Merida, Venezuela

Merida and the Llanos

July 29, 2008

- Talking Heads

From Cumaná I had wanted to visit a few other places in Venezuela such as Caracas, Parque Nacional Pittier, and Coro, before going to Merida but with only two weeks left in my trip I just didn´t have the time. After so many months of traveling freely with no deadlines or time schedules it is a bit strange to have to plan my time. The bus ride from Cumaná took 25 hours as it crossed clear across Venezuela, I was looking forward to seeing some of the scenery along the way but before we left Puerto La Cruz the bus attendant informed us that we should keep the curtains closed for our safety because people might try to throw rocks or bottles at the bus if they saw people on board the bus in order to get the bus to stop so they could rob it. So much for seeing the scenery. I was able to see Caracas as we passed through, nestled nicely between green mountains but packed with traffic, even at mid-day.

Compared to the other Venezuelan cities that I have been to, Merida seemed different, it was much calmer and cleaner with a different feel to it; it was actually a pleasant place to spend time. Considering my own opinions on the Venezeluan cities and those of other travelers, the only cities in Venezuela that I have heard good things about were Merida and Coro, with mostly negative things about the rest. The natural surroundings of the cities are spectacular but the cities themselves are quite the opposite. There aren´t actually a lot of tourist attractions in Merida, it is mostly the surrounding area with the Sierra Nevada mountains and the Llanos nearby that are the main attractions.

There is a nice little two room archaeological museum with some interesting artifacts. At the Mercado Principal, a large sprawling multi-story building with chaotic rows of vendors selling similar things, there is a place that makes a famous milkshake with some 22 listed ingredients and some secret ingredients including various eggs, liquors, fruits, beer, and of course bull´s eyes; despite the diverse and seemingly conflicting list of ingredients it is actually very tasty. The Plaza Bolivar is pleasant and borders a large stone cathedral and big statue of Bolivar on horseback, with a McDonald´s not far around the opposite corner. The main attraction in Merida is the teleferico, a cable car that runs up to the top of Pico Espejo at 4800 meters, the highest cable car system in the world. The tickets aren´t cheap at 70 Bolivars but the ride is very pretty offering scenic views over Merida and if it is clear at the top the views are probably outstanding. Sadly for me the top was shrouded in fog and clouds with very limited visibility. The big attraction at the top was the snow, as many of the Venezuelans that were there had never seen snow before; fair enough since this is the only place in the country where there is snow. They were throwing snowballs and enjoying the near freezing temperatures for the 30 minutes that they allow you to stay there due to the possibility of altitude sickness. In total the whole ascent and descent took about three hours and as opposed to the day before where there was early afternoon rain, the weather held out throughout the trip.

Other than its location along my route back to Bogota, one of the reasons that I came to Merida was to go on a tour to the Llanos, a vast wetland located southeast of Merida past Barinas. I ended up in a tour group with several American students studying in Merida for the summer, a Belgian couple, and a couple from Norway. The first day of the tour was almost all driving as we headed up the winding mountain roads out of Merida towards Barinas. We arrived at the camp in the Llanos in the late afternoon and had some time to relax before dinner. After dinner we went on a night walk along the roads and saw some capybaras, the world´s largest rodent, and some caiman eyes off in the swamps to the side of the road.

The next morning, after hearing something get eaten in the middle of the night, perhaps one of dogs that seemed to have gone missing, we went on a boat trip up the rivers swollen by the frequent downpours of the rainy season. Fortunately the weather was dry for us and we saw a small anaconda wrapped around a tree branch, lots of iguanas, including one that almost fell in our boat when our guide tried to catch it, and a green snake that fell into our boat after our guide mishandled it and then slithered off across the water to escape. In the afternoon we went on a car ride to see the wildlife in a nearby area. Sitting on the roof of the Landcruiser we saw dozens of capybaras flee from the roadside and dive into the water to swim away from us. The views were great from up on top of the car as we dodged tree branches and endured the hard wood benches.

We followed as our guide waded through the shallow waters of a swamp looking for anacondas but unfortunately he was unable to find one. Due to a big storm on the horizon and lots of lightning and thunder we had to turn back a little bit early. On the way back our guide managed to catch a 7 foot caiman by wading off into the water and using a forked stick to pin it to the ground before clamping its mouth shut and securing it with rope. It was crazy to watch him do this as there were definitely other caimans in the water as well. After catching the caiman on the car ride back to the camp he managed to spot and catch a boa constrictor and some very poisonous snake which was jumping all over the place. As it got dark riding on the roof became rather unpleasant with a steady stream of bugs flying into our faces, the three of us in front were forced to take shelter behind a rain poncho, wrapping it around us and crouching down, probably quite the sight to any oncoming traffic.

The next morning we were supposed to go horseback riding but due to lightning and thunder we couldn´t because the horses would have gotten scared. Instead we went piranha fishing and several of us caught a few piranhas. On the way to the fishing area our guide spotted a large anaconda, about 3 meters long on the side of the road and managed to catch it before it could crawl back into the water. In the afternoon we got to go horseback riding for a little bit, but by the time we had returned it was supposedly too late to go out on another safari. On the final night, our guide got a bottle of rum for him and us and as one bottle turned into two along with some beers he managed to get fairly drunk. The idea of a night safari to look for caimans was brought up and he jumped at the idea. He led us off down the road, borrowing someone´s flashlight, looking for the glowing red eyes in the distance. We passed by his grandmother´s house and he woke her up to get another bottle of rum. He spotted one or two caimans that were the right size but I´m sure he scared them away as he drunkenly stumbled into the water after barely making it through the barbed wire fence on the side of the road. Luckily he managed not to get himself eaten or cut himself on the barbed wire fences, but unfortunately for us we didn´t get to see him catch anything else.

Our final day involved lots of driving back to Barinas where we detoured to do some whitewater rafting at another camp along one of the rivers west of Barinas. With all the rain that had been falling the rivers were swollen with water and the rapids were running swiftly and we paddled downriver in two boats for about an hour. Even though it was Sunday it was a holiday weekend so the riverside was packed with Venezuelans grilling food and drinking raucously. Our vehicle picked us up all wet at the endpoint of the rafting and we returned back to Merida. The rafting was a good ending to the tour but unfortunately I had to endure the long and winding car ride back to Merida, which was extra slow with the busy holiday traffic, before I could focus my attention on the last week of my journey. I had almost come full-circle and it was hard to believe that my time on the road was running out.