Getting ready for and getting to Venezuela

Downsizing for homeowners can be both liberating and time saving. Downsizing for travellers with regard to your backpack is much the same except that backpackers have to carry there material belongings around with them so it feels even better. With just a small bag you are free to skip, dance and prance around the globe without the psychological or physical burden of your heavy and valuable things.

Leaving everything else behind in a trustworthy hostel I condensed my life down to the following essentials;

2 t-shirts, 1 vest, 1 pair of trousers, 1 pair of boardies, 2 pairs of socks, 3 pairs of underwear, 1 hoody, 1 sheet, 1 hammock, 2 pieces of rope for tying said hammock, 1 book, 1 pair of flip flops, 1 head torch and a lot of dollars.

To compliment my new lighter lifestyle I grabbed a lulo (incredible tropical fruit) and tomato de arbol (tree tomato) and left Taganga for Maracaibo thinking about the vast difference between fresh organic produce and the old tasteless supermarket alternative.

In a country infamous for theft it may seem rather stupid to take a lot of cash into the country on your person but when it comes to Venezuela it is a risk you have to take. In a recent attempt to deal with the economy, albeit superficially they have taken 3 zeros of the currency meaning that 1000 is now only 1 Bolivares. To further pervert the real weakness of the currency becoming apparent the Bolivar is fixed against the dollar at 4.2 which is 4 less than its real value. This means that if you take money out of the banks you pay basically twice the amount for everything which it clearly not viable. The other option is to take sufficient dollars into the country for your whole stay and change them on the black market where you aim for around 8 B's to the dollar. The best places to change money is at a tourist information or at an market stall with a permanent location as they do not want to rip you off because you know where they work. Obviously make these transfers during the day and maybe leave the money with a friend at a cafe while you go round and inquire.

We had help though as our hostel Oso Perezoso (Sloth) in Taganga was run by an incredible helpful and kind couple. Sabrina is American and Oleski is from Venezuela and they have two kids Joaquin and Olivia. Not only did they convince us that travelling to Venezuela was safe, viable and worthwhile but Sabrina actually escorted us to Maracaibo let us stay in her flat, changed our money, became our tour guide and help us drink lots of beers. Legendary.

The road to Maracaibo has seen better days. We were quickly aware of the mini vans brake and suspension limitations as we bounce and screeched our way toward the border. This paragraph was scribbled on route and is barely legible due to all off the erratic movement. We stopped for speed bumps and craters in the road almost as much as we were forced to stop to show our passports. We abandoned replacing them in our secret pocket after the forth time in as many minutes. We literally had to show them over 10 times in just over 2 hours.

As we approach Maracaibo we see small dilapidated metal houses floating on the water and are told by Sabrina that this it what gave the country its name. When the Spanish conquistadors first arrived it reminded them of little Venice hence Venezuela.



Sabrina and Oleski's beautiful bi-lingual daughter called Olivia who also came along for the ride. As her cute little voice called out the Spanish names for the animals that we saw along the way; Caballito (little horse), Vaca (cow), and Burrito (little donkey) I am reminded of just how often we take names and words for granted without thinking about the etymology. Even though the provenance of the word does not always make sense it is almost always interesting;

Burrito - 1934, from Sp., lit. "little burro" or Little donkey.

Maybe because it carries all the food to your mouth in one easy package.

Margarita - Spanish for daisy

Fresh as a ...

Chilli con carne - Literally chilli with meat.

Other choice sayings we I hope we can introduce into the English language;

The use of Food as a verb - e.g "Food me" when you are hungry

And when asked what she was doing when she was feeling Chantelle's breast she replied "making arepas (corn flour cakes)", so if you ever need to explain your inappropriate lustful actions you can just say your were practicing making a classic South American food staple.

The way is filled with a diverse array of power lines, vultures, plastic chairs, sizzling chicken BBQ's, Yuka, tropical fruits, dios es amor (god is love), children's slides, flooded houses with families wading home, playas, banana groves, hubcaps, drying clothes, prepacked vegetable goody bags, fresh fish and Gasolina.

Gasolina is a very popular reggaeton song which makes me think about just how easy it is to get an inappropriate song into the charts. It is like there is a law in music that states "You can say anything you like as long as you use a euphemism or make a small attempt to conceal it". To name a few from the myriad of examples; Gasolina - Literally means fuel but in this context refers to baby fuel from men, The Shamens - eezer Goode, eezer Goode, he's Ebeneezer Goode" E's or Ecstasy are good and 50 cents - Candyshop loved by teenager's around the world speaks of "I'll take you to the candy shop, I'll let you lick the lollipop, Go 'head girl, don't you stop, Keep going 'til you hit the spot. Enough said.

We arrived in Maracaibo after a rather trouble free 8 hours and grabbed the opportunity to drink the cheapest beers so far in South America (5 dollars for 36 bottles) in a climate that requires frequent cold refreshment.



Joseph Davies 22/10/10