Bemvindo a Brasil.............Fortaleza!

Adios Venezuela e bemvindo a Brazil..........!

A new country, a new currency, a new language, a new culture (well many various cultures), a new environment and tons of new challenges!!!!!!!!!

When travelling and arriving in a new country, it presents numerous challenges and takes a few days to acclimatise. The most difficult thing for me so far has been the language difference, in particular the different way they pronounce words in Portuguese. I spent just over 2 months trying to master Spanish and towards the end was really starting to feel that I was making progress and then I gotta start all over again with Portuguese in Brazil!

Pretty much anyone who knows me is aware that I am a big fan of Brazil though.........hence why this is my 4th time here! Just for those who are not fully aware of the basic stats on Brazil here´s a few to chew over.................you can call it 25 things to know about Brazil!

BRAZIL STATS

1 - By far largest country in South America (think it takes up c 2/3rds of the entire South America - if you took Alaska out of the US they would be pretty much the same size)

2 - 5th largest country in the world by Geographical and population size with a population of c 190 million people

3 - Language is Portuguese and only country who speak Portuguese in South America

4 - Bordered by every South American country bar 2 (Ecuador and Chile)

5 - Deemed to be the 8th largest economy in the world but readily agreed that it´s economy is growing at a rapid rate and is expected to be in world´s top 5 economies in next 10/15 years - they also recently made Oil discoveries offshore, which have been a huge advantage to the domestic economy

6 - Won independence from Portugal in 1825

7 - Capital is little known Brasilia with a population of c 2,5 million people

8 - Most populated city is Sao Paulo with c 11 million inhabitants........Rio de Janeiro is 2nd with c 6 million

9 - One of the few main world powers to have a Female Leader, Dilma Rousseff

10 - Famed for its humanitarian assistance worldwide and very generous donations to the World Food Programme

11 - Made up of 26 separate states but unlike USA, the country pretty much abides by the same rules and regulations throughout the country

12 - There are c 2,500 land airports in Brazil, second only to USA

13 - Predominantly Catholic country but is currently experiencing a surge in growth in the Evangenical faith

14 - Culture has a mix of Portuguese, Indigineous, African and other European influences creating huge diversity and is incredibly unique. Their culture is very much reflected in their food, music, play and pretty much their way of life!

15 - Brazil is world famous for its Football expolits. They are probably the only country that plays many variations of the game including footvolley, futsal and beach volley. It is the only country to win the World Cup 5 times and they have produced world famous players like Pele, Garinzcha, Zico, Romario and more recently Ronaldo. It is safe to say they are fanatical about the sport, male and female, and you can spark a conversation with any Brazilian about the game. Keep an eye out for Neymar c 18 years old, who is the player most expected to make the breakthrough as their next star! Touch of the Cristiano Ronaldo´s in his play and attitude though!

16 - Brazil will host the next World Cup in 2014 and Rio de Janeiro is also hosting the Olympics in 2016 after London in 2012

17 - Brazil is famous for "Carnaval" which in essence is a week long street party (and public holiday ie nobody works) with a huge variety in activities, music and dance depending on the location. It is held every year the week before Ash Wednesday. My understanding is the idea is to celebrate and experience all the things you are supposed to give up during lent.......ie an excuse to go mental! The Carnaval is held everywhere throughout the country and not just in Rio as a lot of foreigners believe. Some places celebrate for c 4/5 days, others for a week and some other places for anything for a week to 1 month! Most tourists head for Rio, most Brazilians dream of going to Salvador but in my experience the best was Olinda/Recife in the North-East. Without doubt the most enjoyable week of my life!!!! (Carnaval starts this week, March 4th by the way!!!!!!!!)

18 - Brazil is also famous for its shanty-towns (mostly existing in the hills) or known here as Favelas where a lot of people live in poverty but it also has a strong reputation for drugs and theft. Cidade de Dues or City of God is the most famous film depicting a Rio Favela. Pretty much every big city has it fair share of Favelas and Rio probably the most.

19 - Brazilians love cold beer and as a result they drink beer out of small glasses, which are constantly being filled from a freezing cold large bottle, which they share between friends. It is a really cool and social way of drinking and much better than drinking pints separately.

20 - You can drink alchool pretty much anywhere in Brazil.........ie on the beach, on the street and you can even bring a beer into a restaurant and get away with it!

21-  In Brazil you get to choose from arguably the most varied and wonderful mix of juices and ice-creams. Definitely something I will miss when I leave.

22 - Their national dish is feijoada, which is in essence black beans made of meat. When you see it for the first time it doesn´t look that appetising as it looks like something you may have distributed off at the toilet before but despite that it is quite nice.

23 - Brazilians love their nicknames. Pretty much everyone has one and in a lot of cases they take on these apellidos (nickname in Portuguese) as their real name. A good example would be Pele. Another good example is the tall footballer Grafite (means Giraffe) who plays in Germany and a friend I have in Rio who I know as Boca (means mouth). I was told he was called this as he had a funny mouth when younger and I have never heard anyone else call him by anything different.

24 - Brazilians are world renowned for their friendliness, relaxed nature, love of fun, love of beach, love of speedos & g-strings, love of football and most of all their love of love! Probably the only negative connotation to Brazil is the lack of security and huge poverty and murders in the favelas and surrounds.

25 - In essence Brazil is a Country of huge variety including the Amazon/Jungle, lots of preserved and unique wildlife, numerous mountains and different terrains, large production of unique fruits, large coastline with beautiful beaches, incredible mix of races and looks (further north more African and further south more European) and probably the only country where they all take a c week long public holiday just to party!!!!!


I have been in Brazil for the guts of 6 weeks now and have yet to update the blog so I must be too busy enjoying myself then!!!!!!!!!

I arrived in Brazil from Venezuela and immediatly flew from Sao Paulo to Fortaleza in the North East of Brazil. Fortaleza means "Fortress" in Portuguese by the way!

I had not been to the city of Fortaleza before and had heard it was famous for its beaches so was looking forward to chilling out for a week or two while trying to brush up on my Portuguese, hopefully getting some lessons while there.

Unfortunately it didn´t work out just like that! I stayed for nearly two weeks and it rained c 60/70% of the time which ruled out the beaches! The rain was unreal, much more than we get at home. It was actually ok weather for first 4/5 days but it pissed every day after that. And despite my best efforts I could not find a Portugese teacher when there. To top it off I was then sick for c 3 days when there and spent most of that time in bed.

I think the best way to describe Fortaleza would be in line with the famous film "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" and not really what I expected.

There are some very beautiful aspects to Fortaleza, in particular the beaches in the city and the surrounds. It also has a very classy cultural centre called Dragao do Mar which always seemed busy, with lots of activities and tons of things to do.

                                                       Beautiful Coastline Fortaleza

When I was there it was the middle of the Brazilian summer holidays so there were tons of Brazilians who were there on holiday. The area surrounding the beach is full of top quality big Hotels, nice but expensive restaurants and nice bars. It is a really nice area, very safe but unfortunatly on the back-packers budget..........ie a bit out of my league!

Outside of the beaches, there really wasn´t much to get excited about. I spoke to a few Brazilians since and they agree that the only attraction to Fortaleza are the beaches. The city centre reminded me of being on the set of "Thriller" (Michael Jackson song) as you felt at any moment someone or thing was going to appear from under the ground or drain or wall. It was dirty, pretty ugly and I think "creepy" as we called it in the hostel was the most apt way to describe it.

The ladies in Fortaleza are a real dissapointment for Brazil. Some of my Brazilian mates I made there would describe it as "Fortaleza fea", which means Fortaleza ugly. It was also really sleazy with tons of prostitiutes in the bars.

There is a lot of poverty and homelessness in Fortaleza. And it can feel pretty unsafe a lot of the time. A Polish guy in our hostel was stabbed one night when spending time on the beach with a friend, while the guys were only looking for money. He probably should never have been on the beach so late but that´s hardly excusing what happened to him.

Fortaleza for me does not have much to attract the back-packer but then again if you are looking for a two week chill out holiday in Brazil, it is not a bad place to go!

You will probably wonder why did I stay there for two weeks then. A combination of being sick, laziness and the cool people in the Hostel kept me there!

The Backpackers Hostel in Fortaleza would be far from the most salubrious location I have ever stayed in and had its own little intricacies like getting no towel, being a bit disorgansied and deshivilled and all those who stayed having to buy and of course use your own toilet roll. But maybe the lack of organisation added to its character and also attracted characters to the hostel. I met lots of cool, interesting and fun people when there. The strange thing about the hostel was that we nearly always drank beers in the hostel each night and rarely if ever ventured outside.

There also was a nice mix of Gringos, other South Americans and Brazilians but everybody really mixed well and was always very welcoming. I made some really good friends when there who I hope to meet again.

            Most of the crew at the Hostel

I had a cool day on the sauce with a real mixed bunch of guys and girls from the hostel. I was walking the beachfront one late afternoon (one of the days it wasn´t raining) and I bumped into two lads, Pedro and Schineyder, from the hostel who I had only just met the night before. Little did I know then that I was going to need me drinking boots. The two boys had limited English and even despite my limited Portuguese we had no issue communicating. We started off boozing on the beach, a cool Brazilian trait, and then headed on a pub crawl but with no particular plan. Eventually we finshed back in the hostel and I hit the hay around 4am pretty drunk. The next thing I knew I was back up again at 7,30 and the boys had gathered up a crew who thay had come back from a nightclub when I was in bed to hit the beach and continue drinking.

We bought a few beers on the street and then headed for the bus station.



Starting early - 8 am and people are heading to work!

We were having gas craic getting funny looks from those heading to work while we were messing on the street including me walking behind people imitating their walks much to all the guys amusement! Once we got to the beach we setlled into our chairs and drank the whole day! We had mad craic with tons of mad stuff happening including always taking the piss of each-other etc...... For example if a good or even reasonable (not many good lookers in Fortaleza) looking girl passed by we all broke out in the Inxs song........"Beautiful Girl Stay with Me"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Everyone of us on the beach was given a nickname including a few below:

1 - Schineyder Holanda was christened "Wesley" after Holland football player Wesley Schneider due to the resemblence of his name. Wesley Schnedier also scored a headed goal that knocked Brazil out of the last World Cup so every time we joked about the name "Wesley" imitated the same goal celebration that the Dutch player did by patting his head!



                                Wesley!



                 And patting his head!!!!

2 - Alina was christened "Chefe" as this means the boss in Portuguese and there was no doubt this lady was the boss and not to be messed with. Very funny as other people in the hostel afterwards actually though her name was Chefe for the rest of the time she was there!



             The Boss aka Chefe!

3 - Alejandro was given 2 nicknames as in 1- Alegaga due to Lady Gaga´s song about his name or 2 - Juan Sebastian Veron as he looked the image of the Argentine ex Man United footballer. A cool guy who loved the nicknames.




Juan Sebastian Veron in the yellow shirt!


4 - I was christened Edward Norton supposedly due to the resemblence and even somebody on the beach approached me with a picture of Edward Norton asking me what this me. Not sure though if the guys didn´t set that up though!

We went back to the hostel all prettty drunk and poor Wesley and Pedro had to immediatly leave to catch a bus home to their cities. Reckon they may have slept on the bus! Hopefully I will see the boys in Ireland sometime soon as they are really cool people. They brought loads of people in the hostel together and create a party environment. It wasn´t the same place after they left. I have included a few photos of the all the guys just here alongside the text but most of the photos of the day and a half on the sauce are at the bottom of the blog!



                     Pedro and Schineyder aka Wesley

I also met tons of other cool people including:

1 - Alejandro, Juan Pablo and Tomas - three really sound lads from Beunos Aires who were also on the beach with us that fun day. The lads have already been in touch about meeting up in Buenos Aires. The lads used to love the English footbll chants I thought them but Tomas was the only one though with a bit of footie intelligence as the others two boys were River Plate fans.



Juan Sebastian Veron and Juan Pablo on the left of the picture!

2 - Jooe and Fabi - two other cool Brazilians who were on the beach with us that day. Joao started to copy me calling all the characters selling stuff on the beach "Howaya George"!



             Howaya George or Howaya Jooe!



Fabi.........Juan Sebastian would build a very close relationship with her later on!!!!!!!

3 - Roberto - Roberto was a chef and he often would cook for us! Unfortunately I have no photos of Roberto as a young lady I met after Fortaleza deleted my photos. All these photos here are Wesley´s!

4 - Lyell - cool Amerian guy who was working in the hostel. Poor Lyell had to deal with a lot of shite as the hostel wasn´t really well run by the owners.




            Lyelly.........finally off duty!!!!!


There were tons of other cool people but these guys stood out and I know people are not really too keen to read lots about people they have never met so I will leave it at that.

And for all those who keep asking me "what about the women Hanby" well sorry lads nothing to report in Fortaleza. But then again maybe I was lucky to escape the Fortaleza ladies!!!!!!!

Over and out,
James.

ps will have next blog update on Salvador completed in next couple of days

PICS OF A DAY AND A HALF ON THE SAUCE



             Where it all started on the beach!



               Drink Number One!




            Pedro and mise get the ball rolling!!!!!!!




           The love of the Brazilian Beer!




                    The Pub Crawl Continues!



            Boys start to get a bit merry!



   Lads getting rowdy with Footie Chants!




              Then back to the hostel for more beers!



Boys continue on after I hit the hay (which was only for 3 hours!)




Pedro´s starting to wish he hit the hay as well.........!



           Chefe starts calling the shots!!!!!



Juan Sebastian Veron makes a move for Chefe but later he was to turn his attention to Fabi...!




            Well not much later!!!!!!!!




The next morning we hit the beach! The Argie boys would join us later!



           1st beer on the beach.........now c 8,30 am!



   Pedro makes his advances on Chefe!!!!!




The boys starting to top up again and get a bit messy!



              Wesley makes a move on Fabi!!!!!!!!





               The Gang at the beach!




                The Argies have now arrived!




Jooe and James a bit drunk! I am saying I have two ladies while Jooe only has one!!!! Tomas from Argentina in the background to the right.



Chefe puts her hair over Juan Sebastian Veron for a "Jack Sparrow" impression!




Juan Sebastian Veron starts to hone in on Fabi and when we hit the bus back the relationship really starts to blossom!

Venezuela

Apologies am a bit behind on the blog front but am finally getting round to updating my time spent in Venezuela in early/mid January!

I only spent c 8 days in Venezuela but there´s no doubt it was an interesting and thought provoking time.

I arrived in Venezuela very apprenhensive even though I had spent 3 weeks there 8 years ago. Before I went I had read a lot of negative things on the Internet about how dangerous it had become, including some warnings from other travellers. To give you a flavour about what my expectations were, here are a few snippets of what I had read on the Internet prior to arriving there:

1 - From Internet Site Newsflavor (International Relations Website)

"Why Venezuela is The Most Dangerous Country in The World

Published by gaby7 on December 19, 2010 in International Relations

In 2009, 4,644 civilians where killed in Iraq. In the same year, 16,000 civilians died in violent crimes in Venezuela. This makes Venezuela the most dangerous country in the world."

2 -  FROM INTERNET SITE "ASSOCIATED CONTENT" (owned by Yahoo)

"TOP 5 MOST DANGEROUS COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD

4. Venezuela

Political tension and a widening gap between the high and low classes (the middle class is thinning tremendously) are to blame for this country's ridiculously high crime rates. Homicide has skyrocketed

by 67% since Hugo Chavez took office in 1999. It has one of the highest gun-related deaths in the world, categorizing it as one of the most dangerous nations in Latin America and the world. Corrupt law enforcement does not do much to keep civil order, as many policemen themselves are delinquents in uniform. This causes victim citizens to take orders into their own hands. Hitmen can be hired for as little as $20. People are shot and killed for petty reasons such as dirty looks and insults."

3 - From EZine Articles

MOST DANGEROUS COUNTRIES 2010

2) Venezuela.
Can one person out of 28 million influence a country to the extent that they end up on this list? Yes they can, and Hugo Chavez does exactly that for Venezuela. This leader openly hates almost every country in the world, and makes sure you know it. The outspoken leader uses his countries oil wealth to influence weaker countries, and in the process, successfully makes an enemy of almost every other world power. Combined with the fact the country ranks #2 on the "List of countries by intentional homicide rate" produced by the Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development, the country is not one that you should take the kids for the summer. From personal experience, I have never felt more uncomfortable in a country in my life. As one local told me my first day in Venezuela, "Man, they will shoot you for your shoes here....hell, they'll shoot you just from being from the US."

4 - A FEW COMMENTS FROM OTHER TRAVELLERS ON THE LONELY PLANET WEBSITE WHO HAVE RECENTLY BEEN TO VENEZUELA

"BORDER CROSSING FROM COLOMBIA (This was the same border crossing I was taking)
Beware the boarder crossings with Colombia. We were crossing the boarder around 8:00 pm in a hired car due to a late bus (12/17/10). 5 minutes into Venezuela they opened fired on us with the driver being the main target. Bullets and glass were flying all around the car and we barely escaped the gunman. We were in a caravan of 3 taxis and they only shot at the one with the tourists in it. All the Venezuelans know the tourist are bring in dollars to take advantage of the black market so were all targets. I have several coworkers who are in Venezuela for the holidays and I plan on getting there reports when they get back after the new year. I suspect there will be more stories of robberies. I hope the kidnapping thing is just by the border. I also have traveled many places with the travel warnings in place including Venezuela. This time the 30% inflation and a notorious black market for dollars, it is more dangerous than before. I use to travel by the seat of my pants in taxis and rental cars here. I would not even think of doing this now."

"

Handling corrupt officials and heavy crime rates in Venezuela - pay bribes?

Hello,
Going to Venezuela in some months. It will be the start of a 4 month long trip to S.A. but it is the only destination I am quite worried about. The money situation, with me having to bring in my money in cash, is rather easily solved by carrying a good money belt (a real belt) but some other things that seem to be going on in the country worry me more.

Recently, some people have posted on here and I have also heard from other sources that officials like military/police are doing bad stuff to tourists. Demanding of bribes, planting of drugs in bags to demand bribes, threats and even outright muggings by military officials. I myself have no idea how to react if something like this would happen.
Handling general crooks isn't that difficult, I guess - just hand over whatever decoy wallet I've got with 40$ you have and get out of there.
But with officials? Shall I, for example, pay bribes or is this always out of the question? How exactly does one handle bribe-paying (how does the procedure work) in order not to get extremely ripped off etc?
If the military robs you, is it more along the lines of stealing some stuff from your backpack or like total strip searches stealing everything I have etc?


A response
"storyseller,
I have been a victim of forced bribes on many ocasions so I'll just try to outline how I've gotten out of them.
My first recommendation is to not look rich, if you have expensive stuff on you, they will obviously think you have lots of cash as well. If you are well prepared, you should have your money spread in places that will be hard for them to find it even if they search your stuff. Money belts are not always a good idea because thiefs will look for them first and officers will allegedly search you for firearms and detect your moneybelts. Money should be in small pockets inside clothes in your bag and in other creative places that only you will know. This would be the single most important advice.
Never raise your voice, never disrespect them and show a little fear, but make sure you are in control of yourself. Fear will give them the perception that they have the advantage, which is crucial for a good deal.
Appeal to their pity, make up a sad story like that you got robbed two days ago and they took all your money, or that you spent all your money because you're at the end of your trip, say that you are not a wealthy person and that this trip was a gift from your grandmother.... making up a good story if essential to sympathise, if you take the road of confrontation, you might just end up in jail.


end of quotes----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Of course everything I read wasn´t negative but when you read comments and articles as above they tend to stick in the mind and heighten the apprehension about entering the country! Some or most of you will probably wonder why in God´s name did I go to Venezuela after reading the above but there was a part of me that was fascinated by the challenge and also intrigued to see was what I read pure rubbish or was it all true, especially having been there before! Crazy I know but "benvenido a mi vida" or "welcome to my world"!

Venezuela definitely is unique within South America. It is bordered by Colombia to the west, Brazil to the south and Dutch Guyana to the east. It is famous for its beautiful chicas winning Miss World titles, being the home of Simon Bolivar, its beautiful beaches, being in the top 4 largest oil exporters in the world, being the only country in South America who are fanatical about Baseball and lastly for its current leader Hugo Chavez who continues to divide opinion not only worldwide but also in his own homeland.

I leave Venezuela with mixed emotions. I spent circa one week there inclusive of two days in Maracaibo, which is Venezuela´s second biggest city, circa 5 days in Merida, which is probably Venezuela´s most famous tourist destination and then a disasterous final day in the capital Caracas.

The country is unique in South America. The most talked about point in Venezuela and also outside the country is their current leader, Hugo Chavez,  and the political situation. Chavez is an intriguing character and from the people I met it was very black or white regarding their opinion of him. To some he is loved and deemed a hero and to others he is despised but ironically both are with equal measure!

To give some background to Master Chavez, he has been in power for c 12 years in Venezuela. He was in the army before that and many moons before he won power he lead a failed military coup. A few years after though he managed to win power through democratic means. When I was there 8 years ago, Venezuela was at the end of a year long strike mainly in revolt to Chavez trying to change the constitution so he could remain in power indefintiely. Everybody I met appeared to be so anti-Chavez at that time that it is amazing the guy has managed to remain in power for so long.

He has very close ties with other Latin American leaders like Fidel Castro in Cuba and Morales in Bolivia. I am told he has very similar political views to Fidel Castro and more than one person I met in Venezuela told me that his aim is to make Venezuela into a similar political regime as what exists in Cuba.

He has been very smart in how he portrays himself to the genral public in Venezuela. Venezuela´s national hero is Simon Bolivar, who like Michael Collins in Ireland was the catalyst in the country (and also other surrounding countrys) winning independence from Spain. Simon Bolivar is revered in Venezuela and I think it is safe to say he is a national hero. Chavez has cleverly aligned himself very closely to Bolivar and you constantly see posters/pictures etc.... adorning the walls/streets/roads of Venezuela with Chavez alongside a portrait of Bolivar spreading his message to his citizens. In some ways you could argue that it is being implied that the message portrayed is that of Simon Bolivar as much as it is Hugo Chavez. You also see him everyday on National Television addressing the nation. I am not sure how popular this station is but it is safe to say that it is hard to ignore what he is saying and the citizens are constantly being reminded of his beliefs and aims "a todo hora" ie all the time!

From my limited experience, I would argue that Venezuela does not have anywhere near as strong a culture as most of its neighbours. It is rare you taste a uniquely Venezuelan dish or hear Venezuelan music or see many Venezuelan companies. I am not sure why but they seem to import everything and in the main from the US. It could be argued that as such a strong Oil Exporter that they do not need to develop other industries. It would appear that it is Hugo Chavez´s aim to make the country more nationalistic and as a result he is encouraging more Venezuelan music on the radio, has some aims to encourage more local business and takes a very anti-American stance, maybe to discourage the amount of goods they import from the US. To be fair, I would agree with his intentions but I am not so sure that his method of going about this is the correct one as I believe he has isolated the country in International Relations, which has been to the detriment to the country.

Chavez was very vocal in his Anti-American stance to their invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan. His relationship with George Bush was pretty much non-existant but I believe relations have changed since Obama has taken power. I would imagine the US would love to see Chavez lose power as Venezuela is the nearest Oil Producing Country to their shores and must be an important country for the supply of the required energy they need. Venezuela also has a strained relationship with Colombia which has only recently surfaced. Colombia claim, while trying to erradicate the terrorist threat, that Venezuela have taken refuge to a lot of FARC Guerillas on the Venezuelan border side and allowed them to continue to train etc......

There is an election next year in Venezuela so it will be interesting to see what happens. Those I met anti-Chavez were, in the main, adamant he would lose power but then again I also met a lot of pro-Chavez people so it is impossible for me to make a judgement. I also learnt from a guy from Panama I met in Medellin that in Panama they reckon they´ve taken in c 250,000 of the more educated Venezuelans in the last few years who are fleeing the Chavez regime. If this is true you would have to believe at least as many if not more have fled to Colombia and the surrounds as Panama does not border Venezuela.

All of those who were anti-Chavez were really embarrased about his role and influence in the country and about their international perception but was also equally interesting was the majority of people I met had no idea the country had a negative perception worldwide for violence and safety etc......I know I am spending a lot of time talking about Hugo Chavez and Venezuelan politics and to a lot of natives this is a taboo subject so I do feel a little embarrased doing so but I genuinely think he is an interesting personality and because he is talked about so much worldwide it is hard not to take an interest in what his role is in the country. He is also the first question most people from outside Venezuela ask me about when I mention I have visited there.

To summarize, it is difficult to work out whether he is a good or negative influence on the country. I believe he has done some positive things like make education, housing and opportunites more accessible to the poor. I also agree with his intention to try and make Venezuela more nationalistic and encouraging more local industry. There just is more questions than answers like:
1 - Where does all the oil money go?
2 - If true, why are all the well educated and the future of Venzuela industry leaving?
3 - Why are all the voilence statistics so bad in Venezuela and only appear to be getting worse while nothing seems to being done to address this, unlike say what Colombia are doing?
4 - Why has the country got no tourists?
5 - Why does the country make it so difficult for tourists to travel through and why aren´t they trying to encourage more tourists to help their economy and worldwide perception?
6 - Why has Chavez isolated himself from the majority of world leaders?
7 - Why are so many people unaware of their negative worldwide perception?
8 - Why does he feel the need to spend so much time on TV spreading his message and not spend more time concentrating on running the country in the most efficient manner possible?

For all of the above questions, I am more inclined to have a negative perception of his influence on the country but there is no doubt that he is an interesting character and thought-provoking. For those interested in reading a brief BBC profile on Hugo Chavez, feel free to read the attached link..........................http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-10086210

It is interesting to compare Colombia to Venezuela. When I was in Venezuela 8 years ago and close to the Colombian border, it was Colombia who was deemed to be the place not for tourists to enter and Venezuela was deemed to be a lot safer and a lot more tourist friendly. From what I experienced and have read, the Colombian government and the Colombian people have gone out of their way to change this perception and I think is benefitting today from this attitude as I saw lots and lots of tourists when there and also think this phenomenon will only increase in the coming years. I believe Venezuela would benefit greatly from replicating this attitude but only time will tell whether this happens or not!

What was also an interesting phenomenon, which I touched on earlier, was how much Venezuela is influenced by US. If you were to read Chavez you would think it was one of the most anti-American countries worlwide but from what I experienced on the ground it was definitely very different. I met at least 3 taxi drivers who had lived in the States and they all said they enjoyed it and liked it there even through they had returned home. I also met a few others who had strong ambitions to move to the States in the near future.

As mentioned before, there are a huge amount of US goods and companies there. Venezuela don´t seem to produce much other from oil and nearly everything I saw imported was from the US. They also had tons of US fast-food chains and much more than anywhere else I had seen in South America. All the cars I saw seemed to be American models, especially all the older cars, whereas in Brazil you mostly see Fiat and Volkswagens.

There is also the unsual money situation in relation to US Dollars there for those travelling. The official exchange rate is 4 Bolivars to 1 US Dollar which makes Venezuela much more expensive then Colombia. Despite that, it is possible to exchange money on the street on the black market and obtain in the region of 8 Bolivars to 1 US Dollar, which make Venezuela much cheaper than Colombia. I was aware of this before travelling and purposedly brought US dollars with me to exchange when I got to Venezuela as they have no interest in Euros. The whole procedure to get it changed could be either straight forward or very under the table depending on the location. I exchanged money in Maracaibo Bus Terminal and was brought into a dingy room with circa 5 or 6 peculiar looking characters and when in Merida I exchanged money with a travel agent, which was very straight forward and easier than buying milk in a newsagent! I had read many stories of people exchanging money and getting ripped off with fake Bolivars or getting robbed immediatly after doing the exchange, so you always had to be on guard when doing so. Again, it´s ironic when you view all this in context of the Venezuelan Goverment´s attitude to the US because on the street the US Dollar is King!

Lastly, they are probably the only country in South America who are not football or soccer mad but instead mad into Baseball, which as we all know is a predominately American sport. Ironically another very anti US country as in Cuba is also a massive Baseball fan! Maybe all of the above has influenced Chavez stance against the US as he may believe they are overly influential there but it was not what I expected to see when I arrived there!

The trip I took through Venezuela included two days in their 2nd biggest city Maracaibo, 5 days in Merida and my final day in the capital Caracas. I had a nice time in Maracaibo. I didn´t see the centre of the city but the city is surrounded by a massive lake which actually eventually flows out to the Caribeean Sea. I visited a nice park surrouding the lake while there which was very pretty. I spent most of my time in Merida, which is a place I really like. The people there are very friendly, easy-going and the town is realy easy to navigate. There are lots of things to do, especially actitvity sports, and the food is nice and good value!

It is a small town by Venezuelan standards but famous for tourists from Venezuela and outside. It was the only place where I did see other gringos even if only a handfull. I had spent 3 weeks there 8 years ago and it was really weird visiting all the places I remembered from my previous visit and it brought back a few memories. I felt really safe there and there is a cool vibe to the place as it is University town. If I were to visit Venezuela again, I would defo go to Merida.

                            Picture of the Main Square in Merida with a Staute to Simon Bolivar

                          A picture of the exact location 8 years ago in Merida I got threatened with a gun!

                          Another picture of Simon Bolivar statute with mountains in background

                                            A picture of a local beautiful church in Merida

The Internet Cafe 8 years ago where I found out Brian Kerr had convinced Roy Keane to return to play for Ireland

          An old Irish Bar in Merida which has now unfortunately closed down. It was called "The Clover"!

                The place were I stayed in Merida 8 years ago. It looks so different to what I remember!

                                                A view of Merida from a height!

View of Merida mountains and the old Telliferico which was a cable-car ride up the mountians which has been closed for last 3 years

                                          Another beautiful view of Merida from a height

                         Me standing on the edge of the mountain just before going Paragliding

Me and two guys who went Paragliding. One was a Swedish guy and the other from Venezuela and a big Chavez fan!

                                          Me and another two guys who went Paragliding

                                          Picture of where we jumped down when Paragliding!


I had intended hitting the Caribeean coast but due to travel complications (lack of space on buses) I didn´t get around to it. It was a pity as I believe the coastline is very beautiful in Venezuela. I did spend one day in Caracas, which is deemed very dangerous for tourists, but because I was travelling from the bus station and had my bags with me, I went straight to the airport to see if they would let me leave my bags there so I could spend some time looking around. Unfortunately, they wouldn´t let me leave my bags there so I had to spend nearly the entire day in the airport, which is not a nice place!

As for my own personal experience of Venezuela, I can´t make up mind whether I like it. There are defintely things that I really liked about Venezuela. Firstly, there are some really cool people that I was fortunate to meet, mostly through couchsurfing. I made some good friends in Venezuela including the below:

1 - Liliana - she´s a really cool girl who I made friends with in Maracaibo. Lilianna really looked after me even to the point of ensuring I got sorted with decent accomodation when I arrived as honestly, I didn´t know where to look. She was really easy-going, fun and always smiling. She chaffured me around for the two days I was there despite having her final college exams looming a couple of days after I left. Liliana really made me feel welcome and the hospitality she afforded me would be hard to find in Ireland! Liliana has been to Europe but is venturing to Egypt in May which should be a real interesting time for her considering the current political instability there!

                                                             A picture of Liliana!

Picture of Lili and her buddy Gustavo, one of the many Vennezuelans I met who wanted to move to the States

2 - Danny and Luis - In Merida I spent a really fun night out with Danny and Luis. Danny had been to Ireland and now owns a Japenese restaurant in Merida. She was another fun girl, full of life and always smiling. Her boyfriend Luis was a sound bloke who is currently living in Spain but was back home on an extended holdiay. They brought me to a cool nightclub full of beautiful Venezuelan chicas and we all had a great laugh. These guys were really good fun and we all gave it socks with mad dancing etc...

           Picture of me Luis to right with Danny and a Colombian guy before we hit the nightclub!
3 - Brigiemar -  I met Brigiemar on the bus from Maracaibo to Merida. She sat down beside me on the bus on what was a long journey and really made a big effort to chat to me and make me feel welcome. Even though we didn´t meet up when I was in Merida, we have been in contact since on email and facebook.

Pic of Brigiemar!

4 - Claudia - I also met Claudia in Merida. Claudia did not speak much English so chatting with her was great for my Spanish. She also was very patient and was very easy to chat to which helped. She brought me out one evening with her friend for some food and a couple of drinks and we had a really nice evening. Claudia had also travelled to Europe!

Pic of Claudia!

5 - Paragliding Crew - Merida is famous for activity sports due to its varied landscape and one day I managed to generate the courage to go "parapente" or Paragliding in English. I am not renowned for my activity sports by the way! The group of instructors who brought us were great guys who were always having a laugh. One of the guys who went with us had an uncle who had managed the Venezuelan football team in years gone by. He was a footie fantatic so we had lots to talk about!!!!

6 - Two headers I met outside Barina Bus Station - I had to take two buses to get from Merida to Caracas in order to catch my flight to Brazil. I took a bus from Merida to Barina and had to stop there for a couple of hours at night to wait for a bus to Caracas. I was starving and had to go outside the bus terminal which you are warned not to do as a gringo to get some food. I went to some food/bar joint down the road and there were two headers sitting at the table beside knocking back the gargle who were only dying to enagage muggins in conversation. I was reluctant as was fully aware I was isolated and very vulnerable but these guys were not giving up easy and we ended up having a great laugh talking about anything from women to football to Europe and pretty much talked abot anything and nothing. These were great characters and full of craic and it was really pleasant to meet such nice guys in the most unlikely environment!

7 - Guy selling CD´s at stall when I arrived - I took a bus from Colombia over the border into Venezuela. I was warned that this was a dangerous journey, especially for Gringos and now further complicated by the FARC influence on the Venezuelan border. If you remember above some guy mentioend being shot at when travelling the same route. We did get a few poilce guys search the bus but luckily they never hassled me. For some unknown reason the bus I took didn´t leave us at the Bus Terminal in Maraciabo but to a small car park in the middle of nowhere. It was c 10.00 at night and I had pretty much no cash and nowhere to stay. Luckily I got chatting to a guy selling CD´s at a stall beside the car park who was very helpful and ensured I got into a reputable cab as he warned me that if I flagged one down I could end up in trouble. I was grateful for his help!

8 - Taxi Driver in Maraciabo - The following morning I headed to the Bus Terminal in Maracaibo as I was very low on funds and had read it was a good place to exchange money. As I said I was running low on cash but was told I could get a bus directly to the terminal. Anyway I get chatting at the bus station to a local who tells me to get on a certain bus to bring me to the terminal. The only problem once I got on I found out it left you c 2 miles away from the terminal so I then porceeded to leave the bus in a nearby area but it was jam packed with people and I was gettign a few sinister looks. An old lady noticed I was vulnerable and approached me to help me out and told me there were no buses from there directly to the terminal, it wasn´t safe to walk and I would have to grab a cab. The only problem is that I had pretty much no Bolivars left and next thing the old lady flags down this shared taxi (common in Venezuela) and tells me to get in. I tell the guy I have no cash but he says don´t worry he won´t charge me. I must admit I was worried about where he may leave me but as good as his word he left me at the terminal and he wouldn´t even accept the few notes I had on me. Again another really nice experience in the most unlikely circumstances!

I also had other positive experiences in Venezuela including experiencing the natural beauty of the country. As mentionend above, I really liked Merida and Maracaibo was also a nice place to visit. After you get you head round the intricate money-changing environment, Venezeula is also very cheap. The food in general was also better than Colombia but the women were not as attractive but then it is hard to outscore Colombia on that ladies front!

There were things that I was not so keen on in Venezuela though. It has to be the worst place I have visited for service. I venetured into numerous restaurants and got ignored or made feel like I was not welcome. The attitude of people working in the airport and the bus terminals were a pain in the arse. Any time you asked a simple question or for help in these places you got a look as if to say "fuck off" or "I couldn´t be arsed helping you". Often you would get ignored and people rarely made eye contact with you when you asked a simple question. When trying to get from Merida to Caracas, there were no buses available for the day and I needed to get a bus in order to ensure I made my flight to Brazil. Nobody in the bus terminal was interested in helping me and I was just lucky that I made friends with a Scottish guy back in Merida who was able to help me out and clarify that I could get a bus to one terminal and then I would be able to get a direct bus from there to Caracas.

The army and police in Caracas Airport are a disgrace to their country. I lost count of the amount of times I was harrassed and searched at the airport. One particular guy even stopped me three separate times to search me. Luckily enough nobody asked me for money but if they had I think I would have told them where to go. These guys are just pig ignorant and most of them are on a power trip. They actually get a buzz out of making you feel uncomfortable and they always take your passport and other valuables and only hand them back a few minutes after they let you go. Only god knows what is the justification for the amount of them there as most of them could by used policing the streets like in Colombia. I was never so happy to reach Brazilian soil as I had a connection flight there and the difference in the attitude in Sao Paulo airprot is immense as airport staff etc...are so helpful and conscious of tourists.

While in Caracas aiport I met a few other tourists who experienced the same harrassment and most were saying they would never return as a result. I can´t see Venezuela experiencing a surge in tourism until safety concerns are alleviated and those working in the service inductry change their attitude.

The only really mad night out I had in Venezuela was in Merida on a Monday. I was out with Claudia and her friend but they left early and I joined Paul, a young Scottish guy who was living there and his buddy Ormando from Ecudaor who was there on business. The two boys were waiting to meet two girls from Caracas but the girls were at some tour and wouldn´t be arriving until midnight and I joined the boys drinking around 8pm so we´d consumed a good few units by the time the girls arrived! We then went to a club which was deserted and Paul decided with us well oiled that the girls needed to play catch up so he bought this concoction he christened "rocket fuel". The only issue was the girls were not to keen on the drink and with the boys paired off with the girls it was left to me good self to devour the "rocket fuel".

I don´t remember much of the night after we ordered the 2nd bottle (bottle as in equivalent to wine bottle) of "rocket fuel". All I know is that I fell on the way home and developed a small UDI (Unidentifiable Drunken Injury) on my arm! I met Paul the next day and he told me we all went to a local park after the club closed and the girls took some crazy pics of all of us. He tells me there is one with me on my knee with one of the girls rings in my hand pretending to propose and there are lots of similar photos! Unfortunately, I am still waiting to see the photos as the two girls fell out the next day and haven´t talked since!!!!!

                 The one pic I took from the mad night out with Paul, Ormando and two girls!!!!!!!


I think that is enough about Venezuela so will try to cut short this epilogue!

To summarize, Venezuela is a beautiful country with tons of really nice and friendly people. There is a complicated political environment and the country isn´t really catered for tourists but don´t believe everything you read as it is not half as dangerous as it is made out to be. Sometimes I wished I hadn´t read any of the reports as the preducied my viewpoint while there but I am glad I visited Venezuela as it was an interesting time, I made some good friends and due to the lack of gringos there, my Spanish improved a lot when in Venezuela!!!!!!!

Adios amigos,
James.