Venezuela....the nice bit.

MALARKEY
Jo & Trevor Bush
Thu 18 Dec 2008 15:48
Los Roques 11:57.23N 66:40.75W, Tortuga and Islas de Aves.
 
We left sharpish in the morning, (that means pre-noon for us sleepy heads), and we literally yomped to Tortuga.
 
We had a fantastic sail, very fast...almost too embarassing to report, except to Ade off S/Y Squander, my mate and racing arch rival.
We arrived just in time for lunch and dropped the pick in Cayo Herradura, one of the little islands off the main island of Tortuga. It was gorgeous. Your typical dreamy kind of desert island.....you know, bleached white soft sandy beaches and a clear turquoise coloured sea. The sort of place one could run naked along the shore, or at  least Joanne could, the thought of me doing it, is scary.
 
 
 
We stayed here for a few days just soaking up the ambiance and kicking back big style. It is not 'til you get to somewhere like this that you realise how wound up you had been in a place like Puerto La Cruz.
 
We did some trading with the local fishermen. They were interested in booze and we were interested in fresh fish....a deal was afoot. Jo, immediately piped up and shouted out 'lobster, get some lobster'. But unfortunately, on that particular morning, there was no lobster to trade, just a bucket of fish, so we had that instead, much to Joannes disgust. But, even Jo had to admit, they were quite scrummy.
 
We also acquired a pet. A Gekko. Jo called him George. And I guess now that he has got a name and does good things like eating bugs, he can stay.
 
 
 But as for our other unwanted guest, Colin, the giant flying cockroach, well he had to go. But catching him was not an easy thing. He would come out just after dark and Jo would chase him around the boat with a torch and any heavy object she could find close to hand. Me, on the other hand, would sit back and enjoy the show, making sure that I was always available for consultation if needed and that my feet were up on the couch safely out of harms way. Cripes, the little blighter was elusive. Just about everything on the boat was wacked bar Colin. Jo finally took more serious and effective action. She sprayed him with deadly poisonous roach nerve gas and he promptly adopted the dead bug posture....on his back with legs in the air. Of course, he got what he deserved, a burial at sea with full honours, via the dustpan.
 
So off we set to Los Roques with only one pet on board.
 
The weather was almost too kind to us. The light wind died completely at dawn and we had to motor the last 20 miles or so. But it was worth it.
 
Los Roc's is a low lying archipeligo of reefs and desert islands surrounded by a beautiful crystal clear sea of various shades of blue. A truly stunning place. It is sparcely populated by Venezeulan people living in sympathetically designed and decorated houses, - very much to their credit. There were a couple of shops and a few more bars and restaurants. It is the sort of place one could while away the hours for many a week. Photographs, or at least my photographs, of this place would not do it any justice, so I wont include any...just go there if you get the chance.
 
The only down side, as we saw it, was the mozzies on light or no wind days. They were so bad at times, even during the day, that they could be sucked up through your snorkle pipe while swimming on the reef....mmm protein, just when you dont need it!. Islas de Aves were along a similar vein but not so well protected from large swell the Caribbean Sea can sometimes produce.
 
We really didnt give these islands the time they deserved, 'cos we were meeting friends for Christmas in Bonaire. We had to press on. Jo & I are simply not the types to be 'Billy no mates' at Christmas, regardless of how beautiful the place is that we are in. We do like a good party at Crimbo & New Year and the Bonaire bash promised just that.