Islands a La Carte

With every Venezuelan we've met going into raptures about the Carribean archipeligo of Los Roques we were expecting big things. A quick trip out to the airport to confirm our flights however, left us in some doubt as to whether we would make it to this island paradise. "We have tickets for a flight tommorow" - "There is no flight tommorow, let me call and see if I can find a plane". Gulp. Everything seemed alright the next morning though at the tagged-on Auxilliary airport as the airlines seemingly solitary staff member checked us on the flight. Our suspicions that this was not going to be a normal flight were confirmed when the 5 of us wandered onto the tarmac to climb aboard our tiny plane. After a short flight, looking over the pilots shoulder and down at the great views we arrived on Gran Roque, the principal island of the group.


Glossing over the sweaty 2hr trek around the island to check out just about every pousada - thank goodness for chirpy Pousada Shanti, we quickly became accustomed to the non-taxing concept of island daily life. Basically, get up in the morning; let Indira know if we want the room done now or in la tarde; have a quick fruity breaky; do some skipping if you can be bothered; wake up fully with a cold shower; fill the esky with tastey treats for the busy day ahead, eventually toddle down to the dock; peruse the map of 40+ islands and pick your island for the day; sit and have a coffee until you´re whisked away by your boat (hopefully not the slamming Mama y Papa); bounce along to your beach; plant your esky on the white, coral sand while the boat mannie sets up the sombrero and beach chairs; put your feet up and while away 7 hours until you´re picked up again. Aaaaaaahhh - this is the life.

Naturally, such a life does not come without a gringo price tag. Found the two-tiered pricing structure pretty frustrating. Things are understandably expensive given that they have to be shipped from the mainland (except the fish - which was expensive anyway!!) but even more so to be paying the gringo tax on top. i.e. After a local walked out of the bottle shop with 16 beers, a big bottle of pop and water for $6 and then we were charged $10 for a bottle of water and juice and a miniscule packet of chips! Collusion is a pretty ironic concept for a country expounding socialism..hmmm... Thanks to our Danish friends (from Merida) we found the only restaurant we could afford to eat in which was actually a very funky setup - beanbags on the beach. Nice.

Budget issues aside (can´t really complain given this was Annie and Paaaa´s engagement treat! Thanks guys!) this was definitely the Venezuelan highlight and most idyllic beaches we have ever come across. Did some fantastic snorkelling, some less than fantastic monkey grooming and generally had fun in the sun - check out the tans!!! Were very sorry to leave at the end of our week but after seeing the 70s plane due to carry us back to Caracas we weren´t sure we would be leaving! The old beast did take off, much to our amazement and we enjoyed our Memphis Belle experience (S.N.A.F.U.) almost as much as watching the pilot navigate by his hand held G.P.S. - amazing what you can buy on the shopping channel these days. Little did we know our real S.N.A.F.U. flight was just around the corner....see next blog ;-))

Love,
Stu & Kaz xx

Lesson of the week: stick to beer (cheaper than water)

Sight of the week: curious lizardito tryng to swallow Stu whole - couldn´t quite get its mouth around his big toe. Stu does a good impersonation.

Bargain of the week: just joking!

Arse of the week: Mama y Papa - ouch!