Wow, my travels to South America are now over. I am sitting in the AA lounge in Miami, awaiting my flight to NYC. I've just heard it has been snowing there. I guess I can put my shorts and singlets away. YUK.

Our last day on the truck was relatively straight forward. We all just wanted to get to Caracas and get off the truck, hoping we didn't leave anything behind. Oh, we did stop for diesel again and I forgot to mention this last time. We filled up at 0.048c (bolivar fuerte) a litre. That is not even US1c a litre. How ridiculous is that. At 300lts it was about 15BF (US$3). Anyone could afford a car here. We slowly rolled into Caracas and past favellas. Huge difference here again between the poor and rich. Our hotel is in an area called Sabana Grande, fine during the day, not so good at night.

We went out for our last group meal and dribbled home at various times. At about 3am, I heard a really loud noise and got up to look out the window. All I could see was all these guys dressed in black, running down the street with guns. Turns out they were police. I called out to Amanda (roomie) but she just mumbled something and went back to sleep. They swarmed into the building next door. Now next door is an apartment block that has never been finished. They all have rounded outsides and the majority don't have windows and those that do don't have curved windows, they have just put 3 rectangle ones in. Anyway, I could see the police going through each apartment with flashlights obviously looking for someone. Went back to bed and woke up a little later and they were still there. At 7am when I looked out, there was about 50 guys sitting in the courtyard, some in handcuffs and the police were still bringing guys out. I thought it might be a drug bust. At brekky, Martha (who speaks Spanish) told me the maid had told her 3 people were killed and chopped up. Last night, one of the couples who had gone on a tour said their guide had told them that they are all squatters that live there and the police did a raid and found guns, drugs, stolen goods and 3 bodies so who knows, but that was our experience of the dangerous side of Caracas.

So Monday morning, it was time to say goodbye to Nikki, Michaela and Mark as they headed to the airport. Little bit teary at saying goodbye. We have spent alot of time together. I had also heard the night before from mum that 2 family friends had passed away so a difficult week with lots of goodbyes, although some less permanent than others. I spent the rest of the morning packing my bags and am proud to say it all fit. I'm going home with the same baggage, although the red bag I came with did get exchanged for a bigger red bag :)

That afternoon a group of us headed to the shopping centre. Walking around this centre, you could have been in any major city in the world. Lots of American brands and not cheap, along with KFC, McDonalds, Wendy's, Subway, etc. We went to the movies and saw Fast & Furious 4, quite brainless but exactly what I needed. Cost a whole 8BF. For dinner, we grabbed some cakes and went back to the hotel for a girls night in, in front of the TV.

Yesterday after more goodbyes, a group of us ventured downtown. Some beautiful old buildings, surrounded by skyscrapers and run down buildings. Crazy. Lots of monuments to Simon Bolivar who was instrumental in gaining independence from Spain for several countries. In his plaza, we found an iguana and squirrels. We also visited his old house and a museum which has lots of his personal stuff, including boots (he must have been tiny), shaving gear and swords. It is all free to enter so everyone has equal access.

Miranda and I then wandered down to a building I had read you could go up for a free view of the city. Didn't get to that one but found another and had a great look over the city (lots of smog). We passed a market which appeared to be giving free seafood away and apparently they were. It's Holy week and giving away free food to the poor is how Chavez figures he can stay in. He is also apparently building more cable cars up to the favellas for the poor people, but throwing money at them isn't going to help them in the long run, I would have thought.

Went out for one last dinner last night with some of the girls still here, had one of the best pizzas we've had so far. This morning, got up to wave them off as they headed out of Caracas on the truck. One last drama, the taxi drivers had let down 2 of the tyres because they didn't like where the truck was parked. Before they left, Wes & Ross pulled the taxi phone out and made it a little unusable.

I shared a taxi with 2 others to the airport, checked in, had to pay US$94 in departure tax and then tried to exchange my left over money back to US but they wouldn't do it at the official places. I thought I would go and see if Brian & Keryn needed it, but in the meantime a security guy asked me if I needed to change money and directed me to some guys who were loitering about. Wasn't too keen on doing that and luckily the other 2 came past at that moment and did need some local currency so exchanged with them. Goodbye to Venezuela.

Hard to believe it is all over. I have had a fantastic time here, along with a few bad moments, but memories to last a lifetime. So many stories to tell and I'm sure I have left quite a few out, although I have rambled on at times. Can't wait to see you all. Hope you enjoyed!!