Playa Puy-Puy to Orinoco Delta

And on we go on the next leg of this blog. After the early morning swim it was back on the truck and back up the dusty road to the hacienda for our tour of the cocoa plantation. I can now tell you all the stages from the fruit growing on the tree, drying, fermentation, and production of cocoa powder. However you probably need to ask me now, or else I´ll forget.

Next day was the oilbird caves where we were going to camp for the night. More practice of Spanish as I went around the museum and read all the displays. Again surprised myself with the amount of stuff I could recall from all those lessons back at the end of the nineties. That was the highlight of the evening seeing as the oilbirds themselves failed to put on the spectacular sunset exit from the cave. Apparently they put on a better show at 4am the next morning when they returned but only Nas was mad enough to get up to view this. Had a tour of the caves which are quite spectacular. The guides on early morning duty were all non-English speakers so we had the option of waiting or going with these and doing our own translation. Fascinating to watch his reactions as one of the three of us transalted what he was telling us. Whenever one of us answered and seemd to understand wehat he was saying , then the next description would be fired directly to that person until one of the other two answered and then he would talk to them. Not sure we translated everything correctly but we had a good go at it.

Then back on the truck for the drive to a ranch where we were going to stay the night. This was the height of luxury compared with other places so far. Option existed to rent a room for the night but I stuck to a tent this time. But there was also pool (both of the swimming and billiards type) and a table tennis table. Found out that my table tennis skills are a little rusty but did run Darryl very close in the 3rd game we played. Got to be 18-17 up before he then served and upped the pace a bit. There were a couple of local señoras who were quite keen on dancing with all the guys from our truck. Did a couple of sambas but managed to escape the drunken dancing at the end of the evening. Sort of implied that Sue was my girlfriend - they´d still try and grab you to dance until she came near and then they picked on someone else. Adjourned from the bar and over to Cameron (bar closed, alcohol in the truck). This eventually turned into the first of what I suspect will be many long nights fuelled by rum and whisky. We were just finishing off the bottles in the truck when Mike turned up to cook the next day´s breakfast at 7am. Managed to work my way through and help. Mostly this was because I though that if I went to bed, that would be it and I wouldn´t be up in time for when the truck left. This was a wise move - Darryl did go to bed and Dave the Hat had to go and turf him out of bed two hours later.

Then a short drive to Tucupita (Dave had promised five hours which I thought would be good for a snooze to recover from the previous night) but we rolled into town at lunchtime. After a bit of shopping and internet we set up our camp a little way out of town. Again some rooms were on offer but showers were also available so most of us stuck to camping. Managed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Local police turned up and wanted to know who we were, how long we were staying, and when we were leaving. At the time Dave the Hat and Nas were both elsewhere, so I got to do the talking. Answered most of their questions and after a couple of ¨No entiendo la pregunta¨they decided they we were harmless enough and left. Only realized afterwards that I had a can of beer in my hand the whole time I was talking to them.

Saturday morning and back into town to the tourist office of the firm that we were going to spend the next three days with in the Orinoco Delta. Drove out to a nearby village to get on our boat into the delta. Had two other guests with us: Oonagh and Lisa from Ireland. They were travelling around Venezuela independently for 3 wks and would join us for the 1st 1 1/2 days. Trip downstream was good - lots of trees, plants, birds and even some howler monkeys to see. Stopped for lunch part way and had the chance of a swim in the Orinoco. Were warned to swim before letting any food drop in the water. Don´t think there were any dangerous fish, but as soon as someone dropped some bread in, then the fish were there eating it. And so on to camp at Aventura Turistica and more hammocks. Went via a Warao Indian village on the edge of the water. Amazing number and variety of pets, including macaws, dogs, and even agoutis. First evening we split into two groups, one going off in canoes before dinner and rest of us after dinner. Didn´t really see too much - spiders, bats. Back at camp another long night ensued. Sue, Oonagh and myself went for a (almost) midnight swim until our hostess told us we shouldn´t really be doing that. At that point Oonagh went off to bed and Sue, Darryl and myself (amazingly the same 3 of us who had been up all night at the ranch. Conincidence? I think not - have a suspicion the alcoholics in the group have already made themselves known) joined one of the guides for some cuba libres (rum, coke, lime and ice). John the guide has taught himself English, mostly by getting quotes from films and translating them, so we helped him with some of the phrases he couldn´t managed and added a few more. Did actually go to bed this time, but I´m told it was around 4am, although as I didn´t check my watch I´m sure they´re exaggerating. Anyway managed to kept up in time for breakfast the following morning without any problem. Then it was back into the canoe for a wildlife watching trip. Managed to see a bit more by daylight including howler monkeys. Managed to get some ok photos. Had a slight problem with the canoe which we realized when Mara, who was sitting in the front, started bailing out water. And then to make sure we got wet, it rained very heavily on us. Back to camp and a walk through the local jungle with John to be told about some of the local plants and their uses for the Warao. All had to put wellies on, which worried Oonagh a little seeing as she was dressed in white from head to toe. Dave the Hat showed the second group to go out a video of Nas he had taken whilst she was stuck in the mud. Sure this did Oonagh´s confidence the world of good. Fortunately Oonagh managed to stay upright, and only Mara fell over (twice), straight into the mud. Back at camp most of us went for a swim. This can be surprisingly hard work as the current is very strong. It takes a lot of effort to swim against the current and pretty much as soon as you stop, you drift rapidly back to where you started. At lunch the two Irish girls were told they would be leaving for Tucupita in ten minutes. Meant a mad period of packing and then they were off. Well not quite, Lisa left the pink top she had just washed in the river on the rails of the camp, so I had to throw it to her. Pity they had gone - it was good to have a couple of different faces to interact with (not that there is anything wrong with the Dragoman group of course - they might read this one day!!!!).
After they left the afternoon was spent on another trip to a local village. Blazing sunshine on the way to it and torrential rain on the way back. Steve ´drew´the short straw. He moved from the edge of the boat to avoid the rain, and then got caught full in the face by a torrent of water when the rain was heaviest. He couldn´t have been wetter if someone had poured a bucket of water over him.
Back to camp, played cards, chilled, and had a fairly early night. Final day in the Orinoco was spent with another visit to a village, and then a return upstream for lunch and a swim at the same spot as on Saturday. Then back to the village and the landrover ride to Tucupita. All in all a very tiring few days in the Delta.