Los Llanos and Merida

 Hello from Merida, adventure capital of Venezuela. After two days down in Los Llanos, I have been up in the mountains in Merida enjoying two excellent days of mountain biking.

Los Llanos – A huge area of wilderness in Southern Venezuela, Los Llanos are a collection of vast plains covering 300k sq km that contain an amazing array of wetland bird and animal life. During the wet season most of the land is flooded, but during the dry season (the wet season starts in May) the animals flock to the remaining pockets of water, making for amazing wildlife watching.

We only really had one day to explore the wilderness as it is not an easy place to get too, but we still managed to see a huge number of wetland bird, river dolphins, a giant ant eater and a 6m long anaconda snake. A real hidden gem of a location that does not see that many visitors because of the difficulties of getting there and instability within Venezuela. I will upload some photos when I have a decent internet connection.

Merida – After the plains down in the South of the country, it was up to the mountains in the North West corner of Venezuela staying in Merida. This University town is the heart land of trekking, mountain biking and adventure sports within Venezuela and a great place to spend a few days. After close to two months off the bike I was not going to pass up the opportunity of some serious mountain biking and therefore have spend the past two days merrily going up and down the numerous mountains that surround the town. Sore legs tonight, but great fun and very challenging in parts.

Next stop in Venezuela is Lake Maracaibo close to the Colombian border. Not really a tourist destination as it is the heart of Venezuela’s oil industry, so back to a couple of dull transit days unfortunately before we hit Colombia in a few days time.

Anthony