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The real partying starts Christmas Eve, and it sounds like all hell broke loose! More like a ‘fire-fight’ than Christmas. Every neighborhood has at least one “pyromaniac” so fireworks start before dusk and continue until about 4 a.m. No one gets much sleep on Christmas Eve. I think the noise would scare hell out of the reindeer and old St. Nick himself! The fireworks last at least through January 5th. Christmas Day is fairly quiet, but the day after that don’t even THINK of going to a store. Every supermarket looks like looters have hit. Very little is left, so if you are on the island before Christmas - stock up! Some shortages can’t be blamed on consumers - coffee and pork are in short supply at this writing. President Chavez decided (for whatever reason) that coffee and pork were too expensive, so he ordered a ceiling put on the price of these goods - pork is now selling for BS 4,000 a kilo. The problem is that coffee and pork are now so cheap that the growers and farmers won’t work. Consequently there is a shortage throughout Venezuela. It is still possible to get pork at BS 11,000 black market price. Several months ago I reported a similar situation with beef. A few weeks after my story was published a fairer price was negotiated and the stores were full of Argentinian and Venezuelan beef - usually tough, but still beef. The most recent shortage will probably be resolved the same way and nobody seems very concerned - these are patient people. I wonder what would happen in the U.S. or Britain if the same thing happened to coffee or tea? Here most problems seem to either get resolved eventually or accepted as a fact of life. As you might imagine, traffic is also hectic. Many visitors bring their cars over on the ferry. Driving is usually safe here, but add all those extra cars, drivers “not from here”, the holiday rush, and it adds up to too many cars, not enough roads. To make it even more interesting, this is the rainy season and there are showers almost daily. Driving becomes a race with the rain to find a parking space where you won’t have to wade to the stores. The island isn’t built to dispose of rainwater rapidly so streets fill up quickly. It usually takes about 20 minutes after the rain stops for the water to subside. The local custom is - if it looks like it will rain for a while, find the nearest bar and wait it out. This leaves the roads to the tourists and their creative driving styles. Naturally, rental prices are higher in the season. Bargain rentals don’t exist this time of year and rates don’t go down until the end of January. Many people have written to me asking about long term rentals (2-6 months or more). I’m not in the long term rental business and really haven’t researched the market. I suggest that if you are seriously looking for permanent vacation accomodations, buy a 1 or 2 bedroom apartment and have a rental manager rent it for you during the times you aren’t using it. June 15th to September 15th is ‘high’ season here and if you have a nice furnished property (doesn’t have to be elegant, just clean and functional) you should be able to keep it rented and what you earned would cover your maintenance, repairs, and make a profit. Of course you would have to pay a commission to the rental agent but you would own the property and be able to use it when you wished. Do your research and get a reliable person to be your rental agent. They are hard to find, so search carefully. Buying now and earning income from rental is also a good way to prepare for future retirement. Prices on real estate are rising rapidly and I believe they will continue to do so as the country’s economy grows. The local newspaper recently stated that the hotels were full for the Christmas season and the economy was at 90% recovery from the depression. This may be political hype, and I’ve only been here about 3 years so did not experience the worst of the depression 5-6 years ago, but I’ve personally seen more goods available, more new businesses, and more tourists every year. I regret that I didn’t invest in Margarita Island earlier, but I did arrive in time to get some very good deals. Compared to other Caribbean Islands, Mexico, Panama, etc., prices here are still a steal. You won’t find the best deals on internet real estate sites because they only show the properties that are the most expensive. My best advice is to come stay for a couple of weeks, look around and see if the island suits you. If you visit during the summer months you’ll know if you can stand the climate - it does get hot and humid. If you’re seriously
considering retiring, investing, buying or starting a business on Margarita
Island, my company - Caribbean Ventures Consultants, C.A. - is ready to
assist you. We have the knowledge, personal network, and experience to
help you avoid the costly and time-consuming mistakes made by new-comers
who don’t understand the way business is done in Latin America in general
and Margarita Island in particular.
For more information about living and working on a Caribbean island at a pace that won’t kill you before your time, check out my website www.retirecaribbean.com To contact Scott Click Here The following is the first article Scott wrote for the magazine:
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