Miss Venezuela!! So the second reason for choosing to come to Venezuela is the hard fact that it is the only country to top the Miss World contest with 6 wins and it's in 2nd place overall in the Miss Universe competition with 7 wins. The first reason was to meet some of my family but more on that later.
Like any respectable male I first went in search of Miss Venezuela and came within sniffing distance of her apparently. At the Angel Falls I was in a truck and saw some beautiful girls passing by to whom I gave my best "Hola Bonita!" eyes. To which they all replied with their "Get lost you weirdo" eyes and I don't think my drooling helped me much! Unfortunately they didn't hop on our bus and our guide informed us later that one of them was Miss World ... sooo close! Not to be put off I then continued my search and eventually got lucky in the Orinoco Delta as you can see in my photo on the left ... meeting Miss World 1938! Sat behind me is Mr Universe 1939. It's a romantic story of them both fleeing the limelight together for the jungle hence the happy smiles when I asked for a photo!!
Like any respectable male I first went in search of Miss Venezuela and came within sniffing distance of her apparently. At the Angel Falls I was in a truck and saw some beautiful girls passing by to whom I gave my best "Hola Bonita!" eyes. To which they all replied with their "Get lost you weirdo" eyes and I don't think my drooling helped me much! Unfortunately they didn't hop on our bus and our guide informed us later that one of them was Miss World ... sooo close! Not to be put off I then continued my search and eventually got lucky in the Orinoco Delta as you can see in my photo on the left ... meeting Miss World 1938! Sat behind me is Mr Universe 1939. It's a romantic story of them both fleeing the limelight together for the jungle hence the happy smiles when I asked for a photo!!
As for Venezuela itself despite the recent bad press it is a beautiful country with friendly people and with the US$$$ it makes it an affordable place to visit. On the official currency market of 6B:$1 it has the second highest Big Mac index price of $7.15 (after Norway). Yet on the black market of B70:$1 it then has the lowest. $100 is B7000 in B50 bills...so I always looked like a player! Due to the poor government and availability of dollars to buy imports the country is in an economic turmoil - hence the huge disparity in rates. Nobody has money to buy goods so a lot of the shops are empty see the picture inside Zara below! Also supermarkets are rationing their food with 2 chickens per week etc. cars queue for 2 days to get new tyres and used tyres are more expensive than new tyres due to simple supply and demand. You queue in Venezuela for everything from banks, ATM's, bread, tills and petrol ... I remember seeing Russians queuing for goods years ago and couldn't believe it and here I am seeing and unfortunately experiencing it first hand. The only good thing is that they queue properly like a Brit ... the Indian way of pushing in could get nasty! The worst problems have been with medical equipment - patients families head to Colombia to buy surgical supplies so that their operations can happen! People are not staring at your designer handbag but that you have milk and sugar in your shopping bags - this season's 'must have' item! The other crazy thing in all of this is the cost of gasoline. My car holds 60L and costs me $130 to fill up in London. Here it would cost me U$1 at the official rate and U$0.1 at the black market rate. It's practically free! The issue is that car parts and oil are all imported so protests go on about availability of these items to keep your car running. American flights into the country have now reduced from 10 per day to 1. I have been lucky enough to spend some time here with my cousins Marisol and Gilberto to understand and see what life is like in Venezuela. Also for those living in Caracas not only can you not buy milk but you also have the highest murder rate in the world to deal with. The blacked out windows on cars (including front screen) are to hide you from hijackers not protect you from the sun. Also if you run your own business you also run the risk of it being nationalised. In Margarita, boat company's, hotels and restaurants are all randomly taken and given back to 'Chavistas'. We've have already seen what happened in Zimbabwe when things were nationalised and it didn't always go that well!
Despite all of this I have had a great time here and wish I could spend more in Venezuela. World News has highlighted political and violent issues and in some cases you can't really go out after 8pm as it's unsafe yet I have been to some cool places over last few weeks and hardly scratched the surface. I write all this uncomfortable stuff from the comfort of my cousin's air conditioned apartment drinking a lovely Chilean Chardonnay so I am seeing everything here through rose tinted glasses bought with my US Dollars. But other travellers I met have also said the same things. Don't take my word for it and come visit, but be quick before all the goods fly off the shelves!
Despite all of this I have had a great time here and wish I could spend more in Venezuela. World News has highlighted political and violent issues and in some cases you can't really go out after 8pm as it's unsafe yet I have been to some cool places over last few weeks and hardly scratched the surface. I write all this uncomfortable stuff from the comfort of my cousin's air conditioned apartment drinking a lovely Chilean Chardonnay so I am seeing everything here through rose tinted glasses bought with my US Dollars. But other travellers I met have also said the same things. Don't take my word for it and come visit, but be quick before all the goods fly off the shelves!
Life in Venezuela...shortages for your new Zara outfit...at least it is cheap to drive to the nightclubs!
As I said the main reason for coming to Venezuela has been to meet some cousins for the first time ever. A brief family history ... My Opa's (grandfather) name is Helmut Frederick Wilheim Von Seggern. During WWII he left Germany and went to South West Africa (a German colony now Namibia) and in South Africa was then interned by the British Army as a POW. Upon the war ending he then moved back to SW Africa. He had 3 girls with my Oma one of which is my mother (Monica). My Opa's brother Elu instead came to Venezuela and strangely also had 4 girls - the possible end of the Von Seggern name! My grandparents last came to Venezuela 50 years ago and no other Von Seggern (from my side) has come to visit until now! I wanted to reconnect with my cousins as communication has been very limited as well as wanted to learn more about the Von Seggern family history. My fabulous hosts Marisol and Gilberto whom I have never met have been amazing (they have 2 sons the same age as my brother and I and they are both accountants - it must be in the Von Seggern blood as my Opa also had his own accounting practice!) Like a true Von Seggern we dropped off my bags and then stocked the cooler box with rum and tonic...my new favorite drink and then went for a drive around the island. After queuing for 20 mins for bread at a supermarket we then needed another rum and tonic to get us home - as I said the perfect hosts! We have talked about the family, local views on life in Venezuela and also tasted the wonderful local cuisine. Like other Von Seggern's Marisol is a great cook making me homemade arepas, urchin and mango dessert. I will be trying a few new recipes on unsuspecting guests when I'm back in October! I have also spoken to many of my cousins and hope now that this is the start of correspondence and visits in the future ... the beauty of Facebook! It has been a great way to end my Venezuela adventure.
Check out a photo below of my grandfather ... also a ginger (but with a full head of hair) any likeness???
Check out a photo below of my grandfather ... also a ginger (but with a full head of hair) any likeness???
The invite said blue!
Have you read "The Lost World" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle...a "Romancing The Stone" / Indiana Jones style adventure? The mountain portrayed in that is said to be Roraima and was my first stop and impression of Venezuela. It was my task over 6 days to summit it at 2810m, survey the top and return in one piece ... without any treasure, although there are crystal fields on top but its illegal to take any. After ignoring the warnings about being rainy season, the cold and puri-puri black flies that are worse than Mosquitos I set off with 8 others across beautiful savannahs and rivers before ascending through jungle and waterfalls to the flat top.
Camp life: Despite the rainy season we got lucky with mostly sunshine when walking. With warnings of cold I didn't take thermals so summit camp was spent drinking rum and zip-locked in my sleeping bag. As for the puri puri...they take no prisoners and go for all out attack! I got 10 bites (often bleeding) on my right foot within 15 mins as I forgot to spray below the ankles ... fellow trekkers legs and arms looked like a voodoo doll! Smaller and quieter than mosquitos they are the silent destroyers, the ninjas of the biting insect world! Otherwise camp life was good with good guides, good food and good company from all parts of the globe.
It was a visually stunning trek as every day you saw the flat top mountain in various shades of colour depending on sun or cloud. Had to cross numerous rivers to reach the camps with the final push walking underneath waterfalls with all your gear ... my trainers were soaked! The flat top and vistas to the Gran Sabana (including Guyana - known as the Zone Of Reclamation on Venezuela maps after us Brits took it and it's now independent) below was well worth it. On the top numerous pools, caves, quartz fields and unusual rock formations gave it a moon like landscape.
As I have mentioned before if you see me in a tent you have permission to kill me (as Sir Steve Redgrave once said) as I realised after night one why I hate camping! A small tent on hard ground. The only small print to my death sentence is that if I have a comfortable sleeping mat and big enough tent for my 6ft frame then I will do it. Bruised hips and sleepless nights were not what I signed up for.
Camp life: Despite the rainy season we got lucky with mostly sunshine when walking. With warnings of cold I didn't take thermals so summit camp was spent drinking rum and zip-locked in my sleeping bag. As for the puri puri...they take no prisoners and go for all out attack! I got 10 bites (often bleeding) on my right foot within 15 mins as I forgot to spray below the ankles ... fellow trekkers legs and arms looked like a voodoo doll! Smaller and quieter than mosquitos they are the silent destroyers, the ninjas of the biting insect world! Otherwise camp life was good with good guides, good food and good company from all parts of the globe.
It was a visually stunning trek as every day you saw the flat top mountain in various shades of colour depending on sun or cloud. Had to cross numerous rivers to reach the camps with the final push walking underneath waterfalls with all your gear ... my trainers were soaked! The flat top and vistas to the Gran Sabana (including Guyana - known as the Zone Of Reclamation on Venezuela maps after us Brits took it and it's now independent) below was well worth it. On the top numerous pools, caves, quartz fields and unusual rock formations gave it a moon like landscape.
As I have mentioned before if you see me in a tent you have permission to kill me (as Sir Steve Redgrave once said) as I realised after night one why I hate camping! A small tent on hard ground. The only small print to my death sentence is that if I have a comfortable sleeping mat and big enough tent for my 6ft frame then I will do it. Bruised hips and sleepless nights were not what I signed up for.
The Lost World!
The trekking crew tackling the rivers and waterfalls
Camp Life!
Yes I do look like a Smurf but a very cool Smurf!!
Some interesting flora and animals to grab your attention
Thanks to a gold prospector called Jimmy Angel flying around Venezuela the worlds tallest waterfall was discovered in 1937 when he crash landed on top of the Tepui near to the falls. Today illegal gold prospectors are still in the area but the main pull to Canaima are the falls.
There is only one way in and out and that is by plane...in my case a 6 seater Cessna for 50 mins. The landing is awesome as it comes over Canaima Lagoon...a series of smaller falls that provided an extra bonus to the area. These falls were super cool as we were able to walk behind them and see/feel the ferociousness and power of the water falling just c.30m...think what Angel Falls would feel like at 979m!
My first night provided much entertainment as I made friends with a British/US lad from the plane (fresh off on his 7 week hols and super keen for beers!). To set the scene the isolated town has 2500 residents for tourism and booze cannot be brought in as the locals get super lashed! There are 3 bars that we found although this discounts the airport (landing strip) as closes at 5.30. At the end of the crawl around the lake we found the main bar with the promise of 5 girls but it had just locals ... very very drunk locals. Turns out they were all local gold miners so rich (comparatively speaking) and bored on a Wednesday night! 2 of them could hardly stand yet didn't fall over ... I think the Latin dancing ability prevents that! Many Westerners came in and turned around but Paddy and I persisted along with another couple from the lodge. It soon emerged into a scene from "Shaun Of The Dead" but with drunk zombies. They spoke to us but we didn't understand a word. They also wouldn't leave us alone, our only escape was to pretend to be drunk zombies and blend in and walk away to the other side of the bar. This worked for a while until they caught on - finally the lights went out annoyingly without telling us Last Orders! The worst dude was thrown into a boat; another taken into the woods to sleep it off; and another simply lying down on the dance floor.
What is interesting about Canaima that surprised the Venezuela tourists is that you can use your iPhone to guide your journey home at 11pm and not get mugged/shot ... it can't happen anywhere else in Venezuela. Canaima has no police and relies on the local chief for mediating between the families.
Now the highlight is obviously the Angel falls and the only way there is a dug out canoe paddle for 4 hours upstream through rapids! Followed by an hour walk to the viewpoint and further 30 mins to the pools. This gave the adventure an Indiana Jones feel (turns out Harrison Ford has visited!). It was well worth it and what a sight seeing the falls with the longest interrupted drop of 807m. Even better when sharing with only 20 tourists all afternoon. The advantage of Venezuela right now! Chilling (and the water was cold) in the waters admiring the falls has to be up there with top things to do. We spent the night in hammocks by the river and got up for sunrise to admire the beauty of the falls once again. (Don't tell the Venezuelans but the Iguazu Falls tops the Palmer waterfall index!)
There is only one way in and out and that is by plane...in my case a 6 seater Cessna for 50 mins. The landing is awesome as it comes over Canaima Lagoon...a series of smaller falls that provided an extra bonus to the area. These falls were super cool as we were able to walk behind them and see/feel the ferociousness and power of the water falling just c.30m...think what Angel Falls would feel like at 979m!
My first night provided much entertainment as I made friends with a British/US lad from the plane (fresh off on his 7 week hols and super keen for beers!). To set the scene the isolated town has 2500 residents for tourism and booze cannot be brought in as the locals get super lashed! There are 3 bars that we found although this discounts the airport (landing strip) as closes at 5.30. At the end of the crawl around the lake we found the main bar with the promise of 5 girls but it had just locals ... very very drunk locals. Turns out they were all local gold miners so rich (comparatively speaking) and bored on a Wednesday night! 2 of them could hardly stand yet didn't fall over ... I think the Latin dancing ability prevents that! Many Westerners came in and turned around but Paddy and I persisted along with another couple from the lodge. It soon emerged into a scene from "Shaun Of The Dead" but with drunk zombies. They spoke to us but we didn't understand a word. They also wouldn't leave us alone, our only escape was to pretend to be drunk zombies and blend in and walk away to the other side of the bar. This worked for a while until they caught on - finally the lights went out annoyingly without telling us Last Orders! The worst dude was thrown into a boat; another taken into the woods to sleep it off; and another simply lying down on the dance floor.
What is interesting about Canaima that surprised the Venezuela tourists is that you can use your iPhone to guide your journey home at 11pm and not get mugged/shot ... it can't happen anywhere else in Venezuela. Canaima has no police and relies on the local chief for mediating between the families.
Now the highlight is obviously the Angel falls and the only way there is a dug out canoe paddle for 4 hours upstream through rapids! Followed by an hour walk to the viewpoint and further 30 mins to the pools. This gave the adventure an Indiana Jones feel (turns out Harrison Ford has visited!). It was well worth it and what a sight seeing the falls with the longest interrupted drop of 807m. Even better when sharing with only 20 tourists all afternoon. The advantage of Venezuela right now! Chilling (and the water was cold) in the waters admiring the falls has to be up there with top things to do. We spent the night in hammocks by the river and got up for sunrise to admire the beauty of the falls once again. (Don't tell the Venezuelans but the Iguazu Falls tops the Palmer waterfall index!)
View into Canaima from the plane
A new mode of transport for this trip!
Canaima Falls
Getting up close and personal with the Canaima Falls
The adventurous boat ride to the falls
The majestic Angel Falls
Brings new meaning to the word Jacuzzi when under the Angel Falls
Next stop Orinoco Delta for 2 days. Same same but different to Amazon. An untouched more authentic jungle area than the Amazon although I did see fewer animals. As an experience it was great as I stayed in a quiet camp with max 3 of us. My private hut with open sides looked out onto the river. It was a lovely tranquil camp and the surrounding community huts gave it more of a remote, jungle feel. I saw parrots, howler monkeys, dolphins, toucans, bats, lizards and other birds. Tried again unsuccessfully to catch piranha but did eat some ... had bit of a bite!
Only downside to the jungle and more so than previous jungle areas have been the Mosquitos! I sprayed and wore long sleeves but these are super Mosquitos who bite through clothing...I reckon they are the SBS (Navy Seals if you're a yank) of the mosquito world - so my back and legs look blotchy and itch like a bad case of scabies! How do they get you between the fingers and toes when you're covered with 100% deet??
Only downside to the jungle and more so than previous jungle areas have been the Mosquitos! I sprayed and wore long sleeves but these are super Mosquitos who bite through clothing...I reckon they are the SBS (Navy Seals if you're a yank) of the mosquito world - so my back and legs look blotchy and itch like a bad case of scabies! How do they get you between the fingers and toes when you're covered with 100% deet??
Jungle Life...my room had a nice view although the Mosquitos enjoyed it even more!
Some of the birds on show! Plus a few dolphins.
My final stop was Margarita Island in Eastern VZ and near to Trinidad and Tobago. A tax free island like Channel Islands (UK) or Canary Islands (Spain). A beautiful island with amazing beaches, sunsets and importantly warm seas. My aim apart from visiting family has been to stand up at kitesurfing...I ran out of wind last time in Egypt. This time luckily I did it! Although there is no photo evidence. I was meant to have more time on the board but the wind died so you'll have to take my word for it!
Isla de Margarita
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