2 February: Staying with Romulo and his family was the re-vitalisation we needed, it allowed Tania to recover and despite the language barriers we had a couple of fun evenings. With a nice area to work outside Stuart also go to replace the vacuum pump that has been leaking oil for sometime now.
3 February: Had such a fantastic supper at an Arabian restuarant, it has been a long time since we got to taste foo with such a delightful variety of flavours and it wasn’t expensive. We enjoyed it so much have already decided we are going back for another meal before we leave.
4 February: It’s been an extremely busy weekend, between lots of Venezuelans stopping past to welcome us, to receiving a food pack yesterday afternoon from a random person who then brought us breakfast this morning, to being interviewed on camera by people from tourism and town councils and then also some socialising with fellow travelers.
5 February: Fredrika from Italy joined us tonight for our second visit to the Arabian restuarant. We had crossed paths in Argentina and Brazil but never actually chatted. She has been on the road a similar length of time as us and has pretty much covered the same route, except she is doing it solo – such a strong, independent and inspirational young lady!
7 February: A pousada owner had contacted us via instagram and offered us a free night at his spot high up above Lecheria which we had decided to accept seeing as it was Tania birthday, sadly when we got there the staff werent expecting us and coulnt get hold of the owner so we have returned to the boardwalk for another night. A little dissapointing but not the end of the world.
10 February: Venezuelan hospitality knows no bounds! We have been camped in the rear parking of an inn for the least 3 days (we could have had a room for free if we wanted), and then yesterday the owner still showered us with a fantastic breakfast (eggs, bacon- which we haven’t had in ages, fried plantain and fresh juice), then Stuart got a haircut (for free even after he tried to insist on paying), then we got taken on a walk down the beach (together with a solo Italian traveller – Fredrica) to another inn where after some insisting we at least got to pay for the beer, then back to our inn for an asado and lots of cocktails (all for free again). It was a long day of socialising but amazing!
11 February: Last night was possibly our worst night ever in South America with loud music from multiple cars, we were fortunate that it only really started up around 2am so got some sleep but then it went until 5am with each culprit seeming to turn up his louder to drown out the sound of the neighbouring one. There must be at least 50 tents in camp but not a single one got up and complained. Has left us dreading what the rest of carnival weekend is going to be like and whether we can survive it, unfortunately we don’t have too many options as next step is basically the city of Caracas and that won’t be any better – we think.
12 February: a better night last night and we have been fortunate to be surrounded by large but chilled families and the music in the entire camp died early last night. We have had to resort to being the most unfriendly we have ever been though to the many “lookyloos” who come round to gape at Mr Jones. After the fishbowl experience last week we cannot face giving tours of Mr Jones a couple of times an hour and so now pretend to not speak a word of Spanish and try our best to ignore people when they are showing the slightest interest in Mr J, we are not always successful and have spotted a few sympathetic glances from our neighbours when we fail…
13 February: Stuart feeling a little frustrated, we are camped close to a popular surf point and each day he has gone over to study it but it is rather intimidating both for entry from a very rocky point, then quite a thick wave which sweeps into a bay which has a tricky entrance and if the current catches you it can take you further along the coast to what is basically cliffs and rock towers which the wave crashes into. So, all in all rather intimidating but he has seen quite a few guys who can’t even duck dive properly go in and get out alive but of course being in a foreign land with no surfing buddy its natural to be overly cautious, even if frustrated.
14 February: Long drive around Caracas to Valencia with quite some stress as the coolant alarm started to squeal on the highway descent. We have come to Valencia to meet a guy that can hopefully make a new water tank to replace our 3rd 55l fuel tank. With no camping options around we eventually found a funky but tired hotel at 5pm that had secure parking for Mr J. Valentines dinner was cheese, salami and crackers with a beer eaten on the bed.
15 February: The morning didn’t start well when there was no water at the shower but the staff quickly sorted us out with a “love room” and a rather nice shower, then it was off to meet the water tank manufacturer. Sadly that didn’t pan out, as stainless steel prices are exorbitant in Venezuala which is a real pity as he would have done a great job. Spent the afternoon climbing over the ocean/cloud forest mountains before descending to Playa Cuyagua. It was a hard but spectacular drive (50km took 3 hours), so were tired when we arrived and the wind was honking coating Mr Jones in seaspray and beach sand. To add insult to injury, while trying to braai there was a short rainstorm. Needless to say, we are a bit grumpy and regretting coming down here.
20 February: Thankfully the weather and our moods improved and we have had a good few days on the beach. Most afternoons were a bit windy and Mr J is coated in sea salt but the beach has been great, the vibe better, the water even better and the surf pretty nice too. By far the clearest water Stuart has ever surfed in. The beach vendors sold some cool stuff, we bought a coconut liquor drink which is yummy, some very nice cacao biscuits and pure chocolate.
21 February: Leaving the beach we parked MR J in a river and gave him a good rinse off, then after the long drive out from the beach we spent the better part of the morning hunting for diesel in Maracay with no success. Shopping was also a failure as they have a crazy system in Venezuela of needing your local ID to process a transaction on the machine, so far, we have been able to use our ZA ID with one extra digit added but not in this store and their attitude was not friendly so eventually we told them to keep their goods which was perhaps not the best move as we needed some of the items. A failed stop for a car wash where we also encountered attitude and we decided Maracay is not for us. Only 100km away in Colonia Tovar there is supposedly diesel so we headed there, little did we know what a hectic road lay ahead – the last 30km climbed from 400m to 2300m often with slopes in excess of 40deg which neither Mr J or us liked. We would never have got here if it hadn’t been for low range. We need about 130l of diesel but could only get 50l so will probably hang around until Friday when there will supposedly be more.
22 February: It has been a refreshing change being away from the heat, humidity and salt spray of the ocean. Over the last couple of days we have washed Mr J tent fabric, the awning, his inside and generally regrouped a bit. Had a nice but hard walk into town to view the German traditional architecture followed by a traditional German sausage lunch with some craft beers. Nights are chilly so we spend them inside Mr J
23 February: Distance wise a short day but time wise a very long one. First we got a little lost getting out of Colonia Tovar and its not easy just to turn around when you are operating in low range despite being in town on tar, then sadly the diesel we thought would arrive on Friday hadn’t and they had no idea when it would so we headed back towards Valencia. What we had thought wold be a very nerve-wracking descent wasn’t too bad thanks to low range (for 15km) and a lack of traffic. After shopping in Valencia we went in search of diesel and found a huge gas station with a 3km long queue of trucks which fortunately we could skip and only had to wait one hour for a tanker to arrive.
24 February: an early start as we were just after sunrise with a family setting up an arepa stand right next to Mr J and a stream of motorbikes bring workers to the other restuarants at Playa Patanema. We didnt even feel like sitting and having coffee or breakfast so we’re on the road real early and arrived at our next stop Campo Bela by 9. What a pleasure this one is, it is a small family run motel and they are building a campsite, we got welcomed with coffee and a chat before being introduced to almost every worker and taken to the camping area. We were brought pasta for lunch and once again they don’t want any money!
27 February: After a slow farewell at Campo Belo (including the making of concrete handprints for their memories) we did a long drive across to the Coro Peninsula- only 300km but it probably took 5 hours. We were expecting a slightly more deserted island/ peninsula which it is and isn’t – kind of a ZA west coast vibe but more scruffy
28 February: Only about 150km today but took most of the day, between bypassing the heater matrix on the side of the road due to a coolant leak, to visting Venezuela northenrmost point and lighthouse to searching for diesel in the town of Coro (with no success). Have got a hotel room as there are no camping options in town. Room is a bit tired but for $25 we can’t complain and it is close to the beautiful historical district.
29 February: Another long ass day (theme of the month)! After waiting for diesel and then finding a shop to recharge our cellphone we finally left Coro just before 12 (our first mistake). The gPs suggested a route through the mountains which Google didn’t (2nd mistake). It turned out to be very slow going (avg 35km/h all day) and Mr J started to “struggle” the last hour or so (suspect fuel starvation so hoping it is just dirty diesel). With still 100km to go to a big town and sunset approaching we stopped at what looked like a community hall on a hairpin. The people cleaning said it’s fine to stay but now they have gone so hoping it will be an okay and safe night.