Hello my friends.
Ear plugs. Are one of my good friends. The mornings begin around 4'30 with roosters and traffic. And they never really end until.. who knows when seeing as there is no noise regulations at all here in Venezuela.
We were in our Kayaks around 7'30 Sunday morning and there was music blaring from a little fishing village of about 10 houses, that is only accessible by boat. Every shop down the street to get here today has their own music playing too. I'm not sure how they can tell which is theirs cause it all kinda blends together to one big loud sound. The standing room only bus, which takes about 45 min to get here to Puerto La Cruz also has it's own loud music, no matter what time of day. That's just one difference we've all noticed, but are for the most part enjoying.
Spanish is improving. As in, the classes. Our original teacher is gone for some reason, so a guy named Isaias has stepped in. His philosophy of teaching is WAY better, so I feel like I can actually say something now after only 2 days with him. Looks like he'll be sticking around so I'm very happy about that.
Thanks for all the updates from home, for those of you who have written! Muchly appreciated to hear about the weather, happenings, etc.
So yes, Kayaks. We spent 3 days for our first warm up Kayak trip, and are now in town getting ready for the next one. We paddled around 3 islands here in the Mochima National Park. Our beach where our 'camp' is, is called Playa Colorada. (Sorry I can't seem to post any pics yet) But people from around Venezuela come here to enjoy the beach. So it's definitely a perk.
Other unique things...
No laws against drinking and driving... imagine.
No noise laws, as I mentioned.
Of course no laws about litter. So beaches, tho beatiful are quite full of pop (soda) bottles and broken flip flops. Those are the things that seem to make it to the shore!
We jumped out of our Kayaks about 10 times over the weekend to visit hidden beaches and take in a bunch of snorkelling. We could see a ton with the snorkels. Mostly corrals and some medium fish. But still likely some of the best I've done. Felt like I was exploring the Titanic at one point, because they took us to a sunken ship. That was pretty special.
Well, always hard to know exactly what to tell.... They are keeping our schedule pretty packed. We did 'Abseil' or Repelling training a couple days ago, hoping to repel down a waterfall yesterday, however apparently they had had too much rain up river, so we'll try again another time. Looks like it's on the schedule for New Years Eve now.
Christmas will be spent in the Oronco Delta, where we will Kayak for 8 days (and apparently get eaten alive by mosquitos). Apparently they're pretty brutal once you get off the river. Which means quickly set up camp, eat, and jump into hammocks and mosuite nets. My Watkins deet loaded repellant should come in handy.
Well, I think that's all for today.
If any of you need to get a hold of me, you can always call the 'Brendan' phone number I gave you, and he can get me a message to call you, as there's a phone shop just down our street which is fairly reasonable.
I suppose this is my Merry Christmas letter too! Seeing as we will be leaving on Tuesday for the Delta, and not likely to get back to email before then.... so ..... awe Christmas.. a bit sad to be missing... I hope it's a grand one for you all with family, food, and friends! Feliz Navidad! Merry Christmas! See you in the New Year!!
Luv,
Am
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