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Gerbie on tour 12
May. 31st, 2000 07:48 pmGerbie on tour (12)
Time flies when you’re having fun. I have been on the road for over 200 days now, though I haven’t seen half of what I planned to see beforehand. Central America was much bigger than I though and a few of the countries (especially Honduras and Nicaragua) have held my attention much more than what’s good for my budget. But finally I did get to South America anyway. After the rum factory in David and a night in Penonome I arrived in the capital of Panama. A fairly big city, in which the old town on a peninsula was very beautiful. Obviously I did honor the famous canal with a visit. In visitors center Miraflores I saw a movie about the canal and saw some ships being lowered one more step on their way to the Atlantic. Very interesting, especially the history of the canal, from the very first idea in the 16th century until the first boat crossing in 1914. From Panama I flew to Caracas. The first thing that was obvious was the cost of living here. Apparently the flooding last year have wiped out a lot of budget hotels, after which I ended up paying more than in the USA to be lodged. Caracas is a very big town, where I should have spent more time to be able to say anything about it that makes sense at all. On the coast I first visited Barcelona (the same time my parents were visiting a town with the same name in Spain), a fairly big town, with a very small town center. Old and quiet. After that Cumana became the second colonial coastal town in which I had a walk. Apparently it is the oldest city in South America, grounded by the Spanish just after 1500. It has a very beautiful castle with a few over the whole city. Venezuela is a strange country. Very rich thanks to its oil, but also a lot of poverty around. There was a big electoral battle going on, but two days before people finally could vote, the elections were cancelled, due to some computer problems. A new date still has to be established. From Cumana I took the ferry to Isla Margarita. In exchange for free lodging at my former First Choice colleague Allison, I do carry some boxes up to her new apartment. In the meantime it is good to have some quiet days, for which this island is fairly suitable. It is not as bad as I thought it would be (I feared an isle in Cancun style, with only hotels, beaches and souvenir shops), Porlamar is even a real city, not one made up by big investors. My old First Choice connection got me into an excursion deep down into Venezuela. First we flew past Angel falls (highest water falls in the world), after which we went past more falls in a boat and with a small walk we reached a waterfall, where we could have a walk behind it. A brilliant experience. Being completely soaked obviously, I saw an incredible amount of water flying past. The water was obviously very welcome with the tropical heat there. On the second day we had a stroll through a jungle, a boat trip on one of the many rivers and also a visit to an authentic Indian village. I have seen a lot in these 2 days and this trip is a big recommender! I will probably not see very much of the Euro 2000 tournament, but luckily I am seeing plenty of the NBA play-offs. Apart from that there is the best local baseball player (Galaraga) playing for my favorite team (Atlanta Braves) in the USA, so I don’t have to miss out on that either, with all local papers writing a lot about him. For today it’s been enough, awaiting your mail, I cordially salute everybody! Gerben
Time flies when you’re having fun. I have been on the road for over 200 days now, though I haven’t seen half of what I planned to see beforehand. Central America was much bigger than I though and a few of the countries (especially Honduras and Nicaragua) have held my attention much more than what’s good for my budget. But finally I did get to South America anyway. After the rum factory in David and a night in Penonome I arrived in the capital of Panama. A fairly big city, in which the old town on a peninsula was very beautiful. Obviously I did honor the famous canal with a visit. In visitors center Miraflores I saw a movie about the canal and saw some ships being lowered one more step on their way to the Atlantic. Very interesting, especially the history of the canal, from the very first idea in the 16th century until the first boat crossing in 1914. From Panama I flew to Caracas. The first thing that was obvious was the cost of living here. Apparently the flooding last year have wiped out a lot of budget hotels, after which I ended up paying more than in the USA to be lodged. Caracas is a very big town, where I should have spent more time to be able to say anything about it that makes sense at all. On the coast I first visited Barcelona (the same time my parents were visiting a town with the same name in Spain), a fairly big town, with a very small town center. Old and quiet. After that Cumana became the second colonial coastal town in which I had a walk. Apparently it is the oldest city in South America, grounded by the Spanish just after 1500. It has a very beautiful castle with a few over the whole city. Venezuela is a strange country. Very rich thanks to its oil, but also a lot of poverty around. There was a big electoral battle going on, but two days before people finally could vote, the elections were cancelled, due to some computer problems. A new date still has to be established. From Cumana I took the ferry to Isla Margarita. In exchange for free lodging at my former First Choice colleague Allison, I do carry some boxes up to her new apartment. In the meantime it is good to have some quiet days, for which this island is fairly suitable. It is not as bad as I thought it would be (I feared an isle in Cancun style, with only hotels, beaches and souvenir shops), Porlamar is even a real city, not one made up by big investors. My old First Choice connection got me into an excursion deep down into Venezuela. First we flew past Angel falls (highest water falls in the world), after which we went past more falls in a boat and with a small walk we reached a waterfall, where we could have a walk behind it. A brilliant experience. Being completely soaked obviously, I saw an incredible amount of water flying past. The water was obviously very welcome with the tropical heat there. On the second day we had a stroll through a jungle, a boat trip on one of the many rivers and also a visit to an authentic Indian village. I have seen a lot in these 2 days and this trip is a big recommender! I will probably not see very much of the Euro 2000 tournament, but luckily I am seeing plenty of the NBA play-offs. Apart from that there is the best local baseball player (Galaraga) playing for my favorite team (Atlanta Braves) in the USA, so I don’t have to miss out on that either, with all local papers writing a lot about him. For today it’s been enough, awaiting your mail, I cordially salute everybody! Gerben
