Back from Margarita Island.

tonym

tonym

Joined
Mar 18, 2008
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I am back from my trip to Venezuela. The city of Caracas which has always had its bad parts, but also many beautiful areas which appear to have taken a turn for the worse.

It still had many upscale towns, but much more poverty stricken areas. Dogs which were once pets have multiplied and line the suburban streets scrounging for food and water. People were much less friendly and trash lined almost every street as people put up make shift houses out of what ever they could find.(sheet metal, car doors, tarps, etc) They would put these lil shacks (Ranchos, the locals call them) any where they can find solid ground. The Mountain sides were littered with them.

I don’t recall any of that from my last couple of visits to this country. I mean they were always there, but not everywhere you looked… For a land that has many Natural resources(3rd largest oil producing Nation) and miles of beautiful coast and picturesque mountains; you would think it wouldn’t be as bad as it is. Sad, really sad.

Oh well, I don’t want to turn this into a political discussion about their President and his Socialist Government; so I only decided to share the beautiful pictures and many good times I spent there in the last 10 days.

We will start just outside of Caracas at the oldest and largest Rum Factory in the Country. My wife’s family treated us to an outstanding day there.











My wife had a great time with her mother and Sister’s whom she hasn’t seen in 3 years.



As well as the rest of the Family.



Of course there was Rum as well



A bunch more coming…
 
The next day its was off to Isla De Margarita
We rented a beautiful Posada. Here is the view from the front porch. While my daughter and I enjoy the pool.



The property was lined with wild edibles. Delicious fresh fruit was hanging from almost every tree.





Of course Mango trees were every where as well!



I learned the hard way that Restaurants do not use bottled water in their glasses. But my Wife’s Grandmother found this plant and made a delicious tea fro it. It is called Male oho (I think..) It had a very strong pleasant scent and tasted even better. My stomach was better and I was back in action within an hour!!!



In the Morning my wife, her step dad, and I went to the Fisherman’s Beach AT 0600. It was only a 5 minute drive. The Fisherman would come in to sell their days catch to street Vendors who in turn would sell at a relatively high margin. Still much cheaper than we can get here; But we wanted to get in on the action at the really low price. We ended up with about 15lbs of Fish for 8 dollars!

Heading down to the beach



My wife’s step dad and I stumbled across dozens of these.



My wife and I still waiting for the Boats to arrive



Them the bombarding of the 1st boat; It was almost as much fun as catching the fish myself!


More to come.
 
Back at the house it was time for the real fun part. None of brought the right tools, but we did just fine with my Brian Andrews Bushcraft, Vic Farmer, and a lil Cleaver we found in the Kitchen.





This fish is called Torro Torro. It had a very Hard shell instead of scales. The fish didn’t bare much meat, but the meat it did have was delicious. We had 5 of them, so we took the meet from 3 and cooked in the shell of the other 2. Man was it outstanding. It kind of had a lobster or Conch flavor to it.







A few days later we went back and scored this Dorado!





Since we’re on food… To pass time at the beach we would dig our hands in the sand and come up with a bunch of these nickel to quarter size clams. We ate many raw, right on the beach, but took a few dozen home. My MIL made an outstanding soup out of them.

 
The whole family went on a Jeep tourof the Island. It lasted about 9 hors and we accessed many remote and important parts of the Island. Here are some pics from that.

First sitting atop of an old fort.



Some old guns of that period



Then it was off to a beautiful church built for the Patron Saint of the Island.(who’s name I forgot) Story goes she appeared during a time of great starving and fish suddenly were swept in from the ocean. Fisherman to this day still pray to her before every outing..





Yup still more coming
 
From there it was off to a National park, also home to a large pearl industry. The park consisted of miles and miles of mangrove lined canals. To enjoy its beauty it had to be seen by boat. It would have made for some awesome fishing, but that’s prohibited there…



These lil guys were every where.

















Bare with me, almost done...
 
Then it was off to the driest part of the Island. There is almost no fresh water at all. It makes for a beautiful desert landscape. The beaches here are almost untouched, except for a shelter here and their that the Fisherman use as resting points from the next town miles away.







These guys were about 6” long











Just about done.
 
We did a lil 4 wheeling to get a great view as if the others weren’t….











Here’s a couple of random shots , then I’m done …. For now.




This fish washed up at the beach for some reason. We sent him back alive and well.





Here’s a pic from 1 of the many clubs down there. Yes almost all the women are that hot, and thankfully there are hardly any guys that look like that down there.
Happy Kuruptd?



We took about 500 pics, and my head hurts.

I hope you enjoy the ones I chose for now.
 
Awesome. Looks like a great trip. Beautiful country. Too bad about their government right now. Hopefully he won't be president for life, like he hopes he will.
 
Looks like a heck of a trip, Tony! But I sure wouldn't mind seeing more of the wildlife in the club;)
 
wow.. awesome pics Tony.... :eek: welcome back bro... it looks like everyone had a great time....:)
 
Great pics, Tony. Looks like it was an awesome (and tasty!) trip. Terrific scenery and wildlife shots.

I was hoping to hear your recipe for crab and 6" grasshopper stir-fry, though. ;)

Thanks for sharing,

- Mike
 
tonym said:
Here’s a pic from 1 of the many clubs down there. Yes almost all the women are that hot. Happy Kuruptd?
Click to expand...

Umm hell yeah ... I knew you wouldn't let me down bro :thumbup::D
From all the beautiful pics I can tell you and the family had an absolute ball.
Welcome back and thanks for sharing a little slice of paradise with us.
 
Sweet pics, and welcome back bro. Looks like you had a ton of fun!

Looks like you made Kuruptds day as well.. Who woulda thunk it :D
 
Gosh that looks like a good trip! Thanks for taking the time to share the pictures.

Bill
 
That looks like a lot of fun - I think you kicked my butt in the Caribbean fun department this year!!! Some of those mangrove scenes are almost identical to the ones I experienced in Trinidad last year - not surprising they pretty close to one another.
 
Great Pics Tony..... Looks like you had a wonderfull trip. Ill bet your wife is stoked to be with family.
 
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