10 days in Venolandia

[UK4X4]

No resort, no package deal, no hotel, no air conditioning

....just the "real thing"

the others exist...but this ain't them :camping:

and 150 bed bug / flea bites to prove it

A few shots of my daughters trip to get baptised with my wifes family..........

They include "fresh meat" pics so discresion may be advised.

A few scenes from the trip

location N 10deg 30.070 W 063deg 16.001

As a note my daughter is just 5 months old, and completed the trip without issues, not a single snake bite, yellow fever, Nile disease, maleria, tarantula bites mosy's, sancudos, fleas, chiris, puripuris etc etc etc

With proper care and equipment you can travel to the 3rd world without mishaps.

Dad however on his next trip will refuse the invitation to sleep in the house and go back to the nice safe hammock for sleeping like he had done so on every previous trip

bugger the familly getting upset

I'm still scratching and itching now over a week later

seemingly veno bed bugs have an afinity for british skin.

My wifes sister while we were there got stung by a scorpion during the night........which she then cooked and ate as per normal anti venom procedures...........yeurg

This product was excellent for the baby...safe and sound although a little warm with the mozy nets drawn

http://www.securebaby.com/sbp101.html

watch out for slow moving trucks.........sugar cane

No running water....

Neigbour getting a quick drink from the family tank

Picking up vegatables from the "store"...extremely fresh

Bringing in the goats

The neigbours house..

Billy goat wrestling

continued

 

[UK4X4]

A quick sardine lunch.......

No washing up......100% recyclable plates:jump:

Just passing through.......he would have been added to the dinner list if I had'nt stopped them

After a quick clean and some baby oil he was good to go with a shiney new shell

This was a donkey trail last time I was there, 3 years ago, its now a dirt road
to a place they call the "New World", set above volcanic springs and rock plumes, and yep its a cheap baby stroller...low key is good for me...the nice three wheel jogger was left at home

The new road brings slash and burn cultivation, along with shortening a three hour hike to a 1 hr stroll

 

[UK4X4]

The new road also brings access to food unoticed before...

This an approximate 60kg bunch of nuts.......I managed about 10 steps and a short attempt at getting up the wood and dirt bank left by the dozer

The nuts are boiled and then broken open, they taste like a mix of almonds and coconut

 

[UK4X4]

Our gift from the family was a pig for the baptism party:steak:

Not too bad but you may want to skip,


I tried to keep it tasteful, moderators delete if you feel they offend, but they are just pics of natural life

before packet packet food and supermarkets

 

[KSJeep]

Now thats REAL traveling!!! Great posts, good to see folks getting to see how people really live, and jumping right in with them. Tourists don't know what their missing.

 

[UK4X4]

This house is next door the original owner died when she was a reported 115 years old, her son died in the same house 96 years old.....

This is original construction is wood and mud mixed with twigs and donkey hair

The electric meter was added later...not sure why as no one pays for electric....

 

[UK4X4]

The "garden" is basicly jungle cut back leaving the fruit, vegatables and anything else usefull

Not sure what these are...green beans on steroids....the wife seemed to like them...

cacao pods

The neighbor kept poping round as the white boy had rum....

The baby enjoyed the family scene hammocks and all

The "bathroom" and no I'm not joking..........................:yikes:

Santeria is part of the local culture and my daughter was baptised in the family house with a small ritual.

Based on the catholic church and brought over by slaves from the caribean, santeria appears all along the coast, the slaves were originally persecuted for being Christians so they changed the images slightly, called them diferent names and worshipped in secret.

as a note my daughter was baptised a few days later in a "proper" Catholic Church...

 

[sinuhexavier]

Awesome!

Simply awesome!

 

[WhereTheHellIsJames?]

Looks like a great trip... thank you for sharing!

Maybe I missed it, but where were you in the country?

 

[UK4X4]

Google map the GPS co-ordinates

N 10 30.070 W 063 16.001

There is a road....and a local name, but not really mapped as such.

We only spent 4 days there with my wifes mother then returned to Maturin further south, to prepare the baptism and party....for the multitude of family members.

Her family is a mix of african slave decendants with a touch of spanish and a lot of warao indian

http://www.warao.org/default.htm

Condoms are expencive......we had 90 guests....all close family members.....
some travelled 2 days by bus and boat to get to the party.


Maturin is an oil and farming town, with not much really to see, I'll probably upload a few pics of the church etc if people are interested.


We stayed with the grandmother...no AC and 39oC temps...up and out of bed by 6.30am due to the heat in the rooms....

bare tin roof's do not insulate:sombrero:

 

[Streakerfreak]

All I can say is... WOW!

 

[davegonz]

Thanks for posting this great story. Reminds me of my trips down to Mexico where my cousins would slaughter pigs and cook them on a spit during celebrations.

 

[UK4X4]

We did'nt trek the whole way to nuevo mundo, although I did the last time we were there, I have some pics somewhere, I just have to find them.

The area has a lot of hot springs and moving rock domes, I suppose a "hard" volcano with the rock having cooled before reaching surface, and appears as
cones of white gravel hot to the touch and no life in the area.

Thats odd the question dissapeared....oh well