Chuao -> Maracay -> Valencia -> Coro -> Maracaibo

We spent three days in and around Puerto Colombia (the area is referred to as Choroni). One of our favorite days was spent in Chuao.

Chuao is an isolated village known for producing some of the best cacao in the world, and is only accessible by boat or 20 km hike over mountains. We hired a motorboat from Puerto Colombia to Playa Chuao, a beach a 45 min walk from the village. On the walk there, we saw Cacao, banana, mango, and coconut trees. The tranquil village was built in a colonial style, and had a few shops where you could buy cacao products. We tried various types of eating chocolate, with different percentages of cacao (from white, to black, to semi pure and pure) which was the best chocolate we've ever had, you could even taste the thicker granules of sugar. Miriam's favorite chocolate was the semi-pure bar that is used to make the most amazing hot chocolate, that we also tried. As it was midday and swelteringly hot, we tried various cold chocolate products as well. We had chocolate ice cream (not as creamy as standard ice cream, but still delicious), chocolate quesillo (a flan-like dessert), and a sweet chocolate custurd. What made Gabe's day was our favorite chocolate product by far, poncha de cacao, an alcohol made from fermented cacao butter, sugar, and milk. It has a very thick, creamy texture, and has an estimated alcohol proof 60% (Gabe's estimation). Sooo delicious that we bought some to drink throughout our travels. The whole time we were there (4 hours), two stray dogs followed us absolutely everywhere, and didn't seem to be begging, so they were like our little tour guides.

After Choroni, we were headed to Coro. So, we traveled back on the three hour, crazy honking, music blaring, mountain crossing bus to Maracay, then we took an hour bus to Valencia, where we were then able to catch a bus to Coro that took just over four hours (all in sweltering heat). It is interesting to note that although the weather is very hot, Venezuelans wear pants instead of shorts in urban areas (some wore shorts in the small coastal town of Puerto Colombia). So, in order to be less obviously tourists (not that the lighter skin and big backpacks didn't give us away...), we wear pants in urban areas too.

We arrived in Coro at about 7:30pm, and were able to find our way to our posada through the bustling crowds of the main streets. However, when we went out to look for somewhere to eat (around 8:30), the crowds were gone, the streets were nearly deserted, there was a police officer on most street corners, and almost every restaurant was closed. We ended up eating pastries for dinner, and quickly returned to the hotel. One woman said that there had been more gang activity recently, while others didn't seem to know anything about it. Falcon State, where Coro is located, is one of the poorest regions in Venezuela. Another thing to note is that most locations in the Lonely Planet guide for Coro no longer exist. The Old center, where we stayed, had great cobblestone streets and colonial architecture. The Posada where we stayed, El Gallo, has a great atmosphere. The French owner wasn't very friendly, but made beautiful art displayed around the posada, and his wife was wonderful - very friendly and sweet, and their (7 yo?) son Ludovico was hilarious and adorable, Miriam played super secret batman missions around the indoor gardens and upstairs terrace with him.

The major attraction in the Coro area is Parque Nacional Medanos de Coro. A National Park of endless sanddunes. We went Sunday (20th) afternoon, so as to avoid the midday heat. We shared a taxi with a nice German couple. Miriam and Gabe each had a great time doing different things. Gabriel had been looking forward to this attraction because of the landscapes similarity to the Dune book series. So, he had fun running around, climbing, jumping off, and rolling down sanddunes. He went running off half a mile out into the dunes. He came back completely caked with sand. Miriam instead had a good time taking pictures of the dunes as the wind swept the sand across the landscape.

On Monday morning, we left Coro early to catch a bus to Maracaibo, the oil capital of Venezuela, and a port city on the massive Lago de Maracaibo (Lake of Maracaibo) . We arrived midday, and met up with one of Miriam's professors, Raul, who grew up there. We got a personal tour of the city in air-conditioning! Raul was a great guide and was able to explain a lot of the city's idiosyncrasies. Maracaibo isn't a beautiful city, but is very interesting and has a unique history and personality. Like Catalonia in Spain, Maracaibo has hostorically always separated itself from the rest of Venezuela, and even now is one of the only strongholds of opposition against Chavez. Maracuchos (people of Maracaibo) like lots of fried food and are crazy drivers. When we say crazy drivers, we mean it. There is a lot of traffic in the metropolitan area, so cars frequently back up out of the highway to try different routes. It was also the most polluted city we had seen, with piles and piles of trash everywhere. We walked around the old center, an almost continuous flea market of vendors selling fruit, cooked meat, and knock-off American brands.

We left at 9:45pm on a night-bus to Merida, a more relaxed city in the middle of the Andes Mountains! Yesterday marked the end of our first week in Venezuela, so if each week is as eventful as this one, then we're up for quite an adventure!

Peace!

Factoids:

Number of Americans seen: 0

Number of Westerners seen: 26

Avg daytime temp in Coro: 92º

Avg daytime temp in Maracaibo: 95º (according to weather.com, feels like 104º)

Avg daytime temp in Merida: 83º

Avg nighttime temp in Coro: 88º

Avg nighttime temp in Merida: 58º