Isla Margarita, Venezuela (June 5-13, 2003)

If you want to relax and get away from it all, Margarita Island, Venezuela is the perfect place to go. This Caribbean Island is full of beaches, rum, and laid-back friendly people.

When I visited in June of 2003, the "unofficial" exchange rate was 2,000 Venezuelan bolivars per US dollar. That means the $500 in travelers checks that I took made me a MILLIONAIRE!

I picked Margarita Island to visit because I got a really great deal. I won a bid for a week at the Hilton for $2 on SkyAuction. You can't beat that - even after they added another $195 of fees and taxes. The Hilton was located on Moreno Beach, in the Costa Azul region of Porlamar.

Trying to grab a coconut on the Hilton grounds.

Moreno Beach
Playa el Agua. This is the longest and most developed beach. There are numerous restaurants and shops along the road next to the beach.
Typical beach restaurants consisted of a kitchen, bar, and outdoor tables, usually surrounded by lots of stray dogs. I ate at this restaurant on Playa Guacuco and had a fabulous meal. After eating, I relaxed on a beach chair under this sun shade, so the waiter could bring me a continuous supply of drinks. If you tip well, they will watch your stuff while you play in the ocean.
The man in the background is doing the Guacuco dance, which basically looks like he's doing the Twist. As he wiggles from side to side, his feet dig up clams/oysters, which he puts into the bucket he's carrying. Then, when he has enough, he takes them to his beach stand and sells plates full of the fresh seafood.I left Phoenix to visit a place that looked exactly like Phoenix! Macanao, the western peninsula of Margarita is very rocky and dry, with a lot of cactus, prickly pear, and scrub brush. I took a jeep tour to this peninsula.
Punta Arenas a long smooth sandy beach at the very western tip of Macanao. We ate lunch and relaxed there for a while, then visited several rocky beaches that could only be reached by 4WD.


On this jeep tour, We also visited the national park of Laguna de la Restinga. We took a boat tour through several of the 110 canals in the park. This was a beautiful mangrove area, with bright orange starfish found at the base of many trees, and oysters clinging to the aerial roots. I'm told that there are also sea horses, but I didn't see any. These are the only 2 pictures I have from Restinga, because my camera broke and Penelope's ran out of film.

I took a catamaran trip to Coche Island for a fun day in the sun. This is a view of Porlamar from the catamaran. This was the only thing I did that wasn't worth the time or money. Coche is a big flat island with not much of interest, other than lying on a beach. The water at the beach is very calm, so you can't even splash in the waves.
On the way to Coche, there wasn't enough wind to get there, so they had to take down the sail and use the engine. On the way back it was very windy, with lots of waves. The ride back was cold, wet, bumpy, and a lot of fun!
Attack of the Creature from the Black Lagoon?

No, it's just my guide on the excursion to Isla de Coche.
Not too far from the beach are old salt mines. The guide took us there to see them. Just under the surface of the ground is a black mud that smells of sulfur, but is supposed to contain minerals that are good for the skin. The guide "proved" this by smearing it all over his body - and parts of ours!!!

Isla Margarita - Attractions

There are several historic sites in La Asuncion, the capital of Nueva Isparta (the state in which Margarita Island is located.)
One of them is the castle of Santa Rosa which dates back to 1682 and was where Luisa Caceres de Arismendi, wife of one of the leading combatants against Spanish Imperialism was held hostage in 1816.View of the lake next to the castle.

This cathedral is the oldest church in Venezuela. Construction was begun in 1570 and completed in 1621.
Inside the church are numerous headstones embedded into the walls. The cremated bodies of important members of the church are buried within the walls of the cathedral.
This is a typical governmental building, in Spanish colonial architecture.
This Church of the Virgin Mary in El Valle del Espiritu Santo is considered the most important pilgrimage destination in Venezuela. The outside used to be painted pink, but was recently repainted to this tan color. There is an ongoing effort to raise the funds to repaint it to the original pink.
One of the many stained glass windows in the church of the virgin.



A church at Juan Griego
Fishing boats docked at Juan Griego.
Fishermen returning with the day's catch.

Sunset at Juan Griego

Canaima National Park / Angel Falls

Penelope and I signed up for a day tour to Canaima National Park. It was a 2 hour flight from Margarita Island on this tiny 14-seat airplane.
View of the plane from the inside.
View of Laguna de la Restinga from the air.
View of the Orinoco River from the air.



Angel Falls, the world's tallest waterfall, at 1000m.
One of the many other waterfalls flowing out of the tepuys.
Other waterfalls in Canaima. We later took a canoe ride up to them.
Canoe to take to the falls.Once at the falls, we went for a short walk across the top of them

Aerial view of a waterfall that we visited on our hike.

Standing on the slick rock at the edge of the waterfall in the previous picture.View of Sapo Falls from the hiking trail.
We actually hiked under Sapo Falls to get to the other side.

This picture shows the full volume of water coming out of the falls. The last few steps of the hike actually take you through the falls. Hang onto the guide rope because the water hits you with the force of a fire hose!

Sapo Falls from the other side.
Starting the hike back.

Rio de Janeiro (October 8-13, 2002)

Cidade Maravilhosa

No trip to Rio would be complete without the mandatory trip to Corcovado, the statue of Christ. Take the train through the jungle to the base of the statue, then walk up the 220+ steps and you are there. When I was there in October 2002, they were in the process of building an elevator and escalator, so you wouldn't have to walk up all the steps.
From the statue, there were amazing views of the city. While the size of the statue was quite impressive, what really impressed me was the statue at night. It stood on a mountain that was mostly covered with jungle, so you didn't see the mountain at night. At night, large flood lights pointed at it, causing the appearance of a glowing Christ floating over the city.

The view from Corcovado was incredible. On one side, you could see Sugarloaf Mountain and various harbors.


On the other side, you could see the Maracana soccer stadium (not in this picture), the Jockey Club (the track on the right side of the picture), the lagoon (foreground) and Ipanema (the developed area between the lagoon and the sea).

Tall and tan and young and lovely the girl from Ipanema goes walking
and when she passes each one she passes goes ahhh
When she walks she's like a samba
that swings so cool and sways so gently
that when she passes each one she passes goes ahhh

I had to stop and drink a choppe brahma (great beer!!) at the Garota de Ipanema. This was the bar that Antonio Carlos (Tom) Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes wrote the classic Bossa Nova song "The Girl From Ipanema". Just down the road from this bar was a music store that was filled with bossa nova and samba CDs. I bought quite a few of them.

Stretching the length of Ipanema beach was the boardwalk, which was made from thousands of tiles, set into this pattern. All along the boardwalk were kiosks selling iced coconuts and cold beer. What a great place to sit and people watch.
Beyond the far end of Ipanema beach, the "Two Brothers" mountain poked up above the city. This picture was taking on a foggy Sunday morning (notice how many people are already at the beach!!)
This is a picture of the same area, taken at sunset while sitting on the rocks of Arpoador, which is the area located between Ipanema and Copacabana beaches.

At the Copa..... Copacabana

Music and passion were always in fashion ...

The boardwalk along Copacabana Beach. I read many warnings saying not to walk here at night, but I did anyway and felt perfectly safe (up until around midnight). After that, I took a cab. Of course, I wouldn't walk alone in my neighborhood after midnight either!
I spent a lot of time in Copacabana. I met lots of interesting people on the beach and in the adjacent bars and restaurants; I even saw a Gilberto Gil concert one night on the beach. I think everyone should experience a Brazilian concert at some point. It was great fun!!
One evening, I decided to go on an organized tour to a Rodezio (meat buffet) and catch a Samba show. I was in a group with a very fun couple from Spain and a woman from Sydney who had just spent the previous week walking the Inca Trail. This was a very fun crowd! And since the tour bus was taking care of all transportation, we didn't hold back on drinking Caiphirrinas!
The show was very Las Vegas style - touristy, but good none the less. The woman from Sydney and I were sitting in the front row, and the male dancers made sure to flirt heavily with us. We did not mind one bit!!!

The next morning, I decided to nurse my nasty hangover by spending several quiet hours wandering around the Botanical Gardens.

At the end of this long line of palm trees is a fountain.

After wandering around the gardens for several hours, I decided to sit on one of the many benches. Within about 15 minutes, I was surrounded by marmosets - sort of like a cross between a squirrel and a monkey.

It was interesting watching them run up and down the trees, and jump from tree to tree. Plus, they make interesting noises. It was very relaxing.
Another famous site in Rio that shouldn't be missed is visiting Sugar Loaf. To get there, you take a cable car. There are two stops. This photo was taken after the first stop, before riding to the top. At each stop are various overlooks, so you can see different parts of the city. At the top of SugarLoaf, there is a patch of forest, with well developed paths.

While the people on tours were herded through like cattle, I was able to take a couple of hours and explore all the trails, watch different birds and butterflies, and I even saw a few marmosets.
I also took a jeep tour of the Tijuca forest, which is located in the center of Rio. This picture shows bread fruits/jack fruits that were growing everywhere.
We also stopped at the "Monkey's Waterfall" which was right off the side of the road. There were several large crabs swimming in the water.
Another stop on the tour was the Chinese Vista, which was a memorial in honor of the Chinese immigrants that built many of the first roads through the Tijuca forest. On a clear day, you can see both Sugarloaf and Corcovado at the same time.
This was not a clear day and you couldn't see anything.
Yet, I thought there was a spectacular view!


Too bad my suitcase wasn't bigger ........ I would have liked to take a few of these guys home with me!!