Antonio and Andy held the tail and head respectively, I held it`s weight in the centre. I couldnt believe how strong or heavy she was. She kept trying to twist herself around our arms etc. Carlo showed us the little claws that they have and that during copulation, the mail holds the females claws. Also both the snakes had various scars where they had been scratched by caiman they had tried to kill. We all wanted to let her go, as they had all had their foto with the male. Right now it is the mating season and really we shouldn't be touching them at all or at least not for as long as we did but... It was cool to lift the snake. I thought they would feel differently. I guess now I can see their beauty but I still don't want to meet one when out walking. On the way out, we saw some cocks/rooseters fighting each other. Carlo said they were just training how to fight,l as their claws had been protected so they could not kill each other. Cock fighting seems to be popular here.
We rode back to camp on the roof and showered. We then met the new tour group that had arrived. There as Greg from France who was with Nina from Caracas, Venezuela. They had met 10 months ago over the internet and this was their first few weeks together. They seemed like a really lovely couple and were good fun. There were 2 guys from London who were also quite nice. They were a couple I think. Their guide, Tony Martin is actually mentioned by name in the Lonely planet. He was quite an interesting chap. as an introduction to Venezuela, I have been reading this book about Rudy Truffino, a Dutch man, who was one of the first guides to Angel falls. He also built Canaima and Ucaima, 2 camps near the falls. Canaima is now a town. He arrived in Caracas in the early 50s and personally knew the man who discovered Angel Falls. He was a true pioneer and man of adventure, without fear. He learned to speak Pemon the language of the Pemon indians. It is incredible reading. Tony mentioned that he was a guide in the Gran Sabana and Angel Falls back in the early 90s and as Rudy Truffino was still alive at that time, I asked Tony if he knew him. Well of course he did and knew many of his peers too. He had even seen the letter that Jimmy Angel wrote describing his plane crash and subsequent discovery of Angel Falls as a result. I was suitably impressed. We had a lovely evening all of us and called it a night at about 10.30.
21April
This morning we had horse riding. I love riding but these animals were very difficult to move. Also my horse kept tripping over his own feet or in the holes in the ground, as the ground was hard. at one stage the poor animals face was an inch form the ground. I didnt fall off but... it put me off trying to go too fast on the hard uneven surface. After some kicking and a few cracks of the rope, I got my horse to trot. It was the most any of us succeeded in doing. There was a point when I thought I could try for a faster pace but I was not sure which direction we were taking. I think I could have got him to go but alas. It was an ok morning but a bit dull. I thought my scar from my last riding experience might get opened up again but no. It has healed well and 2 weeks in the salt water in Margarita worked its wonders.
Later in the afternoon, we went fishing, for Piranhas. If they caught you they would rip the skin off your body in a few minutes. They are not so big about 6 inches but vicious teeth. Even when their head was cut off they could still bite for a few more minutes. I didn't catch any piranha. I was a bit disappointed. I had lots of nibbles but never quite got them on to the river bank. I did catch 2 other fish, 1 about a foot long but we threw them back, as they are full of bones and only the Piranha were wanted for tonights dinner. It was nice though to be by the river as the sun went down and watch the birds flying around. A caiman did bite Marios hook and we thought we were going to get that in but no it escaped. CArlo took us to a tree where the scarlet Ibis sleep and we watched hundreds of them come in. the scarlet Ibis start as white birds, then after 2 years become black and finally this vivid scarlet colour. These were my favourite. The colour is just so beautiful.
Dinner was great as 2 more french came. So now wer were 12 and Tony and his girlfriend and Carlo. The Piranha were tasty and Tony told us that the heads were the most powerful aphrodisiac. hmmm
That evening a local gent, named Titi came to the camp and sang and played traditional songs on his quatro (like a 4 string small guitar). It was brilliant. Tony and Carlo sang also and took the pee out of each other in verse. Rosa was one of the cooks and is not a small lady. Greg the French man is not a small guy but got Rosa to dance. Oh it was hilarious. Tony said he was like a sumo wrestler. but Greg was such a good laugh and had everyone in stitches. It was a really good night.
22AprilToday said goodbye to the others and Carlo drove us back to Merida after dropping the Polish gang off in Barinitas.The drive was uneventful but it gave me a chance to view the Andean villages from a different perspective as we took a different road for a while and I was in the passenger seat. We had a chat about his plans for his farm that he has bought near the camp we stayed at. At present. the camp accepts people from different tour groups sometimes this creates a bit of tension between the guides. Carlo gets on with Tony but some of the other guides don't as Tony can appear like he owns the place but he is older and has been there a long time. I found him quite good company and more social than Carlo. Albeit Carlo is a good guide too and fun to be with. The idea of Carlos farm would be that it it only exclusively caters to the Guamanchi agency he works for. Also it would be an ecological and biological centre and that universities could use it for courses etc. Pretty ambitious but I think Carlo can pull it off.
Carlo told me about his 6 year old daughter who now lives in Spain. I have found that a lot of men here have kids but are not with the mother. Sometimes the child or children are far away. It seems to be very acceptable to have a kid with someone and then move on but still be a parent to the kids. I know this happens at home too but most I know entered the relationship thinking this might be the one and then it doesn't work out not thinking this definitly isn't the one.
Tony I know moved cities to be with his 2 daughters and had been 13 years with their mother. But others seem to have kids and view relationships as very temporary. They seem to enter relationships, have kids without thinking that maybe they don't want to spend a long time with this person and so should try not to get pregnant. I know accidents happen but Carlo told me that Michael was now looking for a women to have kids with. He is 16.
My emergency card has not arrived
23April
Well today has been a very good day, despite the fact that the emergency card didn't come over the last few days. I rang mastercard and they said the card should arrive today. Also, my friend Sue rang the Cooperative bank for me. The spare visa card I have is from them, as is my debit card. I tried ringing them numerous times but the number kept cutting out each time I entered my pin no. So I was petrified to use it in case I lost the one means I have of paying for anything. One of the customer service ladies, a northern lass, gave Sue their personal work no to call. Oh my god what a relief. She was sooooooooo lovely. Give me English and Irish customer services any day. The US has been ok but...
My pin no had been blocked even though I had used the pin only 2 times but because the people here are not familiar with chip & pin nos, they put the transaction in as a signature transaction getting me to sign for it. This probably caused the blocking. Apparently I can unblock myself through cash machines. Hmmm this has to be tried to be believed but now I know that I can press the # key when I try to ring the bank in future. Even my mobile phone wont work. I tried calling the banks from my fone but to no avail. I have 3 numbers for my voicemail but I cant access them via my fone or any other landline.
I found out my debit card hadn't worked because they had sent me a new one even though the date on the card is the end of April.
I mean so many little things all working against me. Too many coincidences. The gods must be seeking revenge for something. Still trying to figure out what. I work on my karma all the time and try to be nice to people but shit still happens. I must have been really bad in my previous lifetime, hmm maybe I was a really nasty, sexist man or a lawyer or a dodgy estate agent or car salesperson... ha ha... oops only joking...
So I ran off to the bank that I know works. Low and behold, it worked. I got cash. Oh the sheer joy of having a card that works in an ATM. Whey hey.... Life is good again.
I rang my Irish bank acc too and got a lovely lady called Ber there. Apparently there are 5 or 6 transactions in Caracas and Maturin that were done on 29Mar, mostly for approx 300 Euros each . I was in Puerto La Cruz. I was never in either of those 2 cities, so it is lucky that the card was blocked because of restaurant owners stupidity. When I had rung the bank a few weeks ago, these hadn't appeared. This amounts to over 1000 Euros. I had asked my balance when this thing started and was gobsmacked how little I had left but now I know why. So now I have to fill in loads of forms and check each of my accounts thoroughly, when I can access them that is, to identify the errant transactions. What a palaver. Bad Karma on those that did this.
My Life lessons!!! Ask customer services how to bypass the computer greetings, before travelling long-term. I had taken all the external UK and Irish nos and still there were problems. Oh and tell them you are going away. Not that that helps too much.
And NEVER NEVER NEVER use more than one card in the same machine and try to use ones inside banks not on external walls.
I have had to ask a lot of people for help these last few weeks. I don't like asking people as you know. but I would rather ask one or 2 things of people and spread it around rather than asking a lot of one person. So thanks alphabetically to Dad, Irene, Maudie, Patricia, Ruth, Sue and advance thanks to Robert (as he will be bringing about 5 credit and debit cards over and a new camera. Hopefully....). I still cant believe how much went wrong when I had 5 different cards to work with and not one stolen from my possession. I mean how??????????? In 5 minutes so much went wrong, when I was normally sooooooooooooooo careful. aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrgggggggghhhhh. What a nightmarish 3 weeks. and then my cameras... I mean what IS going on??????? But as long as I can get money the rest will work itself out. I still have some disposable cameras left. As Moira put it, I need better Mojo... or maybe I need to find it.
I guess because I didn't get to dance to the Austin Powers theme tune in Margarita, like we do in Vass, my mojo found something else to do...
Hey Austin baby!!! Find my Mojo...
This evening, when I arrived in my room, I sat on my tshirt. I heard a noise and remembered I had left my camera under my teshirt with the lens extended to use up the battery. I tried to see what more damage had been caused but lo and behold, my camera started working and I was able to take fotos. Unbelievable. My mojo must be back....
24April
Today. I wandered around Merida. My card had still not come. as I was walking around I saw this man with a bird in a small cage and underneath a drawer with lottery tickets. The idea being that the bird would pick the ticket for you. I have seen everything now.
I went in search of a ice-cream parlour that is in the guinness book of records for making the most flavours of ice-cream approx 800.
I was tempted to try tuna, hot dog or even shrimp but settled for avocado, mushrooms in wine, black bean and cinnamon. Ok the last one was because I figured I had to have something I knew liked. The mushroom was surprisingly nice when I had expected the avocado to be nicer. didn't really like the black bean either.
Merida is a nice town very laid back and gentle. I like it.
Got the dates wrong in the previous blog.
Breakfast was lovely. Fresh fruit, some great scrambled eggs with peppers and seasoning, Arepas, which are kind of like pitta bread but made from cornmeal and I can eat them. GREEEEEEAT. All the better as we were so close to nature and were able to watch the Caiman swimming in the river and chomping on the fish they caught. We could hear the bones break as they ate them. The capibara were roaming around the river as well taking their morning wash. Several birds came in to breakfast near the caiman and often stood about a foot away. Mind you these were the larger birds like herons or hawks.
Carlo drove us to our boat and we all loaded in. Two of the sons of the camp owner came with us to help Carlo. Sixteen year old Michael and Andy, all of 11 years. We saw the most amazing birds. It was beautiful to see the odd bird perched on some of the dead tee branches that had fallen in teh river watching for prey with their wings outstretched and beaks at the read. There were some great photogenic moments. At one point we neared the bank to get closer to some caiman sunbathing. There was an almighty splash and Michael and Andy were running through the bushes chasing caiman. They caught one and brought it over for a foto. The creatures felt odd to the touch. Later Michael spied a turtle and we circled around for about 10 minutes looking for it. Then Carlo disappeared in to the piranha infested water and reappeared with the turtle in his arms. He brought it aboard and the others took turns to have their fotos with it. I touched it but didn't want to hold it. I don't agree with the creature being handed around for fotos. One foto should be sufficient with Carlo holding it. It is distressing for the poor thing to be held for so long. Moving along the river, caiman were everywhere. Magnificent birds were a dime a dozen. Later we saw the humpback of a Pink dolphin and Michael circled the boat again. Apparently dolphins seduced by the engine and follow behind it. Carlo´s comment was that so are women and started to sing this popular Reggaeton song, I had first heard in Jeri about gasoline etc. What can you say to that...
We must have seen about 10 dolphins. One of them even jumped out of the water. They are called pink dolphins because, although they are grey when young, as they get older, they develop pink pigmentation on their skin from eating some types of fish. Carlo told us that when the dolphins are around, it is safe to swim in the water, as the piranhas and caiman keep well clear of the dolphins. The dolphin herd the piranhas into a section of the river and then use ultrasound to paralyse the fish for a few seconds before killling them. The dolphin use their noses to strike at the heart in the soft underbelly of the caiman and this kills them.
As we were heading home, we saw a family of giant otters playing in the water. They were so cute and we were very fortunate to see them. Lunch was ready when we arrived and was devoured. We had a few hours before the next item, so we snoozed or read or watched the wildlife around the river.
At 3.30, after coffee, we went in search of Anaconda, in the University farm close by. We girls rode on the roof of the van, which gave us a brilliant view of the landscape, as we drove through. It was just flat lands, the odd group or solitary tree, herds of Capybara, some deer and as this was farm land, many Brahma cows and waterbuffalo roaming around. Of course the birds added to the mix. It was just incredible. It felt like being on one of the safaris in the movies.
Anacondas are not poisonous snakes but constrict and swallow their prey and have rather sharp teeth. They can reach 9 metres and rumours of 12 meter anacondas exist. They like shallow lakes, with lots of capybaras, caiman etc. where they can hide in the mud and overlying vegetation and pounce on their prey at will. Carlo, Michael and Andy and another friend of Andy's, Antonio who must have been about 9, removed their footwear and waded into water. They used sticks to agitate the water and force any anacondas to move position. Well before long, a male of 2 metres was found. Micheal grabbed it by the tail and dragged it out of the water with Carlo helping. He then tried to grab its head before it bit him, using his baseball cap and the stick to distract the snake. Once successful we took turns holding its middle or having fotos of the snake around their necks. I didn't bother not because of fear but it had been held long enough. I thought that was it but 10 minutes later Michael found another. This time a female about 2.5 to 3 metres long. Carlo was too far away, so Isabella helped him get it out of the water. However, the poor creature was so distressed that it peed all over the place. Andy took the tail and then tried to get its head. He had never done this before. You could see he was nervous but he knew what to do and eventually was successful. He was so delighted and the others congratulated him. It was special for him. While Antonio and Andy held the tail and head respectively, I held it`s weight in the centre. I couldnt believe how strong or heavy she was. She kept trying to twist herself around our arms etc. Carlo showed us the little claws that they have and that during copulation, the mail holds the females claws. Also both the snakes had various scars where they had been scratched by caiman they had tried to kill. We all wanted to let her go, as they had all had their foto with the male. Right now it is the mating season and really we shouldn't be touching them at all or at least not for as long as we did but... It was cool to lift the snake. I thought they would feel differently. I guess now I can see their beauty but I still don't want to meet one when out walking. On the way out, we saw some cocks/rooseters fighting each other. Carlo said they were just training how to fight,l as their claws had been protected so they could not kill each other. Cock fighting seems to be popular here.
We rode back to camp on the roof and showered. We then met the new tour group that had arrived. There as Greg from France who was with Nina from Caracas, Venezuela. They had met 10 months ago over the internet and this was their first few weeks together. They seemed like a really lovely couple and were good fun. There were 2 guys from London who were also quite nice. They were a couple I think. Their guide, Tony Martin is actually mentioned by name in the Lonely planet. He was quite an interesting chap. as an introduction to Venezuela, I have been reading this book about Rudy Truffino, a Dutch man, who was one of the first guides to Angel falls. He also built Canaima and Ucaima, 2 camps near the falls. Canaima is now a town. He arrived in Caracas in the early 50s and personally knew the man who discovered Angel Falls. He was a true pioneer and man of adventure, without fear. He learned to speak Pemon the language of the Pemon indians. It is incredible reading. Tony mentioned that he was a guide in the Gran Sabana and Angel Falls back in the early 90s and as Rudy Truffino was still alive at that time, I asked Tony if he knew him. Well of course he did and knew many of his peers too. He had even seen the letter that Jimmy Angel wrote describing his plane crash and subsequent discovery of Angel Falls as a result. I was suitably impressed. We had a lovely evening all of us and called it a night at about 10.30.
21April
This morning we had horse riding. I love riding but these animals were very difficult to move. Also my horse kept tripping over his own feet or in the holes in the ground, as the ground was hard. at one stage the poor animals face was an inch form the ground. I didnt fall off but... it put me off trying to go too fast on the hard uneven surface. After some kicking and a few cracks of the rope, I got my horse to trot. It was the most any of us succeeded in doing. There was a point when I thought I could try for a faster pace but I was not sure which direction we were taking. I think I could have got him to go but alas. It was an ok morning but a bit dull. I thought my scar from my last riding experience might get opened up again but no. It has healed well and 2 weeks in the salt water in Margarita worked its wonders.
Later in the afternoon, we went fishing, for Piranhas. If they caught you they would rip the skin off your body in a few minutes. They are not so big about 6 inches but vicious teeth. Even when their head was cut off they could still bite for a few more minutes. I didn't catch any piranha. I was a bit disappointed. I had lots of nibbles but never quite got them on to the river bank. I did catch 2 other fish, 1 about a foot long but we threw them back, as they are full of bones and only the Piranha were wanted for tonights dinner. It was nice though to be by the river as the sun went down and watch the birds flying around. A caiman did bite Marios hook and we thought we were going to get that in but no it escaped. CArlo took us to a tree where the scarlet Ibis sleep and we watched hundreds of them come in. the scarlet Ibis start as white birds, then after 2 years become black and finally this vivid scarlet colour. These were my favourite. The colour is just so beautiful.
Dinner was great as 2 more french came. So now wer were 12 and Tony and his girlfriend and Carlo. The Piranha were tasty and Tony told us that the heads were the most powerful aphrodisiac. hmmm
That evening a local gent, named Titi came to the camp and sang and played traditional songs on his quatro (like a 4 string small guitar). It was brilliant. Tony and Carlo sang also and took the pee out of each other in verse. Rosa was one of the cooks and is not a small lady. Greg the French man is not a small guy but got Rosa to dance. Oh it was hilarious. Tony said he was like a sumo wrestler. but Greg was such a good laugh and had everyone in stitches. It was a really good night.
22AprilToday said goodbye to the others and Carlo drove us back to Merida after dropping the Polish gang off in Barinitas.The drive was uneventful but it gave me a chance to view the Andean villages from a different perspective as we took a different road for a while and I was in the passenger seat. We had a chat about his plans for his farm that he has bought near the camp we stayed at. At present. the camp accepts people from different tour groups sometimes this creates a bit of tension between the guides. Carlo gets on with Tony but some of the other guides don't as Tony can appear like he owns the place but he is older and has been there a long time. I found him quite good company and more social than Carlo. Albeit Carlo is a good guide too and fun to be with. The idea of Carlos farm would be that it it only exclusively caters to the Guamanchi agency he works for. Also it would be an ecological and biological centre and that universities could use it for courses etc. Pretty ambitious but I think Carlo can pull it off.
Carlo told me about his 6 year old daughter who now lives in Spain. I have found that a lot of men here have kids but are not with the mother. Sometimes the child or children are far away. It seems to be very acceptable to have a kid with someone and then move on but still be a parent to the kids. I know this happens at home too but most I know entered the relationship thinking this might be the one and then it doesn't work out not thinking this definitly isn't the one.
Tony I know moved cities to be with his 2 daughters and had been 13 years with their mother. But others seem to have kids and view relationships as very temporary. They seem to enter relationships, have kids without thinking that maybe they don't want to spend a long time with this person and so should try not to get pregnant. I know accidents happen but Carlo told me that Michael was now looking for a women to have kids with. He is 16.
My emergency card has not arrived
23April
Well today has been a very good day, despite the fact that the emergency card didn't come over the last few days. I rang mastercard and they said the card should arrive today. Also, my friend Sue rang the Cooperative bank for me. The spare visa card I have is from them, as is my debit card. I tried ringing them numerous times but the number kept cutting out each time I entered my pin no. So I was petrified to use it in case I lost the one means I have of paying for anything. One of the customer service ladies, a northern lass, gave Sue their personal work no to call. Oh my god what a relief. She was sooooooooo lovely. Give me English and Irish customer services any day. The US has been ok but...
My pin no had been blocked even though I had used the pin only 2 times but because the people here are not familiar with chip & pin nos, they put the transaction in as a signature transaction getting me to sign for it. This probably caused the blocking. Apparently I can unblock myself through cash machines. Hmmm this has to be tried to be believed but now I know that I can press the # key when I try to ring the bank in future. Even my mobile phone wont work. I tried calling the banks from my fone but to no avail. I have 3 numbers for my voicemail but I cant access them via my fone or any other landline.
I found out my debit card hadn't worked because they had sent me a new one even though the date on the card is the end of April.
I mean so many little things all working against me. Too many coincidences. The gods must be seeking revenge for something. Still trying to figure out what. I work on my karma all the time and try to be nice to people but shit still happens. I must have been really bad in my previous lifetime, hmm maybe I was a really nasty, sexist man or a lawyer or a dodgy estate agent or car salesperson... ha ha... oops only joking...
So I ran off to the bank that I know works. Low and behold, it worked. I got cash. Oh the sheer joy of having a card that works in an ATM. Whey hey.... Life is good again.
I rang my Irish bank acc too and got a lovely lady called Ber there. Apparently there are 5 or 6 transactions in Caracas and Maturin that were done on 29Mar, mostly for approx 300 Euros each . I was in Puerto La Cruz. I was never in either of those 2 cities, so it is lucky that the card was blocked because of restaurant owners stupidity. When I had rung the bank a few weeks ago, these hadn't appeared. This amounts to over 1000 Euros. I had asked my balance when this thing started and was gobsmacked how little I had left but now I know why. So now I have to fill in loads of forms and check each of my accounts thoroughly, when I can access them that is, to identify the errant transactions. What a palaver. Bad Karma on those that did this.
My Life lessons!!! Ask customer services how to bypass the computer greetings, before travelling long-term. I had taken all the external UK and Irish nos and still there were problems. Oh and tell them you are going away. Not that that helps too much.
And NEVER NEVER NEVER use more than one card in the same machine and try to use ones inside banks not on external walls.
I have had to ask a lot of people for help these last few weeks. I don't like asking people as you know. but I would rather ask one or 2 things of people and spread it around rather than asking a lot of one person. So thanks alphabetically to Dad, Irene, Maudie, Patricia, Ruth, Sue and advance thanks to Robert (as he will be bringing about 5 credit and debit cards over and a new camera. Hopefully....). I still cant believe how much went wrong when I had 5 different cards to work with and not one stolen from my possession. I mean how??????????? In 5 minutes so much went wrong, when I was normally sooooooooooooooo careful. aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrgggggggghhhhh. What a nightmarish 3 weeks. and then my cameras... I mean what IS going on??????? But as long as I can get money the rest will work itself out. I still have some disposable cameras left. As Moira put it, I need better Mojo... or maybe I need to find it.
I guess because I didn't get to dance to the Austin Powers theme tune in Margarita, like we do in Vass, my mojo found something else to do...
Hey Austin baby!!! Find my Mojo...
This evening, when I arrived in my room, I sat on my tshirt. I heard a noise and remembered I had left my camera under my teshirt with the lens extended to use up the battery. I tried to see what more damage had been caused but lo and behold, my camera started working and I was able to take fotos. Unbelievable. My mojo must be back....
24April
Today. I wandered around Merida. My card had still not come. as I was walking around I saw this man with a bird in a small cage and underneath a drawer with lottery tickets. The idea being that the bird would pick the ticket for you. I have seen everything now.
I went in search of a ice-cream parlour that is in the guinness book of records for making the most flavours of ice-cream approx 800.
I was tempted to try tuna, hot dog or even shrimp but settled for avocado, mushrooms in wine, black bean and cinnamon. Ok the last one was because I figured I had to have something I knew liked. The mushroom was surprisingly nice when I had expected the avocado to be nicer. didn't really like the black bean either.
Merida is a nice town very laid back and gentle. I like it.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
From the debpts to the highs and a new low too
After the days fiasco in the bank, I went back to the Pousada, I am in. They were running a tour that I wanted to go on, So I thought I will try my spare credit card to see if it will work. I was afraid it would not, as I had tried a few times to get money with it and was afraid it would be blocked. I tried to ring the bank but the number cuts out each time as I try to enter my pin no. The card worked though. Thank god! WHAT A RELIEF!
I was able to pay my pousada and book on the tour. This means I can try at the bank also. I reasoned that it would take a few days for the credit card to come and that I needed to test my spare credit card again to see how bad my situation was. It appeared quite dire earlier. However, as I could pay by credit card and go on the tour it meant that for 4 days my food would be sorted and all accommodation and I would be seeing part of Venezuela that has got some rave reviews. This would be a lot better than sitting around Merida spending the few dollars and bolivar I have, waiting for days for a card. Admittedly I had to pay 14% extra for the pleasure of using my card. crap!! But I had no choice.
21Apr
So I left first thing next morning. I took my fone thinking of texting later but the area we went to had no signal. I was a bit wary, as I was to be with 4 Polish and I thought they might just talk to between themselves.. However, my fears were totally quashed when I meant them next morning. One of the girls came up and introduced herself as Yolita. When she heard I was Irish, we had loads to talk about. She works for a company that has associations with Dell Computers and the Irish Dell office helped set up the office in Poland. So she has been to Cork and Limerick a lot and loves it. The others (Lydja, Isabella and Marios) were also lovely and spoke English excellently. Carlo was to be our guide. Gina, the French Canadian in the office agreed to accept my card for me if it came. We had a 7 hour drive to Los Llanos. Along the way, we stopped at a lake high up in the Andes and passed through some Andean villages. The drive was spectacular. And Carlo pointed out animals and birds as we drove. We went up the mountains, where it was actually quite cold then descended to the Sabana like hot dry plains of Los Llanos, encountering a waterfall a, cloud forest and then flat dry scrub lands. most amazing landscape. We saw some monkeys and stopped to photograph them. I was having such a good time and my worries of the previous day drifted away with each kilometre but of course things were going way too well. That was when I realised my camera had stopped working. Yes!! The camera I have waited over 5 weeks to have delivered doesn't work anymore. It worked earlier in the day but now no. A new camera 3 weeks old. I thought something was wrong the day I got it but it seemed to resolve itself, once I turn the camera off and then back on but not this time. Oh no not this time. Can you believe it. I dare not ask myself what else can go wrong.
As we neared the camp, we were to stay at, a driver coming from the opposite direction pointed at something. Which Carlo immediately identified as a giant Anteater. It was huge and just strolling across the plains, licking up ants with its gynormous tongue. As we came to a bridge, Carlo left us out at a river, each bank crowded with Caimans. Unreal! It was near sunset when we arrived at the river. it was feeding time. Birds, caiman and capibara were coming to drink and feed. The best thing was this was 1 minute from where we were to stay. Our view at dinner and breakfast was watching about 50 Caiman feasting on Pirahna etc. Caiman are like crocodiles but have a smaller mouth/nose and do not grow to be as big. Maybe a few metres. Capibara, these are like brown guinea pigs but are the size of a pig and not necessarily a small one. they can reach a size of 60KG. About my weight. But they are cute, even if they are the biggest rodent in the world. And they are vegetarians. We had a lovely dinner at the camp and then after a few hours chinwagging went to bed in our bungalow. Well actually bed was a hammock. The hut\bungalow was circular with a big pole in the centre and the 5 hammocks were connected to the central pole and then the other end was attached to the wall of the hut/bungalow. I love hammocks.There was not other furniture. Basic but we had a great sleep. Well until the dogs woke us at 5am chasing cows.
I was able to pay my pousada and book on the tour. This means I can try at the bank also. I reasoned that it would take a few days for the credit card to come and that I needed to test my spare credit card again to see how bad my situation was. It appeared quite dire earlier. However, as I could pay by credit card and go on the tour it meant that for 4 days my food would be sorted and all accommodation and I would be seeing part of Venezuela that has got some rave reviews. This would be a lot better than sitting around Merida spending the few dollars and bolivar I have, waiting for days for a card. Admittedly I had to pay 14% extra for the pleasure of using my card. crap!! But I had no choice.
21Apr
So I left first thing next morning. I took my fone thinking of texting later but the area we went to had no signal. I was a bit wary, as I was to be with 4 Polish and I thought they might just talk to between themselves.. However, my fears were totally quashed when I meant them next morning. One of the girls came up and introduced herself as Yolita. When she heard I was Irish, we had loads to talk about. She works for a company that has associations with Dell Computers and the Irish Dell office helped set up the office in Poland. So she has been to Cork and Limerick a lot and loves it. The others (Lydja, Isabella and Marios) were also lovely and spoke English excellently. Carlo was to be our guide. Gina, the French Canadian in the office agreed to accept my card for me if it came. We had a 7 hour drive to Los Llanos. Along the way, we stopped at a lake high up in the Andes and passed through some Andean villages. The drive was spectacular. And Carlo pointed out animals and birds as we drove. We went up the mountains, where it was actually quite cold then descended to the Sabana like hot dry plains of Los Llanos, encountering a waterfall a, cloud forest and then flat dry scrub lands. most amazing landscape. We saw some monkeys and stopped to photograph them. I was having such a good time and my worries of the previous day drifted away with each kilometre but of course things were going way too well. That was when I realised my camera had stopped working. Yes!! The camera I have waited over 5 weeks to have delivered doesn't work anymore. It worked earlier in the day but now no. A new camera 3 weeks old. I thought something was wrong the day I got it but it seemed to resolve itself, once I turn the camera off and then back on but not this time. Oh no not this time. Can you believe it. I dare not ask myself what else can go wrong.
As we neared the camp, we were to stay at, a driver coming from the opposite direction pointed at something. Which Carlo immediately identified as a giant Anteater. It was huge and just strolling across the plains, licking up ants with its gynormous tongue. As we came to a bridge, Carlo left us out at a river, each bank crowded with Caimans. Unreal! It was near sunset when we arrived at the river. it was feeding time. Birds, caiman and capibara were coming to drink and feed. The best thing was this was 1 minute from where we were to stay. Our view at dinner and breakfast was watching about 50 Caiman feasting on Pirahna etc. Caiman are like crocodiles but have a smaller mouth/nose and do not grow to be as big. Maybe a few metres. Capibara, these are like brown guinea pigs but are the size of a pig and not necessarily a small one. they can reach a size of 60KG. About my weight. But they are cute, even if they are the biggest rodent in the world. And they are vegetarians. We had a lovely dinner at the camp and then after a few hours chinwagging went to bed in our bungalow. Well actually bed was a hammock. The hut\bungalow was circular with a big pole in the centre and the 5 hammocks were connected to the central pole and then the other end was attached to the wall of the hut/bungalow. I love hammocks.There was not other furniture. Basic but we had a great sleep. Well until the dogs woke us at 5am chasing cows.
Friday, April 18, 2008
More Pain, never trust a credit card company ever ever ever
15Apr
Well I said goodbye to the vass team, what was there of them. I wen tback to the posada and tried to pay half in dollars and half in bolivar. Then had an arugment as they told me that it was now 35 or 40dollars per night not the 25 the 3 of them had told me. Try telling this to 2 people who dont speak english in pidgin spanish. I walked away when they couldnt get the owner who speaks englisn on the fone. Being the stubborn cow I am, I just went changed my dollars to bolivar so they dont make even more out of me by gettting a better exchange rate on the dollar. When I gave the bolivar one of the ladies apologised, the other was still screaming quarenta which is 40. I thougth f u. not a effing hope. I got a taxi and went to the ferry. He wasnt going to let me on but I gave a look of utmost dismay, he relented. He may have been joking but I was in no mood. I hate arguments. I was so glad to be leaving. It was nice on the ferry. This older gent took out this instrument like a guitar but with 4 strings and started singing and playing. It was really beautiful Then this lovely Venezulan chap started talking to me as he had studied in England and wanted to practice his english. He told me I could get the bus to Merida, thereby avoiding Caracas. So when I landed, I got a taxi to the bus station. Well that was interesting. My Spanish is improving as had a chat with this chap. Although a lot of it centered around my age and his disbelief at my age and why I wasnt married and by the way what was I doing for dinner. I chose to pretend not to understand that, although his tapping of my knee didnt stop. Anyway, I bought my ticket for Merida but it leaves tomorrow.
16April. I found the bank that buggered my cards, so went inside to see if I coudl use my emergency card. Not a hope the queus were a mile long so had to leave with no cash. The hotel took most of the rest of my cash. So after some small nibbles, I had 10 bolivar left.
At lunch on the bus, I bought some cake and water. Teh cake was the cheapest there and just about edible. but at least it was food. I thougth the bus was 7 hours but turns out it was 14. At about 10pm got kicked off the bus and put on another for the next 8hrs I froze. I had forgotten to take my sarong and jacket. The aircon was sooooo cold. I actually had to put my two pices of handluggage over me and try to sleep like that. I still have a sore neck. When I got to the bus station, I waited until about 7am before going to the center, as I figured nothing would be open. This nice man spoke to me in English and pointed me to the bus to town but it cost more than I had. Only 7 bolivar but I only had 5. Arrrrghhh So then I foudn a taxi that agreed to take me to somewhere to change. Of course it was closed but then this man agreed to change my 20 dollar bill of course at a crap rate butI had no choice. Couldnt find the hostel I wanted but booked into another. I missed the bank by 10 minuts so, bought some veggies and cooked at the posada. So tired after not sleeping most of the last night. I did walk around MErida for a short while to get my bearings. It is quite a nice place. Lots of nice colourful shops and houses. Nothing fantastic but nice enough.
17April.
I went to the bank about 10.30. Oh my god the queues. Well I got my ticket to join the queue but it was the wrong one but I got lucky and the guy spoke English However this was after I had spent about 6 minmuts trying my crap spanish on him that I had practiced all last night and on the bus journey. He understood most but missed the significant bit about the card working in a bank. He tought it didnt work at all as I said it didnt work in ATMS. Anyway I spent 3 hours in the bank. I was starving and I hadnt eaten much in the past 3 days so my sugar levels were crashing big time. I foudn a curly wurly left over from christmas in my rucksack. My saviour. It was so nice. When I got to the till finally after waiting until 1.45, I was told the date was wrong and the card didnt work. I was gobsmacked. I felt like screaming and crying all at the same time. I came out of the bank and the tears appeared for a few seconds but I managed to hold them back. I went on the internet to get he no for my other credit card but when I tried to call with my mobiel it wouldnt work. I called Mastercard and told them I was furious. Not only did the card expire this month when I had asked for it to expire in Dec but it didnt work. They put me through to John lewis.
Well the card situation got worse. Apparently they put the wrong details on the card, which is why it doesnt work. I actually cried on the fone for a few minutes and lost it. The lady jsut kept apologising. I just couldnt speak with sheer incredulty. I just couldnt beleive it. I just couldnt believe. I have been broken by a credit card. Most men who have hurt me havent even had that bad an effect on me. It has been such a pain for the last nearly 3 wks. I cant believe they fk up so much. unreal. why???? It is not rocket science. This happens all the time. Thank god I still have some dollars or I would be so much worse. I am going to have to compose a real stinker of a letter to them. So now I have to wait here at least 4 days for them to sort it. I just cant beleive it. WHY OH WHY????????? I dont want to go home yet. butif this keeps up I am going to have to. or fly to Mexico and run Dans hotel that he has asked me to manage. A pretty coold idea and one I am seriously contemplating for a while. It is something I have always wanted to do and to actually have the opportuinity handed to me might be just what I need. Anyway, have to find somewhere to change my dollars so I can try to ring this stupid credit card company again. oh woe. The sad things is I was jsut changing my opinion on Venezuela and beginning to like it here but the card situation is sooooo ruining everything. But my Spanish is improving... er very very slowly
Well I said goodbye to the vass team, what was there of them. I wen tback to the posada and tried to pay half in dollars and half in bolivar. Then had an arugment as they told me that it was now 35 or 40dollars per night not the 25 the 3 of them had told me. Try telling this to 2 people who dont speak english in pidgin spanish. I walked away when they couldnt get the owner who speaks englisn on the fone. Being the stubborn cow I am, I just went changed my dollars to bolivar so they dont make even more out of me by gettting a better exchange rate on the dollar. When I gave the bolivar one of the ladies apologised, the other was still screaming quarenta which is 40. I thougth f u. not a effing hope. I got a taxi and went to the ferry. He wasnt going to let me on but I gave a look of utmost dismay, he relented. He may have been joking but I was in no mood. I hate arguments. I was so glad to be leaving. It was nice on the ferry. This older gent took out this instrument like a guitar but with 4 strings and started singing and playing. It was really beautiful Then this lovely Venezulan chap started talking to me as he had studied in England and wanted to practice his english. He told me I could get the bus to Merida, thereby avoiding Caracas. So when I landed, I got a taxi to the bus station. Well that was interesting. My Spanish is improving as had a chat with this chap. Although a lot of it centered around my age and his disbelief at my age and why I wasnt married and by the way what was I doing for dinner. I chose to pretend not to understand that, although his tapping of my knee didnt stop. Anyway, I bought my ticket for Merida but it leaves tomorrow.
16April. I found the bank that buggered my cards, so went inside to see if I coudl use my emergency card. Not a hope the queus were a mile long so had to leave with no cash. The hotel took most of the rest of my cash. So after some small nibbles, I had 10 bolivar left.
At lunch on the bus, I bought some cake and water. Teh cake was the cheapest there and just about edible. but at least it was food. I thougth the bus was 7 hours but turns out it was 14. At about 10pm got kicked off the bus and put on another for the next 8hrs I froze. I had forgotten to take my sarong and jacket. The aircon was sooooo cold. I actually had to put my two pices of handluggage over me and try to sleep like that. I still have a sore neck. When I got to the bus station, I waited until about 7am before going to the center, as I figured nothing would be open. This nice man spoke to me in English and pointed me to the bus to town but it cost more than I had. Only 7 bolivar but I only had 5. Arrrrghhh So then I foudn a taxi that agreed to take me to somewhere to change. Of course it was closed but then this man agreed to change my 20 dollar bill of course at a crap rate butI had no choice. Couldnt find the hostel I wanted but booked into another. I missed the bank by 10 minuts so, bought some veggies and cooked at the posada. So tired after not sleeping most of the last night. I did walk around MErida for a short while to get my bearings. It is quite a nice place. Lots of nice colourful shops and houses. Nothing fantastic but nice enough.
17April.
I went to the bank about 10.30. Oh my god the queues. Well I got my ticket to join the queue but it was the wrong one but I got lucky and the guy spoke English However this was after I had spent about 6 minmuts trying my crap spanish on him that I had practiced all last night and on the bus journey. He understood most but missed the significant bit about the card working in a bank. He tought it didnt work at all as I said it didnt work in ATMS. Anyway I spent 3 hours in the bank. I was starving and I hadnt eaten much in the past 3 days so my sugar levels were crashing big time. I foudn a curly wurly left over from christmas in my rucksack. My saviour. It was so nice. When I got to the till finally after waiting until 1.45, I was told the date was wrong and the card didnt work. I was gobsmacked. I felt like screaming and crying all at the same time. I came out of the bank and the tears appeared for a few seconds but I managed to hold them back. I went on the internet to get he no for my other credit card but when I tried to call with my mobiel it wouldnt work. I called Mastercard and told them I was furious. Not only did the card expire this month when I had asked for it to expire in Dec but it didnt work. They put me through to John lewis.
Well the card situation got worse. Apparently they put the wrong details on the card, which is why it doesnt work. I actually cried on the fone for a few minutes and lost it. The lady jsut kept apologising. I just couldnt speak with sheer incredulty. I just couldnt beleive it. I just couldnt believe. I have been broken by a credit card. Most men who have hurt me havent even had that bad an effect on me. It has been such a pain for the last nearly 3 wks. I cant believe they fk up so much. unreal. why???? It is not rocket science. This happens all the time. Thank god I still have some dollars or I would be so much worse. I am going to have to compose a real stinker of a letter to them. So now I have to wait here at least 4 days for them to sort it. I just cant beleive it. WHY OH WHY????????? I dont want to go home yet. butif this keeps up I am going to have to. or fly to Mexico and run Dans hotel that he has asked me to manage. A pretty coold idea and one I am seriously contemplating for a while. It is something I have always wanted to do and to actually have the opportuinity handed to me might be just what I need. Anyway, have to find somewhere to change my dollars so I can try to ring this stupid credit card company again. oh woe. The sad things is I was jsut changing my opinion on Venezuela and beginning to like it here but the card situation is sooooo ruining everything. But my Spanish is improving... er very very slowly
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Escaping Margarita
15April
Finally, my emergency card came a few minutes ago. Lucky I was at the hotel. I can now leave Margarita. I really liked my time here but I just want to get on with travelling now. Back to my back packing. I miss it. Am aiming to get the 12noon ferry to Porta La Cruz, then the bus to Caracas. Maybe then the bus to Colombia. Depends...
Finally, my emergency card came a few minutes ago. Lucky I was at the hotel. I can now leave Margarita. I really liked my time here but I just want to get on with travelling now. Back to my back packing. I miss it. Am aiming to get the 12noon ferry to Porta La Cruz, then the bus to Caracas. Maybe then the bus to Colombia. Depends...
Monday, April 14, 2008
Still in Venezuela and trying to escape.
Well a little bit about my classmates:
Last week I had Jessica, Nigel and Louis. Louis is 8 and can windsurf better than all of us and even offers us advice. Sometimes you just want to hate him but you cant because he is a really sweet kid. Jessica has been 2 weeks here. It has been her first attempt at learning windsurfing. She is trying it out as she has been going with Dan for the last 6 months and he is a windsurf addict so she thought might as well join in or have to sit on the beach for the restof my life whipe he is having a ball. Bless her but she picked probably the worst 2 weeks here. The wind has been howling and the waves are nearly big enough to surf on. Nigel, who is a year old than I but shares the same birthday, stopped windsurfing about 15 years ago when he first tried to use a harness and had a near death experiece. I so empathised. But his 2 best friends, the parents of little Louis above pursuaded him to try again. I hate him too. He has got the beach start before me and started on a lighter board before me. But I will catchup... I just have to sneak in an extra weeks windsurfing... That should do the trick.
Patricia and I started to hang out with this couple called Dave and Sarah. So we have had dinner with them a few nights. They are the loveliest couple, really interesting and they make dinner times fly by. They have been together nearly 18 years and still look like they only met last year and are very much in love but in a cool not in your face way. Richard and Tara then came along too. Again a very lovely couple, 5 years together but so happy with each other. Richard keeps us amused. He is in the navy and plays rugby, so is just this big lad but in a gentle way. Enough said. He pulls these faces and when he tells a story, he is just so funny. Tara banters, raises her eyebrows and is a good compliment to him. They brought a few others from their class (Carolyn and Darren and 2 others...), so the group mushroomed to 10. We all swapped sick stories as we have all had either vomiting, diarhoea or both. AT LEAST ONCE...
Friday 11April
The days have flown by.
This morning the wind was no so good, so these 2 Polish chaps (Tom a Polish windsurf pro here in Margarita for a few months practicing and his friend Adam) decided that plan B was required so went out and bought 2 bottles of rum and some coke and ice. At 9l30 in the morning, everone declined their offers of a drink. At 3pm they were pleasantly and funnily drink. They then went to bed and we didnt see them again until Saturday. They peaked too soon and missed all of the fun.
Dominic and Detta, invited everyone again to their Penthouse suite for drinks. I drank only a little but then we all went to the bbq at Gabys. The food was great and we all tucked into the rum and coke. I normally dont drink this but as I had a few orange liquers earlier, I took some. Dinner was fun. HAd a laugh with some and deep discussions with others. I am so prone to those. Met this guy called Tim, who has only one arm but can beat the pance off most of the 2 armed guys on the pool table. He is part Welsh and English but came here 2 years ago to meet a friend and just stayed. He loves it here and doesnt want to leave. Later, Nigel and I contined the chat we had started last week about how he goes with barbie dolls and then wonders why the relationship ends after a weekend, when he takes them on a sailing holiday in cramped conditions. I guess there was no where to put those Manolos (and no Esteban this has nothing to do with manolito). I think he said I was nice and easy going but then the rum and coke kicked in and the rest is rather a haze. But I had various chats with people. One of which was with Ollie, the rather cute manager of the windsurf centre. I remember how it started, as he had a bad year with lots of things happening in his personal life and then we got on to something else and I just went on my soapbox for apparently quite a few minutes. Charlie and Sarah were behind laughing themselves silly, as Ollie started to struggle to understand me and tried not to laugh at the others , as I got more animated and apparently I just got faster and my cork accent came out quite strongly and he couldnt follow anymore. Of course as I dont really drink coffee and never really drink fizzy drinks, I was completely hyper on the caffiene and the sugar and of course the alcohol. oops.
NO MORE RUM AND COKE! NO MORE RUM AND COKE! NO MORE RUM AND COKE! NO MORE RUM AND COKE! NO MORE RUM AND COKE! NO MORE RUM AND COKE!
Sat12April
Went to bed at 2 and woke up at 6am. I was still drunk. Good no hangover. I tried for 5 hours to go back to sleep but the caffiene was kicking in like crazy. Not a hope. My brain was going hell for leather on the thought machine. So about 11, I got up and got some food and chilled out with the others, suffering hangovers or waiting for the wind to pick up at the windsurf centre. Still no hangover... Great. I guess I drank so little alcohol over the last while, that a litte makes me drunk but drank too little for a hangover. Thank god.
For the first time really poor wind. But I eventually went out and had a really good day. I have sorted my beach starts. And my tacking has much improved. Maybe some more rum and coke....
We all went to dinner and then came back to the centre for the big party, Ollie had prepared and invited most of the village to a party for Bubble who is leaving tomorrow and one of the other girls whose birthday was today. There were quite a few people. Mostly instructors and a few guests, and some of the locals too. There were also a few weirdos. Patricia had been talking to one of the Venezuelan instructors and this guy just comes up and says he wants to talk to her. She just said well I am talking to someone already. Then he came back again and just hovered and tried again.
Well then this little guy about 5 inches smaller than I, starts to hover near me and tries to get eye contact. He just stood really close, I just discreetly ignored it and focused more on those in front of me. But I watched him and he did it to all the girls at the party. It was so funny to watch the girls exchange glances with each other, as they wondered who the hell was this weirdo. Anyway at one stage he came back and Patricia and I had been talking to Mel and one or 2 other Venezuelan girls. Mel is just a hoot. So she grabs this guy Tom (The Polish windsurf pro) as he was passing and places him directly between her and the weirdo. He sort of doesnt understand what is happening as he is a bit the worse for wear, having drunk a lot of rum and coke. dodgy stuff that rum and coke. But he is so sweet just goes along with it and Mel says you are such a lovely boy and he says yes I am a lovely boy then a few minutes he asks what am I again. I am a lovely boy. So he kept repeating I am a lovely boy. He is such a doll and kept coming back to be told it as he was so chuffed about it and Mel was just sooo funny. Mel then grabs Philippe (who happens to be a Canadian windsurf pro and a really nice chap too) and places him directly between her and the weirdo as well. and of course tells him he is a lovely boy. He caught on or was more corpos mentos and just joined in the fun. We all then went to Las Pirates, the local club. It was then that Charlie told me about me last night.
Bubble, had been given these mad sunglasses and a sandbucket that some of the French instructors had filled with beer and red bull. Later the bucket was replenished with rum and coke. Apparently it ran dry at one stage, and everyone just topped up the bucket wth what ever they were drinking, wine, beer, rum and coke.... At 5am, Charlie found Bubble in the middle of the road, still with his sandbucket, saying no no to this girl and Charlie asked what was he doing and he said he was waiting to be knocked down. So Charlie in his drunken wisdom took Bubble home.
Patricia and I had left at 2, as she had to finish packing before leaving at 7am to fly out.
Sunday 13, today was very subdued. I was wrecked tired after having 2 late nights in a row. I didnt bother windsurfing, as there was no wind for a lot of the day and anyway I wanted to hang out with those that were leaving for a while.
Later we had happy hour at 6 or so, at the windsurf centre and everyone had rum and coke. Except for Charlie and I. We both had had enough. Most of the others had actually gone home early the previous nights. Eveyone went to dinner and we all went home at about 9.30. but dinner was fun, as recounted the tales from the past few weeks and other escapades.
Monday 14April
Still here. I have been waiting since 9am and it is now 4pm. The emergency card has still not arrived.
Last week I had Jessica, Nigel and Louis. Louis is 8 and can windsurf better than all of us and even offers us advice. Sometimes you just want to hate him but you cant because he is a really sweet kid. Jessica has been 2 weeks here. It has been her first attempt at learning windsurfing. She is trying it out as she has been going with Dan for the last 6 months and he is a windsurf addict so she thought might as well join in or have to sit on the beach for the restof my life whipe he is having a ball. Bless her but she picked probably the worst 2 weeks here. The wind has been howling and the waves are nearly big enough to surf on. Nigel, who is a year old than I but shares the same birthday, stopped windsurfing about 15 years ago when he first tried to use a harness and had a near death experiece. I so empathised. But his 2 best friends, the parents of little Louis above pursuaded him to try again. I hate him too. He has got the beach start before me and started on a lighter board before me. But I will catchup... I just have to sneak in an extra weeks windsurfing... That should do the trick.
Patricia and I started to hang out with this couple called Dave and Sarah. So we have had dinner with them a few nights. They are the loveliest couple, really interesting and they make dinner times fly by. They have been together nearly 18 years and still look like they only met last year and are very much in love but in a cool not in your face way. Richard and Tara then came along too. Again a very lovely couple, 5 years together but so happy with each other. Richard keeps us amused. He is in the navy and plays rugby, so is just this big lad but in a gentle way. Enough said. He pulls these faces and when he tells a story, he is just so funny. Tara banters, raises her eyebrows and is a good compliment to him. They brought a few others from their class (Carolyn and Darren and 2 others...), so the group mushroomed to 10. We all swapped sick stories as we have all had either vomiting, diarhoea or both. AT LEAST ONCE...
Friday 11April
The days have flown by.
This morning the wind was no so good, so these 2 Polish chaps (Tom a Polish windsurf pro here in Margarita for a few months practicing and his friend Adam) decided that plan B was required so went out and bought 2 bottles of rum and some coke and ice. At 9l30 in the morning, everone declined their offers of a drink. At 3pm they were pleasantly and funnily drink. They then went to bed and we didnt see them again until Saturday. They peaked too soon and missed all of the fun.
Dominic and Detta, invited everyone again to their Penthouse suite for drinks. I drank only a little but then we all went to the bbq at Gabys. The food was great and we all tucked into the rum and coke. I normally dont drink this but as I had a few orange liquers earlier, I took some. Dinner was fun. HAd a laugh with some and deep discussions with others. I am so prone to those. Met this guy called Tim, who has only one arm but can beat the pance off most of the 2 armed guys on the pool table. He is part Welsh and English but came here 2 years ago to meet a friend and just stayed. He loves it here and doesnt want to leave. Later, Nigel and I contined the chat we had started last week about how he goes with barbie dolls and then wonders why the relationship ends after a weekend, when he takes them on a sailing holiday in cramped conditions. I guess there was no where to put those Manolos (and no Esteban this has nothing to do with manolito). I think he said I was nice and easy going but then the rum and coke kicked in and the rest is rather a haze. But I had various chats with people. One of which was with Ollie, the rather cute manager of the windsurf centre. I remember how it started, as he had a bad year with lots of things happening in his personal life and then we got on to something else and I just went on my soapbox for apparently quite a few minutes. Charlie and Sarah were behind laughing themselves silly, as Ollie started to struggle to understand me and tried not to laugh at the others , as I got more animated and apparently I just got faster and my cork accent came out quite strongly and he couldnt follow anymore. Of course as I dont really drink coffee and never really drink fizzy drinks, I was completely hyper on the caffiene and the sugar and of course the alcohol. oops.
NO MORE RUM AND COKE! NO MORE RUM AND COKE! NO MORE RUM AND COKE! NO MORE RUM AND COKE! NO MORE RUM AND COKE! NO MORE RUM AND COKE!
Sat12April
Went to bed at 2 and woke up at 6am. I was still drunk. Good no hangover. I tried for 5 hours to go back to sleep but the caffiene was kicking in like crazy. Not a hope. My brain was going hell for leather on the thought machine. So about 11, I got up and got some food and chilled out with the others, suffering hangovers or waiting for the wind to pick up at the windsurf centre. Still no hangover... Great. I guess I drank so little alcohol over the last while, that a litte makes me drunk but drank too little for a hangover. Thank god.
For the first time really poor wind. But I eventually went out and had a really good day. I have sorted my beach starts. And my tacking has much improved. Maybe some more rum and coke....
We all went to dinner and then came back to the centre for the big party, Ollie had prepared and invited most of the village to a party for Bubble who is leaving tomorrow and one of the other girls whose birthday was today. There were quite a few people. Mostly instructors and a few guests, and some of the locals too. There were also a few weirdos. Patricia had been talking to one of the Venezuelan instructors and this guy just comes up and says he wants to talk to her. She just said well I am talking to someone already. Then he came back again and just hovered and tried again.
Well then this little guy about 5 inches smaller than I, starts to hover near me and tries to get eye contact. He just stood really close, I just discreetly ignored it and focused more on those in front of me. But I watched him and he did it to all the girls at the party. It was so funny to watch the girls exchange glances with each other, as they wondered who the hell was this weirdo. Anyway at one stage he came back and Patricia and I had been talking to Mel and one or 2 other Venezuelan girls. Mel is just a hoot. So she grabs this guy Tom (The Polish windsurf pro) as he was passing and places him directly between her and the weirdo. He sort of doesnt understand what is happening as he is a bit the worse for wear, having drunk a lot of rum and coke. dodgy stuff that rum and coke. But he is so sweet just goes along with it and Mel says you are such a lovely boy and he says yes I am a lovely boy then a few minutes he asks what am I again. I am a lovely boy. So he kept repeating I am a lovely boy. He is such a doll and kept coming back to be told it as he was so chuffed about it and Mel was just sooo funny. Mel then grabs Philippe (who happens to be a Canadian windsurf pro and a really nice chap too) and places him directly between her and the weirdo as well. and of course tells him he is a lovely boy. He caught on or was more corpos mentos and just joined in the fun. We all then went to Las Pirates, the local club. It was then that Charlie told me about me last night.
Bubble, had been given these mad sunglasses and a sandbucket that some of the French instructors had filled with beer and red bull. Later the bucket was replenished with rum and coke. Apparently it ran dry at one stage, and everyone just topped up the bucket wth what ever they were drinking, wine, beer, rum and coke.... At 5am, Charlie found Bubble in the middle of the road, still with his sandbucket, saying no no to this girl and Charlie asked what was he doing and he said he was waiting to be knocked down. So Charlie in his drunken wisdom took Bubble home.
Patricia and I had left at 2, as she had to finish packing before leaving at 7am to fly out.
Sunday 13, today was very subdued. I was wrecked tired after having 2 late nights in a row. I didnt bother windsurfing, as there was no wind for a lot of the day and anyway I wanted to hang out with those that were leaving for a while.
Later we had happy hour at 6 or so, at the windsurf centre and everyone had rum and coke. Except for Charlie and I. We both had had enough. Most of the others had actually gone home early the previous nights. Eveyone went to dinner and we all went home at about 9.30. but dinner was fun, as recounted the tales from the past few weeks and other escapades.
Monday 14April
Still here. I have been waiting since 9am and it is now 4pm. The emergency card has still not arrived.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Dreams and nightmares in Venezuela
4April to 10 April
Playa El Yaque, Isla Margarita, Venezuela
Just in venezuela at the mo on Isla Margarita windsurfing. The company (Club Vass) is great. My first day was spent realising that I was back to beginners level AGAIN for the 3rd time. That really was a downer. I thought I would not be that bad as I had got on well the last time I went but it was about 3 years ago. So I guess no surprise there. Of course the weather decided that it was going to really blow and then it introduced the added obstacle of waves rather big ones. Unbelievable. What was worse was the wind and the waves got worse for pretty much the first week. It is only in the last 2 days that the waves have gone and the wind is not howling a gale. I really felt like quitting after the first few days but it got a little better. By Friday though, Patricia and I were ready to go to the end of week meal which was fajitas. The meal was great and the staff were all there. The staff, Patricia, myself and a few of the others guests went on to the local Night club (Pirates) if you could call it that. It was a hoot as got to see the locals dancing this type of dance which seems a cross between salsa and samba but basically the girl keeps dancing away for them the guy and he keeps following her. Sort of typical of latin men and women around here. I laughed as it reminded of me of the men chasing us girls in Jeri. ha ha. Patricia and I were soooo happy that we got to stay out til about 2am. We had done well and had actually gone out for a night.
Well there was no stopping us now. We got invited to drinks in The penthouse by this couple and their 3 kids (Deeta, Dominic and Monty, Louis and Darcy). They are a pretty cool family. And the 2 boys are pretty amazing windsurfers and they are only 8 and 10. I hate them. Not really they are cool. Everyone got a bit tipsy and Amy and John invited it so a leaving dinner of some of their friends. So we went off had a laugh and ended up in the main bar in town, Gabys. Monty was there with his dad and although Patricia and I were knackered we were adamant we were not leaving before a 10 year old So we waited until he went home about about 1.30...
Sunday we went to the Happy hour drinks with Club Vass then dined and then bed. God it is so not like Vassiliki. But at least we have socialised 2 nights this week.
This week has been great, for windsurfing that is. Things are clicking into place. The first week also Patricia and I were wrecked. I had spent about 4 days travelling with one nights stop in Manaus and had very little sleep. Patricia had just flown in from Dublin and was jet lagged. So spent the first few nights going to bed at around 10 or so. Then Patricia got some bug and was vomiting for hours. I had left her in the from for a few hours and came back to see if she wanted to go to dinner after a rest but she was still vomiting. I lay down on the bed and just couldn't drag myself out of it and missed dinner. I couldn't figure out why I was so tired until about 5.30 am when the diarrhoea started. Ah great. Just what I needed. I got to class at 9.30 and actually had the best morning but when I went for lunch I couldn't even wait to pay for it as the cramps started. So I spent the day and evening in bed. Over those days I realised my cards had been blocked. ALL THREE OF THEM. So much for having a security blanket of safety in numbers. I rang the various banks all 3 of them. 2 were released. The 3rd I have to get to cash machine to unlock. So I tried using one card seemed ok.
Then 08April.
I tried to pay for a restaurant bill as I had forgotten I had spent my money earlier in the day. It didn't work.
09April. I tried to check out of the hotel I was in and pay the bill. Ha no way. My 2 credit cards didn't work. I thought that maybe they had not been unblocked. So I rang again to find that 2 of my cards have been used to buy about 4000 pounds worth of goods. A lot in Golden shoes. So now had to cancel these. I then tried to get them delivered here as emergency cards. Oh the sheer joy of that. Egg cards don't give emergency cards. Be warned. So This will be delivered to the UK. The Irish card will deliver but only via the bank it was issued form so not going to happen before I leave here.
The 3rd. Ah John Lewis. My favourite company. The people were nice in the UK, then I had to ring Mastercard. These are in the US. Well the line was disconnected 3 times then I had to go through all the security questions over and over again then some idiot started hammering while I was trying to listen. I was then informed that I would not be able to use the card on the internet or in ATMS and that to get cash I would have to go inside a bank and sign for it. Which means I will be charged even more. They then had to ring John Lewis for approval. Then one of them then told me that I would not be able to use the card for 7 days.
I am rarely pushed to tears but I swear I was nearly ready to ball my eyes out. The sheer frustration and idiocy of it all. Un effing believable. Excuse my language. But you are lucky I am writing this today. I was soo peed off yesterday that I found it really hard to shake it off and only raised my mood slightly. I then got to the door of my new Posada. Well did the key work, oh god no I wanted to scream. I felt I was in Jeri again with Estebans faulty locks that often were really difficult to use and lucky with mine I had a knife that I could use without having to ask Esteban for help but others were not so lucky but he was always there so not an issue. Here there was no Esteban to call and NO ONE was answering the door. But after about 20 minutes of sheer exasperation, he owner turned up. God the relief. But at least I have a really good hot shower and a lovely room.
Well after the time I have had in Venezuela with cards etc. I decided I am going to take the bus to Caracas get the first taxi to the airport and the first plane out of this effing country. But now I know why I was so edgy and wary about coming here and why it took so long to leave Jeri. I just really didn't want to come to Venezuela even though I did. IT was really weird. I had a really bad feeling about Venezuela and I couldn't figure out why but now I do. I always get this feeling when something bad is going to happen. I don't have this feeling about anywhere else. Bizarre! So I hope no more bad things will happen.
It would appear that the machine I used on day one in Venezuela was a fake and they have been using my cards since. Anyway I had another credit card in my purse that I never used and could not remember if I had activated it or onto. Well I paid this bar bill and the card worked so......fingers crossed. I think I found my pin too. Please please let it work.
April 10. First of all Happy Birthday to Collette. Hope its a good one girl.
Well Today was not in a good mood, was in a really crap mood. Windsurfing started off BAD. I just couldn't do any beach starts. I thought here we goo but Amy my sooo excellent teacher came to the rescue and they improved and I got into a harness a few times and actually had the best day I have had. I think I may have even been planing. Whey hey. Well I got really fast anyway.
I had to ring Mastercard again. They didn't sort emergency cash out and John lewis had the effing audacity to refuse my card at first. But it will come but not the 11th or 12 but the 14th Ah great. Fan effing tastic.
Well that's the news for the last week or 2. The good thing though is, at least it is nice here in El Yaque.
Playa El Yaque, Isla Margarita, Venezuela
Just in venezuela at the mo on Isla Margarita windsurfing. The company (Club Vass) is great. My first day was spent realising that I was back to beginners level AGAIN for the 3rd time. That really was a downer. I thought I would not be that bad as I had got on well the last time I went but it was about 3 years ago. So I guess no surprise there. Of course the weather decided that it was going to really blow and then it introduced the added obstacle of waves rather big ones. Unbelievable. What was worse was the wind and the waves got worse for pretty much the first week. It is only in the last 2 days that the waves have gone and the wind is not howling a gale. I really felt like quitting after the first few days but it got a little better. By Friday though, Patricia and I were ready to go to the end of week meal which was fajitas. The meal was great and the staff were all there. The staff, Patricia, myself and a few of the others guests went on to the local Night club (Pirates) if you could call it that. It was a hoot as got to see the locals dancing this type of dance which seems a cross between salsa and samba but basically the girl keeps dancing away for them the guy and he keeps following her. Sort of typical of latin men and women around here. I laughed as it reminded of me of the men chasing us girls in Jeri. ha ha. Patricia and I were soooo happy that we got to stay out til about 2am. We had done well and had actually gone out for a night.
Well there was no stopping us now. We got invited to drinks in The penthouse by this couple and their 3 kids (Deeta, Dominic and Monty, Louis and Darcy). They are a pretty cool family. And the 2 boys are pretty amazing windsurfers and they are only 8 and 10. I hate them. Not really they are cool. Everyone got a bit tipsy and Amy and John invited it so a leaving dinner of some of their friends. So we went off had a laugh and ended up in the main bar in town, Gabys. Monty was there with his dad and although Patricia and I were knackered we were adamant we were not leaving before a 10 year old So we waited until he went home about about 1.30...
Sunday we went to the Happy hour drinks with Club Vass then dined and then bed. God it is so not like Vassiliki. But at least we have socialised 2 nights this week.
This week has been great, for windsurfing that is. Things are clicking into place. The first week also Patricia and I were wrecked. I had spent about 4 days travelling with one nights stop in Manaus and had very little sleep. Patricia had just flown in from Dublin and was jet lagged. So spent the first few nights going to bed at around 10 or so. Then Patricia got some bug and was vomiting for hours. I had left her in the from for a few hours and came back to see if she wanted to go to dinner after a rest but she was still vomiting. I lay down on the bed and just couldn't drag myself out of it and missed dinner. I couldn't figure out why I was so tired until about 5.30 am when the diarrhoea started. Ah great. Just what I needed. I got to class at 9.30 and actually had the best morning but when I went for lunch I couldn't even wait to pay for it as the cramps started. So I spent the day and evening in bed. Over those days I realised my cards had been blocked. ALL THREE OF THEM. So much for having a security blanket of safety in numbers. I rang the various banks all 3 of them. 2 were released. The 3rd I have to get to cash machine to unlock. So I tried using one card seemed ok.
Then 08April.
I tried to pay for a restaurant bill as I had forgotten I had spent my money earlier in the day. It didn't work.
09April. I tried to check out of the hotel I was in and pay the bill. Ha no way. My 2 credit cards didn't work. I thought that maybe they had not been unblocked. So I rang again to find that 2 of my cards have been used to buy about 4000 pounds worth of goods. A lot in Golden shoes. So now had to cancel these. I then tried to get them delivered here as emergency cards. Oh the sheer joy of that. Egg cards don't give emergency cards. Be warned. So This will be delivered to the UK. The Irish card will deliver but only via the bank it was issued form so not going to happen before I leave here.
The 3rd. Ah John Lewis. My favourite company. The people were nice in the UK, then I had to ring Mastercard. These are in the US. Well the line was disconnected 3 times then I had to go through all the security questions over and over again then some idiot started hammering while I was trying to listen. I was then informed that I would not be able to use the card on the internet or in ATMS and that to get cash I would have to go inside a bank and sign for it. Which means I will be charged even more. They then had to ring John Lewis for approval. Then one of them then told me that I would not be able to use the card for 7 days.
I am rarely pushed to tears but I swear I was nearly ready to ball my eyes out. The sheer frustration and idiocy of it all. Un effing believable. Excuse my language. But you are lucky I am writing this today. I was soo peed off yesterday that I found it really hard to shake it off and only raised my mood slightly. I then got to the door of my new Posada. Well did the key work, oh god no I wanted to scream. I felt I was in Jeri again with Estebans faulty locks that often were really difficult to use and lucky with mine I had a knife that I could use without having to ask Esteban for help but others were not so lucky but he was always there so not an issue. Here there was no Esteban to call and NO ONE was answering the door. But after about 20 minutes of sheer exasperation, he owner turned up. God the relief. But at least I have a really good hot shower and a lovely room.
Well after the time I have had in Venezuela with cards etc. I decided I am going to take the bus to Caracas get the first taxi to the airport and the first plane out of this effing country. But now I know why I was so edgy and wary about coming here and why it took so long to leave Jeri. I just really didn't want to come to Venezuela even though I did. IT was really weird. I had a really bad feeling about Venezuela and I couldn't figure out why but now I do. I always get this feeling when something bad is going to happen. I don't have this feeling about anywhere else. Bizarre! So I hope no more bad things will happen.
It would appear that the machine I used on day one in Venezuela was a fake and they have been using my cards since. Anyway I had another credit card in my purse that I never used and could not remember if I had activated it or onto. Well I paid this bar bill and the card worked so......fingers crossed. I think I found my pin too. Please please let it work.
April 10. First of all Happy Birthday to Collette. Hope its a good one girl.
Well Today was not in a good mood, was in a really crap mood. Windsurfing started off BAD. I just couldn't do any beach starts. I thought here we goo but Amy my sooo excellent teacher came to the rescue and they improved and I got into a harness a few times and actually had the best day I have had. I think I may have even been planing. Whey hey. Well I got really fast anyway.
I had to ring Mastercard again. They didn't sort emergency cash out and John lewis had the effing audacity to refuse my card at first. But it will come but not the 11th or 12 but the 14th Ah great. Fan effing tastic.
Well that's the news for the last week or 2. The good thing though is, at least it is nice here in El Yaque.
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Forteleze, Manaus and NOW Margarita Venezuela
26March
I got to Forteleze about 4.30 and to the airport about 5. by 6am I was queuing to board my flight to Manaus. now that was quick. I arrived in Manaus and was trying to decide what to do so sat down to have a juice. then this guy came up and asked for change but I didn't have any. He then passed again and we started to chat. His name is Max and he was reared in the jungle. He worked his way around different hotels and became a guide. He now owned his own company that organised tours of the Amazon and even had a lodge in the jungle. I told him I was not doing a tour now but would on my return to Brazil and took his details. He was whiling away his time waiting for 2 Americans a mother and a daughter.
The mother had been on his tours several time as she brought groups over and now her daughter was going to work with Max and teach the local children and the staff at Max´s lodge for 2 months. He said he was delivering them to a hotel and could drop me off to a place he knew. So I thought ok lets see his if this is for real. It was and the 2 Americans were delightful. We had a bit of a chat in Max´s car and Max invited me to come along with them to dinner.
The plan was to meet at 6 so I sat in reception. At first I met these 2 brazilians one of which was now living in Switzerland but had lived in London. He had worked with a tobacco company but it didn't sit well with him. He had made some money and now was setting up his own company but for something good and that would help people as well as be a business. He had learned to make soap etc from natural products and was now teaching some ladies in the north of brazil how to do the same. He had sought out a particular course which only used natural products and no chemicals. He was very keen to insure his products were pure. It was an interesting concept and very now. Then this American chap, Daniel came along. I ended up chatting to him for over an hour as Max didn't arrive til 8pm. Daniel and I chatted about Zeitgeist and he was telling me about the fact that congress had a private session a few weeks ago only the 4th one in a few hundred years. they were not allowed to talk about it to their public but some felt this was not appropriate and had leaked what was said. it was not good. complete economic collaps of the US economy is forcast in 2008 then civil war because of this and othe things in 2009. if you are interested then... http://www.silverseek.com/quotes/ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23656329/ http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aS87YcPKuDDE&refer=worldwide He now lives in mexico for the last 10 months and refuses to go back to the states since the customs stopped him the last time he entered the country and kept him for hours just because he was travelling a lot. They found something on him but he has no idea what and they would not tell him. The same happened a friend of his. He said that the US is not just cracking down on terrorists, they are cracking down on all dissidents or anyone that might offer intelligent criticism. Very dangerous situation there.
Anyway Max then arrived so I joined Vanetta (the mom) and Brette (the daughter), Max and Vanettas brazilian Boyfriend for dinner. We went to the floating international port first for drinks. Then we headed to Porto Negre I think, for dinner. That was so lovely. i had the house/regional speciality, duck in ticipuri or something like that anyway it was stewed duck legs in this soup that was kind of tangy. It was really lovely and it had been sooooo long since I had my fave meat duck. They regaled me of tales of previous Amazon trips they had taken together. And Vanetta knew all of Max´s family etc. Really sweet people. So I think when I come back I will go on Max´s tour. Will see but it sounded marvellous. I think Vanetta had a hand in getting or helping Max with his company too. She is an amazing lady.
27th March
I met Daniel again and he said he knew of a great acai place, so we went for lunch. We then went for a tour of the Teatro Amazonas. This is just this amazing theatre. Back in the Rubber boom days, there was a lot of money in Manaus so it was put into some amazing buildings and culture. Entering the theatre was like stepping back in time. It has been beautifully restored. There is marble from Italy and porcelain from England as well as many fine murals painted by artists of the period. Margot Fonteyn did her final ballet performance of her career in this theatre and left her ballet shows for posterity. All the chairs in the auditorium are the original chairs but have been reupholstered in red velvet. The boxes have red velvet curtains. Daniel thought it might have been the theatre used in the film "Dangerous Liaisons". It did look like it had been. We had a lovely lady give us the grand tour and it really was worth it. She told us in olden days the gentleman went slightly ahead of the lady and the offered the tips of his fingers for her to hold as she descended the stairs. so Daniel and i had to reinact this. IT was funny. However, as a way of getting a guy to her a girl, the girl would often pretend to faint so she could fall into his arms. God how things have changed. I refrained from doing that.
I bought some stuff from a pharmacy for my leg. I put it on and now I have a big purple/violet stain on my leg. I dont know which was worse strawberry red or purple. Very attractive... I see people staring at it and it does start conversations...
I then went off to the bus station to see if I could get the bus to Porta de cruz, I had to rush a bit as it left at 6pm. I was on my way out of Brazil into Venezuela.
28March
The journey is supposed to be 32 hours, so it is going to be a long one.Well the border crossing was a piece of cake. The bus took us to Boa vistaand about 11am, I was at the border. I thought I would have problems with the Brazil side because when I came to Brazil, the customs man asked me how long I was staying and I said I had a flight for 13 March but I may stay less. Famous last words... He said something about 35 days and at the time I didn't think about it, as I had just missed my connecting flight to Rio and had queued for over 2 hours in customs and was wrecked tired. But as I stayed in Brazil 30+days after the possible allotted 35, I thought I might have problems or be charged a load of money for each day I went over. But nothing so it may mean that they had given me the 3 months or that because they were using a book not a computer at the border crossing, the problem was not flagged. Either way I sailed through. phew...At the Venezuelan side, my lonely planet mentions something about tourist cards but the lady at the hostel checked with someone and the bus company also said I only needed my passport and yellow fever vaccination card. Again it was a piece of cake. The only bummer was the cash machine didn't work so I had no Venezuelan Bolivar. So no food.
29March
I arrived about 5am in to Porto De Cruz after 34 hours, and had to be woken up as was out for the count. I stayed in the bus station for a few hours til dawn, then procured a taxi to the Port for the ferry. Well of course I had to get some money. That was a bit of a mare. I had to try 2 banks and only one my cards worked but I got some.
I got the 8am ferry and landed in Isla Margarita without any more issue. Got a taxi to the hotel where Patricia and I are to stay and booked in. I was a day early. I went to bed after dinner and a little walk around the town. IT is tiny and is just really a few hotels and restaurants all catering for windsurfers and kitesurfers. Was so tired, I went to bed early bliss.
30 March
I spent most of the day updating my blog. About 7 hours. Patricia arrived about 7.30 just as I was coming back to the hotel. perfect timing.
Patricia has been to several holidays with this company. This is only my third. Basically, there are 3 sites this company uses for windsurfing holidays. Vassiliki in Greece, where I have been twice and had many a mad night and some of the best holidays I have ever had. Often we have come back with sore stomachs and are never sure if it is all the windsurfing or from laughing so hard. We have had some stories...
Patricia is Spanish and lives in Dublin. She has been to all three of the sites. Dahab in Egypt, Vassiliki/Greece and now Margarita/Venezuela. It is funny when I talk to PAtricia, I think now she has a tiny bit more of an Irish accent than I do. She comes out with sayings or phrases that I have lost which is a shame. She knows more about Ireland now and what is happening there than I do. Bizarre eh...
We chatted, dined and went to bed early shattered.
31 March.
Isla Margarita is a quiet place (well where we are) much more chilled and less of a heart to the club than in Vass but its nice and small. We are in El yague beach. We had our first lesson today. Oh god I have forgotten how to windsurf. Although by the end of the day, some of it was coming back. However the wind here starts early in the morning not like Vass, which picks up in the afternoon but is mild in the morning. So the wind is hard on us. But I have a great instructor called Amy and the team here are pretty ok. It is good to be on a board again. We dined and went to bed by 11. Patricia is jet lagged and all the exercise is also tiring us out.
01April
Happy April fools. My god this must be the first year janet hasn´t tried to pull an april fools joke on me. whey hey...
My lesson started out badly. I couldn´t get the sail up, the gusty wind was rotten but I eventually got going. When I get going its great but tacking/turning, oh dear lets say it needs some work...
This afternoon was better and was really sailing nicely at times, so I decided to try a beach start. Bad move. I stepped on some sea urchin spines. Thank god it was dead but now have about 12 spines in my foot that I cant remove. I do seem to be rather disaster prone the last few weeks. What the hell is going on??????
I got to Forteleze about 4.30 and to the airport about 5. by 6am I was queuing to board my flight to Manaus. now that was quick. I arrived in Manaus and was trying to decide what to do so sat down to have a juice. then this guy came up and asked for change but I didn't have any. He then passed again and we started to chat. His name is Max and he was reared in the jungle. He worked his way around different hotels and became a guide. He now owned his own company that organised tours of the Amazon and even had a lodge in the jungle. I told him I was not doing a tour now but would on my return to Brazil and took his details. He was whiling away his time waiting for 2 Americans a mother and a daughter.
The mother had been on his tours several time as she brought groups over and now her daughter was going to work with Max and teach the local children and the staff at Max´s lodge for 2 months. He said he was delivering them to a hotel and could drop me off to a place he knew. So I thought ok lets see his if this is for real. It was and the 2 Americans were delightful. We had a bit of a chat in Max´s car and Max invited me to come along with them to dinner.
The plan was to meet at 6 so I sat in reception. At first I met these 2 brazilians one of which was now living in Switzerland but had lived in London. He had worked with a tobacco company but it didn't sit well with him. He had made some money and now was setting up his own company but for something good and that would help people as well as be a business. He had learned to make soap etc from natural products and was now teaching some ladies in the north of brazil how to do the same. He had sought out a particular course which only used natural products and no chemicals. He was very keen to insure his products were pure. It was an interesting concept and very now. Then this American chap, Daniel came along. I ended up chatting to him for over an hour as Max didn't arrive til 8pm. Daniel and I chatted about Zeitgeist and he was telling me about the fact that congress had a private session a few weeks ago only the 4th one in a few hundred years. they were not allowed to talk about it to their public but some felt this was not appropriate and had leaked what was said. it was not good. complete economic collaps of the US economy is forcast in 2008 then civil war because of this and othe things in 2009. if you are interested then... http://www.silverseek.com/quotes/ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23656329/ http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aS87YcPKuDDE&refer=worldwide He now lives in mexico for the last 10 months and refuses to go back to the states since the customs stopped him the last time he entered the country and kept him for hours just because he was travelling a lot. They found something on him but he has no idea what and they would not tell him. The same happened a friend of his. He said that the US is not just cracking down on terrorists, they are cracking down on all dissidents or anyone that might offer intelligent criticism. Very dangerous situation there.
Anyway Max then arrived so I joined Vanetta (the mom) and Brette (the daughter), Max and Vanettas brazilian Boyfriend for dinner. We went to the floating international port first for drinks. Then we headed to Porto Negre I think, for dinner. That was so lovely. i had the house/regional speciality, duck in ticipuri or something like that anyway it was stewed duck legs in this soup that was kind of tangy. It was really lovely and it had been sooooo long since I had my fave meat duck. They regaled me of tales of previous Amazon trips they had taken together. And Vanetta knew all of Max´s family etc. Really sweet people. So I think when I come back I will go on Max´s tour. Will see but it sounded marvellous. I think Vanetta had a hand in getting or helping Max with his company too. She is an amazing lady.
27th March
I met Daniel again and he said he knew of a great acai place, so we went for lunch. We then went for a tour of the Teatro Amazonas. This is just this amazing theatre. Back in the Rubber boom days, there was a lot of money in Manaus so it was put into some amazing buildings and culture. Entering the theatre was like stepping back in time. It has been beautifully restored. There is marble from Italy and porcelain from England as well as many fine murals painted by artists of the period. Margot Fonteyn did her final ballet performance of her career in this theatre and left her ballet shows for posterity. All the chairs in the auditorium are the original chairs but have been reupholstered in red velvet. The boxes have red velvet curtains. Daniel thought it might have been the theatre used in the film "Dangerous Liaisons". It did look like it had been. We had a lovely lady give us the grand tour and it really was worth it. She told us in olden days the gentleman went slightly ahead of the lady and the offered the tips of his fingers for her to hold as she descended the stairs. so Daniel and i had to reinact this. IT was funny. However, as a way of getting a guy to her a girl, the girl would often pretend to faint so she could fall into his arms. God how things have changed. I refrained from doing that.
I bought some stuff from a pharmacy for my leg. I put it on and now I have a big purple/violet stain on my leg. I dont know which was worse strawberry red or purple. Very attractive... I see people staring at it and it does start conversations...
I then went off to the bus station to see if I could get the bus to Porta de cruz, I had to rush a bit as it left at 6pm. I was on my way out of Brazil into Venezuela.
28March
The journey is supposed to be 32 hours, so it is going to be a long one.Well the border crossing was a piece of cake. The bus took us to Boa vistaand about 11am, I was at the border. I thought I would have problems with the Brazil side because when I came to Brazil, the customs man asked me how long I was staying and I said I had a flight for 13 March but I may stay less. Famous last words... He said something about 35 days and at the time I didn't think about it, as I had just missed my connecting flight to Rio and had queued for over 2 hours in customs and was wrecked tired. But as I stayed in Brazil 30+days after the possible allotted 35, I thought I might have problems or be charged a load of money for each day I went over. But nothing so it may mean that they had given me the 3 months or that because they were using a book not a computer at the border crossing, the problem was not flagged. Either way I sailed through. phew...At the Venezuelan side, my lonely planet mentions something about tourist cards but the lady at the hostel checked with someone and the bus company also said I only needed my passport and yellow fever vaccination card. Again it was a piece of cake. The only bummer was the cash machine didn't work so I had no Venezuelan Bolivar. So no food.
29March
I arrived about 5am in to Porto De Cruz after 34 hours, and had to be woken up as was out for the count. I stayed in the bus station for a few hours til dawn, then procured a taxi to the Port for the ferry. Well of course I had to get some money. That was a bit of a mare. I had to try 2 banks and only one my cards worked but I got some.
I got the 8am ferry and landed in Isla Margarita without any more issue. Got a taxi to the hotel where Patricia and I are to stay and booked in. I was a day early. I went to bed after dinner and a little walk around the town. IT is tiny and is just really a few hotels and restaurants all catering for windsurfers and kitesurfers. Was so tired, I went to bed early bliss.
30 March
I spent most of the day updating my blog. About 7 hours. Patricia arrived about 7.30 just as I was coming back to the hotel. perfect timing.
Patricia has been to several holidays with this company. This is only my third. Basically, there are 3 sites this company uses for windsurfing holidays. Vassiliki in Greece, where I have been twice and had many a mad night and some of the best holidays I have ever had. Often we have come back with sore stomachs and are never sure if it is all the windsurfing or from laughing so hard. We have had some stories...
Patricia is Spanish and lives in Dublin. She has been to all three of the sites. Dahab in Egypt, Vassiliki/Greece and now Margarita/Venezuela. It is funny when I talk to PAtricia, I think now she has a tiny bit more of an Irish accent than I do. She comes out with sayings or phrases that I have lost which is a shame. She knows more about Ireland now and what is happening there than I do. Bizarre eh...
We chatted, dined and went to bed early shattered.
31 March.
Isla Margarita is a quiet place (well where we are) much more chilled and less of a heart to the club than in Vass but its nice and small. We are in El yague beach. We had our first lesson today. Oh god I have forgotten how to windsurf. Although by the end of the day, some of it was coming back. However the wind here starts early in the morning not like Vass, which picks up in the afternoon but is mild in the morning. So the wind is hard on us. But I have a great instructor called Amy and the team here are pretty ok. It is good to be on a board again. We dined and went to bed by 11. Patricia is jet lagged and all the exercise is also tiring us out.
01April
Happy April fools. My god this must be the first year janet hasn´t tried to pull an april fools joke on me. whey hey...
My lesson started out badly. I couldn´t get the sail up, the gusty wind was rotten but I eventually got going. When I get going its great but tacking/turning, oh dear lets say it needs some work...
This afternoon was better and was really sailing nicely at times, so I decided to try a beach start. Bad move. I stepped on some sea urchin spines. Thank god it was dead but now have about 12 spines in my foot that I cant remove. I do seem to be rather disaster prone the last few weeks. What the hell is going on??????
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