| Have
a look at either Casa Trudel Bed & Breakfast which offers rooms with
private baths and king size beds for 1 or 2 people or Trudel's Garden Vacation
Homes which are 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom homes with fully equipped kitchens
and satellite TV and suitable for up to six persons (max 4 adults).
Both properties
are close to Margarita's most popular tourist area and beach, Playa El
Agua.
Food
The cost and
choice at the larger supermarkets is not much different than North America
or Europe. You will pay more for imported products however they are available.
Here are some prices from this week's (June 14, 2003) shopping trip to
the 2 largest supermarkets on the Island (Central Maderiense & Sigo)
converted into US dollars. Keep in mind that the prices of the vegetables
vary according to season and availability just like at home.
We'll try to
update this list every couple of weeks. Venezuela now has both exchange
controls and some price controls on basic items.The official exchange rate
is now Bs.1600 to US$1 however if you have US$ cash you might be tempted
to exchange in the "parallel market" which, while illegal, flourishes.
It is possible
to get 15% to 20% more Bs. for your dollar. With this in mind the prices
that we have listed are based on the "official" rate.(A kilo is 2.2 lbs.)
We don't buy each product every week so they don't get updated all at once.
Items subject to Government price controls are in blue. Some price controled
items are in short supply like whole chickens which the producers are cutting
up into pieces which are a higher price.
Utilities
In many ways
this has greatly improved in the years that we have been here. Certainly
telephone service as provided by the main company CANTV including Internet
and Cellular are nothing short of a miracle in change. Everybody has a
digital cellular phone and internet connections are reliable and fast even
with a dial-up modem. There are some areas in Porlamar that now have DSL
service however most of the Island is on dial-up. We run our 5 websites
from our home in Playa El Agua with minimal problems.
This compares
to us waiting 5 years for our first phone that could then take many minutes
to get a dial tone. Current costs for normal residential telephone service
run about US$7 per month with every minute of local time at an extra cost.
We have unlimited local calling for use with the Internet at a cost of
around US$32 per month. Internet unlimited dial up (ISP) costs around US$110
per year extra. Electricity is now run by a private company called Seneca
and, while the reliability of the service is greatly improved, the paying
of the monthly bill and dealing with problems continue to be the dread
of all who live here. Long payment lines and insensitive service reps continue
to be a major problem.
We use between
600 - 900 kw per month at costs running between US$25 - $35 monthly (without
A/C). You can multiply these amounts many times if you are going to have
A/C. If you live on the north side of the Island and have a little air
flow in your house you shouldn't need A/C. We haven't had it (or missed
it) over the years. Garbage pick-up is also charged now on your electric
bill. Ours runs around $3.20 per month and is based on electrical usage
- use less, pay less.
The water service
is the worst run company in the country. HidroCaribe is still a government
entity and is totally inefficient and difficult in the extreme to deal
with. We have been receiving monthly bills for more than 5 years for one
connection that was closed and more monthly bills for a connection that
doesn't exist.
Many visits
and letters have been unable to resolve the problems as no one seems to
have the power (or wants to accept the responsibility) to correct the errors.You
are always best to buy a property or business that already has water service
that is being billed correctly. The actual charges for water are quite
low.
House Help, Nannies &
Gardening
It's very easy
to find people who will help you out (maids, gardeners, nannies, etc.)
at very reasonable cost (see remarks below about working here).
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