Venezuela
The information below is provided by Lonely Planet readers and is not verified by Lonely Planet. For the official lowdown, contact your nearest embassy or check out our Travel Links.
Travel Tips
After my last comments I read some of the other contributions. A lot of negative stuff there about "dangers". Lets face it, waking up is dangerous!
So to put things in perspective, and balance it up a little, let it be known (!) that I have spent the last 2.5 months travelling Peru, Colombia, Brazil and Venezuela by river boat, bus and plane, doing stupid things in stupid places at even stupider times, have had NO major problems. My scariest moment was being chased across the tarmac of Lima's domestic airport by 2 heavily armed men... They wanted to give me back the belt I had left behind at the metal detector!
I never paid a bribe to anybody... I have flown into the airport at Caracas numerous times and had no problems with anybody. Turn left exiting the international terminal (and changing some cash with the guys who hang around the cambios) and walk 400 metres to the domestic terminal and the bus stop. Buses leave every 5 or 10 minutes to the city (Bs4500) or Gato Negro metro (3000) until around 10 pm. A 10-ride multi- zone metro ticket is Bs2500 (USD$0.80). Taxi ride to the city is a flat Bs 20,000. Don't pay more - you screw it up for everybody else. There are guys who will try to hustle you, grab your bag and lead you to a taxi for example. Refuse to be hurried. You just sat on a plane for hours. What's the rush?
Rolf Forster, Australia (Jan 04)
If ever you don't know what to take along for your Venezuela trip, try Isabel Allende's "Eva Luna". Although set in a fictitious Latin American country it comes clear quite soon it must be Venezuela that Allende is writing about. It is a very colourful story covering most of the recent history of the country mingled with the personal tale of Eva Luna's turbulent life, a mixture of aspecial kind of Latin American family saga with Sheherazade-like taletelling, a very bright, funny and entertaining book. Very recommendable.
Jonas Teubner, (Jan 01)
Scams & Warnings
In Venezuela - as in other Latin American Countries - there is currently a drug in use called Burundanga . This drug may be transfered via inhalation, physical contact or consumption. Originating from Columbia, this drug may be attached to any piece of paper that a foreign person ask you to touch. People here have been asked by an older person to read a telephone number for them from a piece of paper, which they than touched. This drug makes a person do everything the other person tells him to do, and one is thus an easy victim for rape or robbery. I first thought it was not real, until I found proof on the Internet.
Mirjam Schmidt, Germany (May 06)
Anyone travelling in Venezuela right now needs to be extremely careful about using ATM machines. Personally I had over £1000 taken from my account whilst I was on a trip to Roraima. I was ´befriended´by someone in Ciudad Bolivar who showed me which bank would accept my visa card. They grab your card whilst you are using the machine and tell you that way is incorrect, you must first swipe it in another reader. The other reader is either attached to the machine or up their sleeve and then you use the machine normally and get your money out and think nothing of it. However, the other reader does not belong to the bank but an organised crime ring, someone in the crowd, that always surrounds machines, will be looking over your shoulder and seeing your PIN number.
I am currently in Santa Elena and this has happened to 10 other tourists here, all similar situations - a nice friendly person will gain your confidence and appear to ´help´. It has taken 3 days to get a police report and now I have the hassle of replacing the card. Fortunately I am carrying another but many people have been left stranded with no money.
- Don't trust anyone near the bank no matter how nice they appear.
- Check that the card swipe you are using is genuine, the fake one is normally long and stuck vertically to the machine.
- Make it impossible for anyone to overlook your pin
- Try and get money inside from the cashier rather than the ATM
- If you think something is wrong, then call your bank straight away
Mad Zoe, Thorn Tree (Dec 05)
There's a three hour queue at immigration to get into the country, it's quite a shock. The cable car (teleferico) in Merida was a nightmare. They will not send it up the mountain until they have at least 25 people (an indefinite and potenitally very long wait). The top section is closed, but they don't tell you that when you buy your ticket and they still charge the same. We turned up at 8:30am (after looking at the teleferico website) only to have to wait for two hours and then not even get to the top. We got up to the 4000m station at 12:15pm (on the very first car up by which time the clouds had rolled in) and then had to race on the walk down to the next station to catch the very last scheduled car (2pm). We arrived at 2pm to find that the car down from the top was just hanging in space and smoke was pouring out of the motor building (at 4000m). There was an electrical fire that meant the people who had stayed to get the car from the top had been literally left hanging for over an hour. Once they made it down, the car from the 4000m station was able to decend, but because there were a load of engineers with all sorts of large pieces of scrap metal, the car was overloaded by seven people AND the peices of metal (bits the length of the car as well as jacks, levers, old wheels from the pylons etc). Until the many problems with the teleferico are fixed I do not think it should be recommended to tourists as it is a dangerous, frustrating, and miserable waste of a day.
Nick Fuegi, (Mar 05)
In your Venezuela travel guide, you should also list as part of the health section the parasite "Larvas Migrans" or migrating larva. Three of us were plagued with them during our stay at Puerto Caballo/Choroni. I searched through your guide to find this hazard and didn't find it. It is contracted by sitting in the sand or placing your feet in the sand (as we all did to prevent our feet getting sunburned). Any small cut or opening will allow the larva to get into your skin (the doctor I saw said women in swimsuits usually get it in their private areas). It is horribly painful, and difficult to diagnose, unless you see a real doctor at a hospital. Any beach in Venezuela can have this parasite, esp. beaches with a heavy presence of dogs, who carry the larva. Be warned!
Melissa Foster, USA (Jan 05)
Caracas Airport - rogue taxi drivers: A good tip to avoid getting robbed by a taxi driver is to ask him to pose next to his numberplate on the car and then take a picture with your mobile phone camera (provided you have one). Tell the driver that you'll send the picture to your friends in europe in an instant + the internet. I'd be surpised if you get robbed after this.
Peter Barman, Norway (Mar 05)
Gems, Highlights & Attractions
Best beach in Venezuela: Puerto Colombia without doubt. Take the bus from Bandera bus station in Caracas to Maracay and then change buses at Maracay bus station and take the two hours bus to choroni, puerto colombia is the last stop, stay in Posada Colonial opposite the bus station. there you have a chilled out little fishing village where you can beach or hike.
ElPerroGrande, Thorn Tree (Dec 05)
You don't say much about Tabay in your Venezuela guide. It is a small town outside of Mérida. As well as being the gateway to La Mucuy in Parque Nacional Sierra Nevada, it has its own merits in terms of restaurants, places to stay, and general overall feel. I stayed at Casa Vieja, which is a small posada right outside of town. Very charming, with a great view of the mountains, and quite affordable. An interesting alternative to staying in Mérida, which is still easy to reach by por puesto.
Harold Kollmeier, USA (Mar 05)
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