Venezuela

May 8 - Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela

Been a week in Venezuela now and we are finally getting used to the crushing, oppressive heat that makes me feel constantly like I ran through a shower fully-dressed. It took us 30 hours to get here from Manaus via a frigid, long-distance, cramped seat, bus. For some bizarre reason, the bus drivers in Brazil like to think of their passengers as meat that needs to be refrigerated and therefore keep the thermostat set at or below freezing. It does not matter how many times you tell them that your nose is about to fall off, they just laugh and turn the air- conditioning up a few notches. The cold buses are great if you have come equipped for your bus journey with socks, many layers, and a blanket, like the rest of the Brazilians. But if you are like me, and know the temperature is about 95 outside, then you do not think you will need to layer up for a bus ride!!!!!!!!!!

We froze, basically, and then stepped into the heat and South American-ness of Venezuela. Yes, South American-ness, I just made up a word. But I did not realize how different Brazil actually is from the rest of the continent, and it is not just the difference in language; it is the difference in attitude and culture. Venezuela is more like Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador and we felt like we stepped back into that part of our trip. I was thrilled to finally be speaking Spanish again but discovered that I was now trying to combine Portuguese and Spanish and have come up with some bizarre mix that no one understands... lovely. The men here are unreal and we cannot walk down the street without a million comments and whistles even if we are dressed in our tatty backpacking clothes. Some just walk by and say what is probably the only English phrase they know, like Thank you, or Good night, or I love you-- pretty funny. Although in Lonely Planet it says that we should not be flattered at all the attention because Venezuelan men would whistle at their grandmother!! (Their grandmothers are probably former Miss Universe contestants. Venezuela has had more winners for Miss Universe and Miss World than any other country.)

The reason for the massive trek up to Venezuela was to see Angel Falls, the highest waterfall and one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the world. At 3,000 feet, it is twice the height of the Empire State Building and 16 times the height of Niagara Falls. Considering the magnitude of its importance, you would think the Venezuelan government would be doing everything in its power to commercialize the falls and make a profit. But, thankfully, that is not the case.

The falls are located in the middle of a national park, Canaima National Park, and there are no roads there. We had to fly a light aircraft, aka.. a four seater, to the center of the park and stay overnight there in hammocks under a thatch hut. There were nicer accommodations but they were ridiculously expensive and why pay more when you can sleep outside and hear waterfalls, birds chirping, and humongous bugs flying over your head like helicopters. Yes, huge.... two common ones were the beetle that has not adapted to concrete yet and when it rolls on to its hard-shelled back it cannot turn back over and therefore, overturned beetle carcasses are constantly underfoot in the bathroom and eating area. They were roughly the size of my palm. The other fun creature was the grasshopper/locust/flying mantis that was bigger than my hand and liked to fly in to my face without giving me any notice.

Besides these little pests, Venezuela was staggeringly beautiful, at least the parts that we traveled through. The park is all jungle with lagoons and massive table-top mountains rising out of the rainforest. From one of these mountains, called tepuis, tumbles Angel Falls, named not for the heavenly creatures, but for Jimmie Angel, an American pilot that "discovered" them. The first night we camped on a lagoon which had 7 waterfalls. The lagoon had wicked undercurrents and therefore swimming far from shore was not advisable. The water is the color of tea from the tannin, which is a chemical in the leaves of the plants and trees here. So, even at a depth of four feet, I could not see the bottom. The falls were beautiful and, according to the Indians here, are thought to be the entrance to a thousand years of hell - lovely. Obviously, the currents have taken people under that were never seen again. The surrounding jungle was lush with mango trees dropping fruit everywhere for the delighted walker to find. YUMMMM!!!! The dirt paths were red and the smell of tropical flowers constantly filled the air.