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From Merida, other cities that I recommend to visit are Maracay, Caracas, and the entire island of Margarita. Marcay is a hot city in the northwestern part of the country, near Caracas. From Maracay, you can visit a German colony that has been around since the mid-1800s. It is called Colonia Tovar and is one of the few places in South America where you can find German food and architecture. Maracay is also close to Choroni, one on the most famous beaches of Venezuela. Choroni is a lazy kind of place where the local fisherman hang out and drink beer under the hot sun. The beach is a few minutes from the town of Choroni and there are a lot of young people in bikinis visiting on the weekends. Caracas is the nation's capital and the heart of the country. About one out of every four Venezuelans lives in Caracas. Caracas is dangerous however, and if you don't know the country very well you should probably just take a bus or airplane to another part of Venezuela until you understand some of the language and culture. However, for the experienced traveller, Caracas is a great place to visit. There are restaurants of every cuisine, plentiful clubs for nightlife, and a vibrant nature that makes one feel as if they were in a city like New York. While visiting Caracas, be mindful of your security, but don't be rude as most of the people are friendly and helpful. Caracas is
the most expensive city in the country. Expect higher prices, especially
for lodging. The Altamira district has nice hotels, but they might be out
of your budget. If you are just in Caracas to switch planes then you don't
actually have to venture into the city. La Guaira is the city where the
airport is actually located, about a half-hour from Caracas on the coast.
La Guaira has its own posadas and hotels. When you get to the airport,
look for one of the official black SUV taxis. Tell the driver you would
like a hotel or posada in La Guaira and they should charge about 10,000
to 15,000 bolivares or between $5 to $8 for the taxi. They might argue
that they will lose their place in the taxi line at the airport, but from
what I understand this is not true. A hotel or posada in La Guaira should
cost about $20 to $25 a night, although the luxury Eurobuilding hotel is
over $100 a night. One last note, the national airport is right next to
the international airport. You can walk between them in 5 minutes. So if
you are planning on going to another region of Venezuela, you can walk
between them, but only if it isn't late in the day, because the planes
stop around 7 PM. Otherwise, take a flight in the morning and stay at a
nearby hotel. In most cases, plane tickets can be purchased the same day
as the flight. On a final note, if you decide to venture into Caracas don't
make a judgment of the city based on what you see in its outskirts. As
is the case with most airports, the Caracas airport is located near run-down
parts of the city.
An important note for Margarita Island is please, please, please don't patronize the strip clubs as you will give your countrymen a bad reputation. Instead, you can go shopping. Margarita has the cheapest manufactured goods in the country and a lot of nice crafts, and it's Sambil mall offers world-class shopping. If you would like to take an organized excursion while in Margarita, contact Dominique at Holiday Tours. She is a Venezuelan-born Swiss woman who speaks Spanish, French and English. Her office at the beautiful Porlamar Hilton in Margarita is replete with posters of various destinations around Margarita and Venezuela. She can organize boat tours to the island of Coche, snorkelling at Los Frailes and Jeep Safaris, as well as longer excursions to the Orinoco Delta, the Amazon and Los Roques. Give her a call at 0295-262-6878 to get information or make a reservation. The international country code for Venezuela is 58. Her email is chamadomi@cantv.net. I haven't mentioned other worthwhile parts of Venezuela due to a lack of familiarity. However, I have been told dozens of times to visit Barquisimeto, Los Roques (an elite version of Margarita Island), Valencia, the Amazon and of course the huge national park known as "La Gran Sabana". La Gran Sabana is known mostly for Angel Waterfall, the tallest waterfall in the world, but the park is very expansive and would take at least a week to explore. I don't really recommend Maracaibo as a tourist destination. It is hot, muggy and not particularly attractive, apart from its beautiful women. Maracaibo reminds me of Houston. Getting Around Getting around Venezuela is fairly easy. Most cities have an airport and one-way flights can be purchased the same day for around $100 or less in most cases. In some cases you might have to make a connection in Caracas, but in many cases there are direct flights. A cheaper way to travel is by bus which costs less than $20 between most cities. There are dozens of buslines, but I recommend Flamingo or Pelicano if you are travelling to or leaving from Caracas because it has its own private bus station in Parque del Este which will save you a lot of stress and hassle by avoiding the larger bus terminals in Caracas. When travelling by bus make sure to ask if the bus has a bathroom, because otherwise you might be very uncomfortable until the next stop which could be several hours away. The other thing to note is to be sure to take a blanket or at least a heavy jacket. For some reason, the busses turn the air conditioning up very high and if you don't have a jacket or blanket you will be very cold. In extreme cases, you can take taxis between cities. This option is more expensive than taking a bus but might make sense if you need to get somewhere in less time than a busride but don't want to pay for airplane tickets for three people. A taxi between Merida and Caracas costs around $150 and travel time is about nine hours. There is also ferry service between Margarita and the mainland. This is pretty cheap and can take anywhere from two to four hours. You can get to Margarita by ferry from the cities of Puerto La Cruz and Cumana. Within some
cities such as Merida you can get around by walking. Otherwise you can
take a local bus within the city which the locals call "camioneticas" or
"carritos". These buses cost around $0.25 a ride or less and tend to get
crowded. Remember to offer your seat to seniors or women with small children
if they board when there are no seats left. Taxis are also an option. Since
taxis don't have meters, be sure to negotiate a price before getting in.
Taxi drivers here are happy to stop for a few minutes and let you run errands.
In other words, you can treat a taxi as your personal automobile, as the
drivers are very flexible.
OK, so now you've visited Merida and other cities in Venezuela and you have decided you would like to stay for a while. Well you can stay for 90 days without a special visa from most countries. At the airport, they give you a yellow piece of paper which is your tourist visa. Don't lose it! You can write up to 3 months on it at which time you have to exit the country for a few days. If you are here for only a week or so, it is a good idea to pad your tourist visa with a few extra days, since the Venezuelan police will harrass you if your visa has expired. The next step toward Permanent Residency is the "Pase de Transeunte" which is sort of a temporary residency. You have to have two Venezuelan witnesses sign for you and a letter from your employer. In other words, you should get a job before you apply for a Pase de Transeunte. Check your local hotels and English schools to get a job that will qualify. There is probably a version of this visa for business-owners as well, but you'll have to look into it. Once you get your Pase you will be able to reside here for one year at which time you can apply for residency which lasts four additional years before citizenship. For more information about residency, visit your local Oni-Dex office, but don't expect them to be very helpful. You have to be persistent. If you decide to move here, you won't be alone. Thousands of immigrants from Europe, China, the Arab world, and South America have all made Venezuela their home. Finding An Apartment Of course in order to stay, you will need to rent an apartment or a house. Most apartments are unfurnished, but you can find furnished ("amoblado") apartments. Unfurnished apartments here may not even have a refrigerator or oven so keep that in mind. Apartments can range from $100 a month for something basic to $750 a month if you want to live in absolute luxury in a beautiful furnished apartment. Here you can see a photo of the view from an apartment in Margarita that costs $750 a month. It is fully furnished with air conditioning, televisions, and even a microwave. Note the swimming pool and view of the ocean. You certainly couldn't get a similar luxury apartment in the States or Western Europe at that price! Apartments usually require two months deposit, plus the first month paid-up front. If you go through an agent, you will also have to pay one month of commission. In other words, you might have to pay four months rent to move in to an apartment. Contracts must be, by law, for six months at a minimum. If you'd rather purchase a home, check out tuinmueble.com or margaritadreamhomes.com to get an idea of what is available. If you want to bring goods from abroad into the country such as a computer or a television, there is little problem bringing them through customs. I have brought a computer, a television and other goods and have never had to pay import taxes. Mailing goods into the country is a bit stickier though, as customs are likely to force you to pay a 15-17% tax on each item. Since customs determines the value of the item themselves, you might get a high tax bill. In Margarita there is no import tax because it is a free trade zone. Everything that has been imported to Margarita is cheaper as a result. Cultural Differences Once you're on track to stay here for a while you will start noticing certain cultural differences. If you are from North America one of the things you will notice very soon is that people are not afraid to say what they think of you to your face. You might not know the person, but it is possible that they will make a comment to you that you can hear. This is unusual for us North Americans because we are used to people only making comments about us outside of earshot. People are just bolder here, saying things to you that you would never hear in the United States or Canada. Perhaps New Yorkers or some Europeans will not be as shocked by this as much as Americans. After a while you will start to notice a lack of authority. There are police and divisions between the rich and poor, but after a while you will start to think, who is in charge here? For many, that lack of organization is refreshing. Basically, in Venezuela there is a greater degree of liberty than is found in most first-world nations, accompanied by a greater amount of danger. For example, traffic laws can be bent, you can smoke almost anywhere, there are no paternity laws and there are no income and almost no property taxes. In Margarita, there isn't any kind of tax at all apart from a few nominal taxes! All of this adds up to more freedom than you might be accustomed to. Since the country tends more towards anarchy there are also more hazards, but if you are careful there is nothing to worry about. I've lived in Venezuela for almost two years and have never had a single incident. I can't say the same for New York! Venezuelan life is quite different from American and European life. Venezuelans base their lives around the family. It is very common for three generations to live under the same roof. People tend to eat at home with their family, rather than in restaurants. Abortion is illegal and contraception use is lower so there are a lot of young children running around. Venezuelans view children as a blessing rather than a burden and therefore aren't afraid to reproduce! I won't go into other cultural differences such as the importance of time (which is lesser here) or relationships or politics. I will leave those differences for you to discover. Part of the joy of travelling to or living in a new place is discovering and adjusting to those differences. Just remember that you have to adjust to Venezuela, not the other way around! Good luck and come on down. You won't regret it. Venezuela is one of the most energized, verdant and fun countries on earth! The following is Christopher's first article for the magazine:
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Merida,
Venezuela - 