1. Located at the Northeast of Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, is Margarita a Caribbean island. It has become one of the most popular tourist places in Venezuela not surprising when there is an average of 320 sun filled days. Where better to be if you want to try windsurfing and other water sports.
Being an island, Margarita is surrounded by a host of beaches. So whatever your choice there will be a beach for you, secluded or crowded, waves or no waves.
The mountainous island of Margarita offers tropical palm trees and is a natural, beautiful paradise.
2. Merida lies in the fertile valleys between the mountains and supports a lot of agriculture, including coffee plantations, sugar cane, flowers. It also supports tropical plants like palm trees, orchids, fruits and the Golden Rain tree. Merida is one of the cheaper places to visit in Venezuela. Merida has a diverse variety of landscape, such as snowy mountain peaks, natural rainforest, highland moors, waterfalls and lakes.
This diversity makes the location very attractive to those interested in wildlife, bird lovers, backpackers and climbers alike. The mountain peaks ay be covered in snow the climate is like spring for most of the year making for lovely warm days. Night time is a little cooler. Rainfall is usually during the months of May to September.
3. Canaima National Park, is Venezuela's second largest national park. There are mountain forests, thick woodlands that amazingly join sheer cliffs. There are some stunning waterfalls that cascade from the beautiful flat topped mountains, but most stunning of all is the famous Angel Falls. You have 2 choices in how best to see the Angel Falls. If you wish to navigate the Carrao and Churun river (an upstream trip that can take 3 ½ hours) and a one hour hike in the jungle you will be able to experience the base of the falls. Or for the more adventurous, which ever way you look at it, you can view the Falls in a small aircraft. Either trip is worth the visit as a trip to Venezuela is not complete without seeing the Angel Falls.
4. Fishing for piranhas ( and coming home with all my fingers) on the Venezuela's Orinoco Delta with howler monkeys watching you from the jungle canopy is not an experience one achieves every day and neither is meeting a Warao Indian family and seeing them in the process of making superb woven baskets.
There is nothing more awe inspiring than walking through the vibrant and alive jungle in a world that seems lost in time.
5. The Guacharo cave is enormous and interconnected by narrow passages. The only light source was the lantern that the guide had who led the way.
The cave is home to the very interesting Guacharo (Oil bird) which is very unique in behaviour. This large bird is nocturnal and uses it’s bat like sonar location in poor light. It has long whiskers and a wingspan of over a meter and only leaves the cave at night to search for fruit.
The birds make a strange shrieking noise and it is a good job that you know that it is them as I could imagine it would be quite terrifying if you did not know otherwise.
There are far too many tourists in the cave at any time for my liking but this did not take away from this amazing experience. One thing is for sure if you are visiting the caves make sure your footwear has good grips as the bird droppings are very slippery. There are some running taps at the entrance but I would also advise making sure that you have some wet –wipes.
