General: Venezuela

Advantages: Lack of tourists, amazing scenery and wildlife, friendly people, and good transport.
Disadvantages: You have to be prepared to organise everything yourself, in Spanish! Not for people looking for glitz, glamour or an easy life.

“So, tell me everything you know about Venezuela…” If someone had demanded that of me 6 months ago, I doubt I could have filled a postcard. How much do you know about Venezuela? So perhaps, then, it was a little surprising we chose to visit for three weeks this Christmas? Not at all. Sometimes it’s the enigmatic countries that are the most fun, usually less touristed, more educational, often more of a challenge, but equally ...
...do our homework first. After discovering we could get reasonable flights, we dug out a few guidebooks at the library, and discovered that Venezuela might have a lot to offer. Perhaps I’m quite thick, but for some reason it hadn’t occurred to me that for Venezuela to have a coastline, that coastline would have to be on the Caribbean? Pictures in the books certainly looked every bit as nice as any Caribbean island. But that wasn’t ... Read review

Advantages: duty free prices, weather, food, people,water,fish,trips
Disadvantages: crooks,airport,cars,first choice

hope this review helps i am not a writer so excuse any mistakes i would just like to try and give you an idea of what this was like. we travelled november 2004 to this amazing island where we had a fantastic time (made ourselfs) the island of margarita is unbelievable place where the weather hits right up into the high 40s,sometimes abit overpowering but if you are after a deep tan this is the place to be. if you dont know it is a spanish speaking ...
...quite good english. we went 2 weeks all inclusive stayed at the dunes beach resort which is a large complex the rooms are nice but basic have tv and showers,fridge (couldnt understand why no mini bar as was all inclusive) the hotel had probably the best night entertainment group ive seen not the usual tacky shows you get this was really well put together,could not fault it apart from if you like the usual tacky show:). the hotel was great like ... Read review

Advantages: Good weather all year round, good exchange rate for the USD or GBP
Disadvantages: Locals generally don't speak anything other than Spanish, rather high crime rate

I just read an excellent review by xadoc, and everything you pretty much need to know is there. I just have a few extra bits to fill in which I think would be helpful. The city has an excellent tube system, called the Metro, which is cheap and convenient. It is extremely handy for getting around and best of all, you can't get too lost as you are bound to find a station before long and you can get back to your hotel/get to your destination without ...
...is well known for leather goods, Nike, Reebok, Adidas stuff, clothes and GOLD. Fantastic quality 14 and 18 karat gold from the "joyerias" or jewellery shops. The gold is usually priced for you there and then as it is calculated based on the rate of exchange so of course it varies. Lovely quality gold, no 9K rubbish which is ridiculous as anything under 10K is not supposed to be classed as gold. You can get excellent stuff, beautiful designs. The ... Read review

Advantages: cheap, beautiful, diverse
Disadvantages: can be dangerous, english is not widely spoken

Venezuela has to be the most amazingly diverse country i have ever been to, and worry not, it is not the only place i have been. It ranges from the Andes in the West to the Gran Sabana and then onto the dense Jungle in the east. It has the world's tallest waterfall: Angel Falls, (discovered by Jimmy Angel), beautiful Carribean Coast, unique tribal communities and bustling oil rich cities. As i did with my trip lets start where most people do -Caracas. ...
...extreme wealth due to the oil, but the first thing that hit me was the incredible prices. I mean a 3 course meal for £2.50 and people were ripping you off if they were selling fags for 90p. This meant that a daily budget was tiny and in fact hotel rooms in other towns were less than £4.00 a night, so a budget of less than £15 is fine. From Caracas the options are endless. If you decide to trek in the Andes, Merida is a good starting point, a bustling ... Read review

Advantages: Whistlestop tour through the changing landscapes of Venezuela
Disadvantages: Not for the feint hearted or those with walking difficulties

What a wonderful country. We flew into Puerto Ordaz. Spent a couple of days on and around the River Orinoco, a word of warning Take Waterproof outerwear, you need it in this area. My goodness does it rain when it wants to. The storms are spectacular. From here we dorove through the rainforest stopping at all manner of places on the way then onto the Gran Sabana. What a contrast wide open spaces, and roads that are so streight the Romans must have ...
...were not allowed out at all due to the prospectors being armed and very hostile to strangers. ( we felt as though we had stepped back in time into an old American movie)We visited a gold mine and learned a lot about the gold we wear, when we left we felt guitly to wear gold. Thenwe were lucky to visit an illegal diamond strip mine. This is horrendous. The conditions of living are very primative, the only way in or out is by donkey,or 4 wheel drive ... Read review

Advantages: It's an incredible sight...
Disadvantages: It's a long way from anywhere...

...To the Mountain of the God of Evil. I have already written a review of Venezuela in general, but Angel Falls didn’t deserve to be squished into a couple of paragraphs of a larger review. It’s a sight on a grand scale, and deserves an opinion of its very own. If you’re interested in facts, Angel Falls is the highest waterfall (longest uninterrupted drop) in the world. While its flow is a fraction of the water that tumbles over Niagara, it falls 16 times as far – that’s nearly a kilometre, straight down. It falls, a tributary of the Rio Carrao, from the top of Auyantepui – The Mountain of the God of Evil – a name the local Pemón tribe bestowed upon it. The reason the waterfall is so unique is due to the unusual landscape. Auyantepui is one of many tepuis dotted around this area of South... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: different Caribbean experience
Disadvantages: costs

...When people hear the word Caribbean, immediately pictures of women in grass skirts, white sandy beaches, cocomut trees and primitives with spears come to mind - this will be a very big surprise when it comes to visiting Trinidad. I was not aware that there was a section on this site dedicated to travel in general and came across several reviews of Tobago, but none of Trinidad. Geographically, Trinidad and Tobago are located at the southernmost end of the Caribbean chain of islands, just north of Venezuela. Politically, Trinidad has the problems of every first world nation - traffic, noise, etc. Population: Trinidad is made up primarily of Indian immigrants (too much history for this page) and African immigrants, plus a healthy section of Chinese, Syrian, American, European and Spanish people. Religion: Christianity appears... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful