Gran Roque pictures.
Innamorata
Steve & Carol
Thu 7 Jun 2018 23:25
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We loved this small friendly island with its one town, their anchorage is a
narrow shelf to the south west of the town, when we arrived there were a few
other yachts anchored there – we later realised all but one were Venezuelan,
Moondancer the American yacht that lost its rudder on route to Bonaire was the
only foreign flagged boat there.
Arriving at Gran Roque.
Moondancer waiting for a tow/work boat from Curacao to get clearance to
come and take them in tow on to Curacao for repairs.
We checked in with Rik and Sanne which was probably a good idea as we seem
to have not got charged any extra fees, the process was a little long winded,the
Guardia National was one of the stops.
Afterwards we went for a coffee - $1 for 2 cups, at Aquarene a restaurant
/bar we had a very nice meal here a couple of days later,
Not a bad view!
We went for a walk up to the lighthouse on a rather hazy overcast day, the
view would have been even better with a clear blue sky, the water colours are
amazing.
The land is very barren, even the cactus looked dehydrated!
On our way back we walked around the town which was colourful and very tidy
with no rubbish on the ground,
While we were walking around we met this little lad who stood in front of
my camera and wanted his picture taken, he lived in a house which his father
said was damaged when the home next door was destroyed in a gas explosion.
The health centre / Hospital where we met Dr Rafael Martinez who is on a 1
year secondment from Caracas’
One of the schools, there are 3 in a row - an infant , junior and a senior
school each has small classes, the windows are just wooden slats to help keep
the rooms cool.
We went into a couple of the shops – one was a fruit, veg and meat shop
with virtually nothing in it and a supermarket – which in the Uk would be a
small corner shop this was better stocked but still not a great variety and no
fresh produce at all.
The water around the island is still well stocked with fish which is the
main food source for the islanders – everyone fishes and seem to have similar
boats with big outboards on them.
We saw numerous feeding frenzies when big fish chase little fish to the
surface and attacking from below while birds attack from above!
There were also lots of Pelicans
We are so glad that we stopped here, it seems that sailors who do venture
to Los Roques have good experiences and recommend it as a must stop at
destination.
I am glad we could help in a small way and wish we could have done more,
hopefully we can help further by passing the word to other cruisers to bring
medical supplies for these lovely people, who, are suffering because of their
government and no fault of their own.
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