LOS ROQUES VENEZUELA
We waved a sad goodbye
to Nicole from Antigua this week . She had been convinced that 6 weeks on the boat would be the death of her but
in the end was really sorry to leave -the cruising life had won her over….not
surprisingly of course.
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| Nicole and Manuela loving life! |
Its back to the
grindstone at University for her and out into the deep blue for Legend and her
crew. We stocked up to the gunwales with food and drink and set off from
Antigua to points further south.
Our destination was 3
days away…Venezuela and the Islands of Los Roques,
With Chris and Helen
on board to help with sail changes and watches, the trip was literally a
breeze. It was a real treat for
Alan and I to be able to sleep for a full 6 hours at a stretch while the boat
was managed by keen and competent sailors.
On our previous trips,
when there was just the 2 of us on board or when the children were younger, Alan and I stood watches of 3 hours on and
3 hours off. On one or two occasions when the going got rough, we did 2 hours on
and 2 hours off –so a full 6 hours
feels like heaven. Thank you Chris and Helen!
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| Helen and Chris- watching the weather! |
We arrived in Los
Roques in the early hours of the morning and waited offshore until dawn to
enter the bay of the main island . We anchored here for a few hours in order to clear customs and immigration
before heading to more interesting looking spots .
We had heard horror
stories of the clearing in in Venezuela but Alan managed to run the gamut of
several offices each requiring different bits of paper to be filled out. A few
bolivers changed hands but we were given a receipt for them and Alan avoided
what seemed to be a request for a bribe by an official who we nicknamed
‘scarface’ but who had very shiny boots!
Scarface (packing a magnum) spoke no
English and our Spanish is rusty to say the least . He kept on gesticulating
in the time honoured international language for ‘hand me some cash” . In
response Alan handed him every piece of paper in his briefcase one at a time
until the infuriated gentleman in question waved him away in the
internationally recognised gesture for “get the hell out of my office , you
idiot ..” or words to that effect!
The islands of Los
Roques are a cruiser’s paradise. There are many magical anchorages within a
short sailing distance of each other. The winds are steady and consistent and
there is good shelter behind the reefs or the mangroves.
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| Jean and Alan Los Roques 1987 - we were young once! |
The islands closest to
the main island where the man with the shiny boots presides are stunning…azure
water and fine white sand…but they are swamped with day trippers from around
10am until 5pm. These are mainly Venezuelan and South American tourists…all very
well fed apart from the odd young Spanish beauty in a tiny bikini frolicking in
the waves to the envy of all the big fat mamas on the beach whose husbands’ eyes are out on
stalks…(possibly including mine although he denies it!)
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| Searching for lost youth |
We moved on to more
deserted, just as magical spots and were joined by Steve and Sarah and their family and crew on
“Valentine.”
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| Still Young and Charming (almost)! |
In Los Roques we introduced them to the delights of hermit crab races in the sand and shared a driftwood barbeque …which
was very sandy and smoky but a good time was had by all..especially the sand
flies. (The hermit crabs are still traumatised though!)
The crew of Valentine
wisely stayed on board during the barbeque and dined off the bone china rather than paper plates
. They enjoyed the sunset in the
cockpit in comfort wondering why anyone would choose to brave the 1 star rigours of the beach as opposed to the 5 star luxury of boat. It’s the atmosphere we were after
I suppose.
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| Beach Braai ala Los Roques |
From Los Roques we
headed for Los Aves..the Islands of Birds. The spot lives up to its name and is
alive with roosting boobies, frigates and terns.
I went for a snorkel
and was mobbed by curious avian creatures who were fascinated by the sight of
my rear end bobbing through the reef…not a pretty sight for them and a shock
for me when I put my head up to orientate myself and found myself in the middle
of a Hitchcock movie!
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| Los Aves Mangrove swamps |
We had a truly
memorable dinghy drift from one end of the island to the other at sundown..G
and T’s in hand and the horror movie confined to the mangrove forests..
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| Eyeball navigation required |
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