Choroni

We looked at the map and didn’t see much of interest over a 500 km stretch. This was going to be a long day’s drive.

After a few hundred kilometers following the coast and lowland jungle, we turned up into the mountains solely to avoid Caracas. It was somewhere in here that we saw a guy standing on the side of the road trying to sell a snake. I’m not sure what kind it was, but it was about 2 meters long and wrapped all around him. There’s a first time for everything.

It wasn’t long after that I swerved to avoid running over a tarantula crossing the road. At least the drive was interesting.

We also saw quite a few people (mostly kids) trying to get donations for ‘road work’. We’ve seen this in several different countries, but they all try the same tactic. Basically, find a patch of road in terrible shape. Then, stand next to the biggest hole and lean on a shovel. When a car gets close, they scoop a pile of dirt towards the hole and put their hand out. Of course, if any of these people were putting even a minor amount of effort into filling the hole, it would be fixed.

Finally, after driving all day, we started the path to Choroni. A 50 km section of road that took us over 2 hours. The road winds up through Parque Nacional Henry Pittier, up to 1600 meters, then back down to the sea at Puerto Colombia. It’s narrow and slow going. Lot’s of blind corners and 1st gear climbs and descents. Kind of fun to drive, but also a bit too much effort at the end of the day.

Still, worth it.