camping in the clouds

Living in Maturin puts me in a great location to travel to nearby towns on weekend trips. A two hour-car ride north takes us to a mountainous region where we can do some great hiking. A few weeks ago we went to las Puertas de Miraflores, which invloves crossing a river several times to reach a scenic area where you can go swimming. Unfortunately the river was too high so we were not able to make it all the way to the end of the trail, but it was nice to just be outdoors.
This past weekend we did a bigger trip in the same region to hike through the mountains to a huge waterfall called El Chorreron. Day 1 we hiked up to the top of a mountain where we camped out overnight. When we made it to our campsite, we were literally surrounded by clouds, which blocked out our view of the surrounding mountains and small town below us. Within a matter of minutes though, things cleared up and before I knew it we could see mountainside farms, rainforest-covered mountains, a lake in the distance, and the waterfall that we would be going to the next day. We tested out our camp stoves, avoided getting rained on, and rested under the stars.

Day 2 we made our way up and down mountainsides (with packs) to reach El Chorreron, where we stayed just long enough to take pictures and turn around. According to the GPS, we covered about 20 Km (about 12 miles). A very exhausting trip but certianly worth it to be outdoors and see more amazing parts of this country. Here are some pictures from this past weekend.

Turning 23

So this is a couple of weeks late, but its still worth posting. I had a very nice birthday celebration with a homemade dinner and birthday cake. Here are some pics...

Experiencing the Autana Tepuy

Carnaval was celebrated this week and most people got at least Monday and Tuesday off from work, so Cesar and I took advantage of this free time to get to know a new part of Venezuela - The Autana Tepuy. The Autana is a sacred site to the Piaroa (indigenous people) that live in the region, who believe that the Autana is the Tree of Life, from which the well-being of the society and its surroundings originate from. For its sacredness, those who are not members of the indigenous community are not allowed to climb the tepuy itself. Instead, we are allowed to climb a neighboring hill, which in itself is an awe-inspiring experience. This became the central purpose of our trip, but we saw many other amazing things along the way.
The trip was not only incredible in terms of the landscapes we were surrounded by, but also the people. Such an experience would not be possible without the openness of the Piaroa community, which is incredibly in touch and thrives off the earth as it has for thousands of years, but in modern times has opened up to outside influences - everything from cell phones to Direct TV, but most significantly, tourism. Our tour group stayed in two different areas that belong to the indigenous community, and our tour guides were Piaroa. Not only did these guides speak their native dialect, but also Spanish, English and in some cases more languages depending on where tourists come from (mostly Venezuela and Europe). Few tourists come from the US out of a misguided fear of the presence of the FARC in bordering Colombia - so I was one of the lucky few who got to see such an amazing sight!
Our travels began Friday night, driving 3 hours in the rain to make it to the bus station in Puerto Ordaz (the closet one that has a bus going to our destination). We barely made it to the bus in time, but 12 hours later we were in Puerto Ayacucho. From that point we left on boat, where our adventure officially began.
Our Boat


We spent most of the day Saturday navigating upriver to the site where we would stay the first night.


Sunday morning we woke up and continued upriver until we reached the indigenous community that is situated on the river and has a perfect view of the Autana.


View of the Autana (far right) from where we were staying:


In the above picture you can see both the Autana Tepuy and the hill that we climbed up is just to the front/left of it. Sunday afternoon was the intense 2 hour climb through the rain forest to the top of this hill. This picture (below) is taken from the top of the hill, where you can see where we were staying and where we began the walk (shores of the river, as close to the hill as possible).


And finally, the Autana as seen from the top of this hill:


For as much traveling as we did, I just wish we had had more time to enjoy what we saw there. We left the next morning with many pictures and stories to return home with. Its hard to explain everything that we experienced, but this at least sums up some of it.
*more pictures and details about the trip can be found on facebook
** not sure why... this was posted months ago and then somehow went back to draft status

¡NO es NO!

So the big news in Venezuela is the upcoming elections on Sunday. You may have heard that Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez is again trying to get to vote to amend the constitution so as to remove limits on the number of times an elected official can stand for election - a move that even Chavez's "idol" Simon Bolivar would disapprove of. The idea is that Chavez wants more time to be able to carry out his 21st Century Socialist Revolution, whatever cost to Venezuela's democratic constitution that may take. Both sides seem to be passionate one way or the other. Everywhere I go, cars, walls, buildings are covered in either signs for SI (those for the amendment) or NO (those against the amendment). Many indicators are showing that the NO vote will likely win, but whatever the results, the future of the country will be significantly impacted.
More background info

I have come across an English language website that offers news and opinions about current events in Venezuela (I must point out that there may be a good deal of bias in some of the articles, but its better than no news at all) - www.venezuelanalysis.com

My first fútbol game

While baseball is still considered the national sport of Venezuela, soccer has been gaining popularity. I've never been to a real soccer game, so I took advantage of the opportunity to see the Venezuela's under-20 team play Colombia this week. It was a close game, but in the end, Venezuela moved on to the next round of the tournament.

Fishing Weekend

This past weekend we went on a fishing trip where we camped out on a farm and fished on Rio Tigre. It was nice to do something different and spend time outdoors.

The river, from our campsite


The boys and the big catch of the day


Well, I'd never seen a tent do this before....

back to school

Well, classes have started back I've been quickly reminded of how much of a handful the first graders are. While it can be difficult at times to get 21 kids to listen and cooperate, it has been a lot of fun to get to know the personalities of each of these kids.
This is a picture for a rare day when not only all the kids got to play a game, but the director of the school was able to join in as well.

More pics from around the school...