Los Llanos - Where Giant Rats and Beauty Queens Roam
When someone says to you "Venezuela" what pops up into your mind instantly? Tricky one really eh? (well unless you are FROM Venezuela!) I would have said oil, Angel Falls, and a dodgy president a couple of weeks ago. But oh no, no, no. Now I think; gorgeous women, bad roads, a nationwide facial twitch (which manifests itself when I would ask a question such as where are the toilets, and would lend me to believe that they are about to chop my head off with a machete...), gorgeous women (oh, did I already mention them? Well just to reiterate the point), great wide open spaces, lots of wildlife, and still a dodgy president. The latter was a point of contention recently, as two opposing protests occurred the morning we were leaving Caracas for the Llanos. Our driver imparted some words of wisdom: "Si. Va ser el empieze de LA guerra." (Yes, this is the beginning of THE war!) Great. Well, luckily we were on the road out of Caracas to the vast floodplain of the Orinoco Riv...