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Having spent the past two weeks as far from the madding crowds as you can get – we are really excited about reaching civilization this afternoon  We’re on our way to Bonaire, one of the Dutch Antilles ABC islands (the others being Aruba and Curacao), having left Aves de Sotavento at 9am this morning.  It’s two weeks since we’ve been into a supermarket, looked at the internet, had a latte or beer out, read an up to date newspaper and spoken to anyone except our sailing companions Mark and Amanda on Balvenie, a couple of Swedish cruisers we briefly met in El Gran Roque.....and the odd Venezuelan fisherman although the language barrier meant it was a sign language conversation!  The remoteness and solitude has been absolutely wonderful but we’re both more than ready to get back to reality......read the news and catch up on life.

 

We’ve been surprised at how few cruising boats and people we’ve seen since leaving Grenada.  The beautiful Venezuelan islands of Blanquilla, Los Roques and Las Aves were all virtually deserted.  We only shared three anchorages with other boats – the rest of the time it was just us, Balvenie and perhaps a friendly fishermen, some of whom even generously handed over their catch.  Yesterday we had no need of that as the minute Bandit left Ave de Barlovento the fishing line began screeching.  We’d hooked five barracuda the day before so we were hoping for some variety.  You can eat the smaller barracuda over here (they’re delicious) but the ones we hooked were all huge.  We were thrilled to find tuna on the end of the line and took two lovely fish on board, losing the third.  Sashimi on the beach with Balvenie watching the sunset was magical and the grilled tuna fillets were even better.  Sadly, due to Bandit’s supplies of fresh fruit and vegetables being dangerously low, the accompanying cabbage was a little disappointing!

 

The best part of the past two weeks has been the magnificent snorkelling.  Blanquilla was fantastic with some lovely coral and dozens of fish but Los Roques definitely was the best with water clarity that was amazing.  The past two days we’ve snorkelled on the many reefs that dot the Aves and it’s also been excellent.  Yesterday we found a huge live conch....we’ve collected many discarded shells on our travels....but this one was very much alive.  The shell was intact and the most amazing shiny pink but we couldn’t possibly take him, so let him continue his slow crawl along the seabed.

 

We’re relieved to be safely out of Venezuelan waters.  On our regular evening “sundowners on the beach” with Balvenie, we’ve commented on how much safer we feel travelling together and how nervous we would be on our own.  While Los Roques and Las Aves are fairly well north of the Venezuelan coast, with few reported piracy incidents, we’ve been in what many regard as troubled waters which is why we figure not many come here.  Such a shame as they really are a piece of paradise.