21/07

Hi Everyone,

This may not be very upto date now but a brief review of an amazing trip to Rio Caribe follows. We moved on from the camp and headed East along the coast to a wonderful beach fringed with palms and jungle, as you will see from the photos 'Rio Caribe', it is remote. This was the first real taste of discomfort, no showers, no water even, no toilets, we were on our own.

The site was set

Tents errected and we got generally filthy dirty! We all have different responsibilities which help the smooth running of the operation, the only problem is that some take more responsibility than others. Hygiene is a major issue and the rules really have to be adhered to for everyones sake. I have my own anti-bacterial hand and face wash as well as liquid for washing food and clothes. this has helped a little but keeping clean is a constant battle.

En route to this location the truck broke down, a heavy smell of deisel proved to be a broken fuel line and the lads had to make running repairs to get us on our way again. The Truck is equipped with numerous spares and Franz and Dion are adept at carrying out whatever needs doing.

This is a completely different life . It's a million miles away from work in all its forms, I really do not miss it at all. We spent several days at the beach and I did my Ray Mears bit by building a fire and keeping it going for the whole time we were there. the scene is really idyllic, something you can only imagine most of the time. The surf was up for two of the days and we all had great fun, the rip tide is something else though and we all looked out for one another. The waves are probably only 6 or 7 feet high but hit with such force, Catch one well and you can body surf to the shore, it's the only wash I've had for all the time spent there!

I am ready for a good scrub!

The access to this piont is via a dirt road which leads through several very remote villages, the locals make incredible journeys to get anything, one lad we picked up travels 2 hours each way each day to go to college, he is lucky if a bus arrives at all and often has to pick up rides where he can, hence the reason he is on our truck. We are now heading South to Tucupita.

23/07

The Ranch - Tucupita - San Andreas Ranch

What a location! Beautiful a small ranch set out in a massive area of land with various types of accommodation. For a little extra we could have private facilities or camp or sleep in hammocks in the grounds. Due to the financial situation in the Country it has been very difficult to obtain cash of any description. Therefore, I am very low on money and have had to be really frugal. I am opting for the hammocks in the grounds! Set under a lovely thatched roof shelter are ten hammocks spread out from a central post. Only three of us used this type of set up so we had plenty of room to spread out, it was fabulous.

i had bought a mosi net so this was the time to use it. I fought a battle of wills with the net but eventually succeeded in making some sense of the thing and had a great nights sleep.

I am still feeling off colour and did not socialize much with the others but they are okay with it and it very much a do as you do type of set up.

I went to bed around 10.30 and slept well. The shelter is surrounded by a garden and then borders an access road and horse coral to the rear. The only sounds to disturb you are the large frogs jumping and croaking everywhere, numerous bats flying around your head and something crawling around in the thatch!

Going to the loo was an interesting experience, as you had to negotiate the garden. This entailed avoiding first the frogs, then the bats and then some weird wader type bird that came up to you and started talking to you, then finally there are the guinney pigs, hundreds of them. Fortunately they tend to scatter away from you, but tread on one.......!

Once in the loo it is a repeat experience with the bats but then there are the flying things like beetles and bugs, mosi's and the frogs in the sinks and other places! Sounds horrible? Well actually it's not and I'm loving it.

To be continued...

Chris