Los Roques (Hugh & Eliza)

Los Roques (Hugh)

Wow what an amazing place.

Sunday was a bit of a test, with 3 more plane trips before we arrived. Another airport adventure, and this time I cannot blame anyone for the chaos. We had plenty of time, even time to sit down and order food, a beer etc. Only of course we didn’t have plenty of time. They don’t announce any plans for boarding over here, not even in Spanish, so we were without our usual prompts. You just have to be at the right place at the right time and, of course, we weren’t, we never are (I refer to my previous submission). I had in fact previously visited the gate to get a sense of the distance from the restaurant that we had to cross to get to the gate, and thank goodness, because it was the guy that I had spoken to before who recognised us gringos and found us in the restaurant. Never until now has someone actually come and fetched me to put me on a plane.

Fortunately, there was only one other guy travelling, so we did not delay too many fellow passengers. In fact, we had the plane to ourselves. We have a photo of this, which is quite jolly, but download speeds are not that fantastic from here, so we may have to wait.

Had a very jolly day on Monday. Desayuno at 830, then chilling around before a boat comes and takes you to a deserted island, but for kitesurfing and windsurfing headcases. What a co-incidence, I say, and head for a hut which looks to have some rigs laid out in the optimistic hope that some like-minded folk happen to wander past (this cannot happen very often).

So I left the team for an hour or so to windsurf while they poked at hermit crabs, snorkelled, and generally mouched about. 20 years since I had stood on a “sailboard” and designs have moved on a bit. The boards are now rather short and fat (ok, ok, very funny). I was handed a 5.0 and spent a good hour or so in 20 knot winds reminding myself of how this works. Very jolly. If the wind holds tomorrow (and it has, since they started recording it) I will get a bigger sail and a smaller board and hope that the rest of the team can forgive me this luxury.

Some photos of the day below, although goodness knows whether they will load from here.

Tuesday 30th June (Eliza)

We woke up and had breakfast, then we saw are boat coming and we got in it and then we went to the beach and went snorkelling in the sea then we went to warm and watched Daddy wind surfing and then we went to the lagoon and then we went back to the beach and daddy arrived and then me and Monty said hurray it is lunch time and we ate omelette and bread then me and Monty played then we went snorkelling with daddy and we saw lodes and lodes of fish under the boat and met mummy and Jemima snorkelling too, then we showed them all the fish and then we got out of the water and had some lunch then the boat came to pick us up and then we went on the boat and we got to are hotel and we went snorkelling again and there were even more fish so we tried to catch some but we couldn’t so then me and Jemima got the computer and rote the blog.

Eliza’s Sunday blog

28-6-09

We woke up at about 7 o’clock and then we went to breakfast and we had cornflakes and pancakes and then we had a omelette and then we went out to the shop and we bought a necklace and Monty got a keyring. Then we packed up for a little bit and we went in the place where you get hot chocolate then we went on the truck to go to the airport and we waited for a little while and we had some water. Then we went to the aeroplane and we had a hour long flight and when we landed we went into the airport. It was very hot outside. Then we gave the man our passports and then we went through the thing and gave the bags to the man and he put it through the thing and then we walked up for a little while and looked at the shop for a tincy bit and then we went to sit down. And then we had a diet coke and we sat down and we wrote the blog.

Daddy asked me what I thought was best about Waku and why. The best bit was when we went through the rapids on the boat - the big wavy bits. Another thing that I liked was seeing Angel Falls from the plane because the pilot went absolutely crazy and it was really fun and it was my first time at seeing the highest waterfall in the world. The lady Mikiza was very funny and she sang all the way through the jungle and we saw a really big taranatula nursery and it had so many spiders on it. And then we saw a big big big big termite nest on a tree.

Jungle Jaunts (Mummy)

Mikiza had a green umbrella that she took out when it rained like billio as we were going down the rapids. She is mad mad mad. Mind you, thinking about it, Eliza and I were in the middle of playing charades as we shot the rapids in the rain in the canoe. Were in the middle of acting out ‘The Jungle Book’ I think. It all got a bit hectic, especially when our canoe driver decided to race the other one downstream.

As we walked through the jungle on the way to Angel falls, whispering in a David Attenborough-like manner, we got an opportunity to be a real lifeTarzan…..

Mikiza found us a big long vine hanging across a pool and we took turns to shout “Aeeeaeeaeaeeeaeaaaaaa” as we swung across. Jemima was the fastest Tarzan and I was definitely the slowest and least travelled… not looking forward to that video being aired then.

And yes the big smelly spiney bush pig did have the audacity to try and make off with my hat. Jungle pigs are apparently known in the area for being verrrrrry fashionable.

Benji (Jemima)

We only just worked how to look at comments but thanks Jasmin that's great that you are riding Benji and making him happy!!!!!

Wildlife in Venezuela & Monty's awesome day

Wildlife in Venezuela (Jemima)

There is lots of wildlife here most of it is quite friendly but some is scary: like mountain bees that look like Hornets, the big 24 hour ant that makes you sick for a whole day (before we new what they were mummy went and poked one), the water spider that is bigger than Daddy’s hand, a tarantula nest with thousands of little baby spiders on the nest we couldn’t find the mummy Tarantula though.

These are some of the calm things we found a toad that was so big and fast we thought it was a rabbit and a what I call a plastic frog but of course it was a real bright yellow and black frog, we saw a pig which smelt horrible and stole mummy’s hat (it liked daddy a lot) , we saw a coati which had a very long nose and liked eating bbq chicken, we found lots of wild parrots the hotel had seemed to make friends with them so we all got to hold one here is me holding one of the trained ones it never wanted to come of me so the man had to get cross with it.

A Toucan in our garden

The rabbit-toad

The Tarantula nursery
Check out the cave spider that chased Mummy!

The smelly pig, and a hairy bore.
A parroty visitor
Look at my new friend!
The sandwich toad
The plastic frog
The coati (sp?)

Monty’s awesome day (Hugh)

Let me tell you, any favourable comparisons that you may have heard between Angel Falls and Devon’s Lydford Gorge are inaccurate. From the bottom, the Falls (“The Fairy Falls” – Monty) are nothing short of mind-blowing. The volume of water, the drop, the way the water tries as hard as it can to throw itself down in great swathes, only to break up hopelessly in the face of gravity, wind and speed, and arrive at the bottom as a cloud of spray and fog.

Today was a big day, complementing well yesterday’s aerial acrobatics over the Falls from above, because you can get no real sense of scale in a plane. It was an early morning wake up at 0420 – the French guide from hell tried in vain to wake the kids in Room 4, so in despair then knocked on our door at Room 6 and invoked our assistance. I then tried the same trick for 10 minutes (their door lock was bust from the outside for some reason, which was reassuring), by which time I had woken both Rooms 3 and 5 but still not Room 4. Finally Jemima came to the door a little bleary-eyed and I was eventually able to rouse the others.

After coffee we left in the dark in some kind of lorry, then we had 4 hours boating upstream, then a 3 hour round trip jungle walk up the Fairy Falls and back, then 3 hours back down the river again. With stops for coffee and pig baiting, it was a 12 hour trip and Sarah Goodfellow was sceptical beforehand that this would end well. It did in the end, at 1950hrs, a credit to the various Goodfellow small-fry who appeared to have impressed all.

Of course, when taking your money at the time of booking, all guides questioned are, to a man, optimistic that this adventure is an absolutely perfect trip for 5 year olds, nothing could fit the bill better. Independent tourist witnesses interrogated, that had taken the trip before (and even our guide for El Sapo on the first day), were unanimously of the opposite view, ranging between a verdict of assisted suicide and a silent shake of the head, but I judged them all a load of whingebags and so off we went anyway. Well-meaning scepticism from German tourists is, for me at least, as a red rag to the bull. The Health & Safety arrangements out here are almost non-existent (more on this later), so it’s up to the individual what risks one takes. These boats are mere hollowed-out trees with 48hp outboards on the back; a little tippy but fine if no one moves a muscle during transit; the whole camber and direction of the boat can be controlled by the driver at the back skewing the engine one way or the other. We had a very good one, who seemed not to want to go swimming any more than the next man.

Once on the water however, with the water so high after recent rain, even the guides appeared a little taken aback by the volume of water in the river, but as I say we had a good driver and no one went in during the day. Plenty of stories from the guides of chaps going in the water and not coming up again of course, and all these stories told in the boat rather than during the pre-booking advice stage, but there it is. Enough of that, or Mother will get worried.

The journey up the river was through thick rainforest choking the river on each side. Spectacular, and Jemima Goodfellow’s favourite part. The river begins wide, then as you take smaller and smaller tributaries, it gets much narrower, and the rapids simultaneously become more burly. Great skill from the driver, negotiating at times through gaps that required both the right speed and approach to get through without incident. Plenty of reassurance from our roly-poly guide “don’t worry, this is totally normal” and all-in-all very good fun. Jemima likes the look of the white water and I have great plans to get her in a kayak before long. Sarah and Eliza played charades, and seemed to erase this whole section from their experience. Perhaps for the best.

Once the river ran out, the jungle walk was great – we saw tarantula spider webs bigger than anything I’d imagined possible, like something out of an X-rated version of “Arachnophobia”. Mountain bees on a honeycomb; the now famous “24 hour ant” which, at time ignorant, Sarah baited with a leaf (one bite leads to 24 hours of unimaginable pain, fever and distress); termites galore; parrots; toucans; a white egret (I think); some catfish; a coapi (sp?); along the way a pet pig that smelt something like my feet.

To me, the very existence of jungle is incontrovertible evidence that woodland management is unnecessary in any form. The National Trust should take note. Not only would managing the jungle be a big job, it would also be an entirely redundant exercise. Things grow, then things fall down, and this allows other well-evolved things themselves also to grow, and others to step in and eat them. The same effect would work perfectly well back on Hindhead Commons and would end once and for all any discussions going around Cirencester College about what sort of management is best. None needed.

Back at base, over supper, once we had allowed the kids to go to bed (ha! that’ll learn ‘em) we were discussing Health & Safety, Venezuelan style. We are all home safe and sound, but not all parents would have enjoyed these recent outings. Thursday’s trip to the El Sapo waterfall was awesome; you take a boat, and then a path that goes behind a waterfall (a really burly one too). At one point you stand, a child’s hand in each of yours, as both children skid hopelessly towards certain death were you not to be there in your trusty espadrilles, with the waterfall cascading down trying to pull everyone’s hair out.

Friday’s trip to the Kavac caves was fine, although the massive case spiders and sandwich frogs wouldn’t have ticked everyone’s box. The flight out to the caves was spectacular, but uneventful. The flight home was awesome – the pilot fed off the screams from the back like a drug, and became more and more outlandish in his behaviour. The last 5 minutes was spent only a few feet off the water, buzzing the falls around Canaima then careering into the airport without so much of a mirror-signal-manoeuvre.

And today’s trip was cracking fun, although goodness knows what happens if you fall in, or if the engine fails.

I guess the reality is that in the UK, we can’t really get ourselves into much trouble because there are so many rules preventing us from going anywhere near danger. Cue Venezuela (Slovenia is also good for this) and there are suddenly no rules, just common sense, and the locals pretty much leave you to it – I guess their own kids have acquired a sense of danger over the years. So it was again interesting watching our own kids mucking about only inches from harm without a care in the world. Admittedly, all three have a certain in-built disposition that favours a disregard for their own personal safety (reckless, on occasion), but until this trip I think that even they were all of the view that no one would ever allow them the liberty to get themselves into serious trouble.

We move on today, to some islands called Los Roques. A windsurfing and kitesurfing mecca, I understand. Perhaps a chance to get myself into trouble, methinks.

Awesome (Sarah)

Okay so the spiders in the cave were the size of my hand and faster than a speeding bullet.

The sound of a raging thunderstorm approaching the landing strip over lunch did slightly make me anxious but I was totally unprepared for the fact that our pilot was a dancing-with-death flying stuntman / part time comedian.

Talk about 'scream if you want to go faster' the louder we shouted the more he swung those wings, we will never need to go to alton towers again.

Wow, that was trully one of the most exhilarating and frankly breathtaking days ever. I need a whisky. xxxxx

We go flying (Hugh)

Two pairs of binoculars purchased fresh from Snow & Rock. Low quality, admittedly, but I didn’t expect both to have broken on their first outing. The first pair, courtesy of Monty, has evolved seamlessly into a pair of telescopes. I am actually rather pleased with this development. By cutting the neck cord, I have now doubled their original utility as advertised, since two kids can now look at parrots without causing argument, whilst the third child copes with the remaining tool in the original stereo format.
Unfortunately, the remaining binoculars were apparently also not functioning properly either. Jemima marches up – “this pair is broken too Mummy – everything is really small”. Turn them round, chief.

The day started out with us eyeing up a heli, but they never left us alone with it long enough to make a clean getaway.



Later found a plane.

I was rusty, but this did not dim my confidence.









We were soon airborne, and flying through tepuys in pretty good weather, only a few clouds breaking up the view.



We landed at Kavac, a fake tourist village, but were then led by pretty genuine looking locals through some savannah, then up a river and into a cave. This cave contained said river, a few ropes guiding us up the torrent to end up at a spectacular waterfall.

Monty did well; they wouldn’t have allowed adults into this place in the UK. It was only on the way down that we spied some seriously big cave spiders, one of them scuttling after Sarah almost as if the guide had a remote control.

Lunch was in one of the fake huts, and was good. The flight back was just breathtaking though – up to 8000 feet to get over the scarp of the gran tepuy, then close enough to Angel Falls to get the wings wet.



I think the pilot (yeah ok we picked one up in Kavac) really fed off the screams, and his days in ‘Nam were coming back to him by the end as we buzzed the Canaima falls then the hotel before landing a lttle breathless back at the airport. Just awesome.

El Sapo (monty)

we went on a boat trip and we went under a waterfall it was realy fun we got wet. then we did a strong person photo.

Then we went on top of the waterfall.

Eliza

25-6-09

We got up really early in the morning, at four o’clock and we went on two planes and they were both half an hour and when we were on the second plane I was sick and I did it in daddy’s lap top cover twice.

When we got to the place I was sick again in the bar and then I sat down for a little while and then I burst out to the loo and I was sick five times. Then I had a four hour big sleep and it made me feel better, Then I had lunch and it was chicken and rice. Then we went on a boat and it was really fun and I saw a tincy crocodile.

Then at an island we walked under a waterfall and we got very very wet and it was so fun that I was about to faint. Then we climbed up a hill through the rain forest and found a multicoloured frog that looked like it was made of plastic and daddy poked it. It bounced and it nearly hit me. We carried on and there were lots of big steps that we had to climb up. We were at the top of the waterfall and we found a really big hole and I nearly fell in it.

When we went back down we passed a house-cave were an old Peruvian man used to live. He made the path behind the waterfall and lived there for ten years in a hammock until he died there.

Sarah

If you study the photo above you will imagine my maternal horror when a second later Hugh decided to walk along the log towards Jemima.

Pavlo the guide and I froze in terror as the force of gravity initiated a fulcrum effect sending Jemima hurting at full speed towards the torrent below whilst the far end of the pivot rose sharply in a catapult ¬like manner threatening to send Monty over the cascades like something out of an Incredibles cartoon.

Luckily with her well honed skills of self preservation, Mima leapt off in to the shallows redressing the balance, bringing Monty safely back down to earth with a thwack.

I had no idea Venezualan guides could laugh so long and so heartily as Pavlo can.

Fun at the airport

Wednesday (Hugh)

If you have to catch a flight with my dear wife, there is one thing that you need to know. She likes to be last onto the plane.

If, against protocol, your taxi delivers you in good time at the airport, you must initially spend that time milling around aimlessly looking at shops. The indication “go to gate” is a signal to sit down at a café or bar, depending on the time of day, and order something that will take some time to cook. Once the family is safely ensconced in this position, you remember that something of great importance is required for the flight or the trip – perhaps a book, or on this occasion, a Nintendo DS game. Leave your husband helpless, with all the bags and at least one child. Ensure that your ‘phone is switched off so that you are completely uncontactable other than via tannoy. As the clock winds down, return eventually to the family, ambling slowly, perhaps texting a friend as you stroll, to find your husband in a state of helpless stress. You then join him in the headlong dash for the plane.

But this is my sabbatical, an opportunity for me to unwind from the pressures of work, business travel and the daily grind. I am determined to be unconcerned during this trip, no stress for me. All arrangements will lie in my wife’s hands – I will follow meekly and muted, “high” and chilled out on a permanent weekend.

But I couldn’t do it. I snapped early, I’m sorry. I was in (on) the loo when the tannoy announced that our flight was closing. Thank God for my limited German. For anyone watching, it would have been inspired comedy, my running headlong from the bog with the door swinging, pulling up my trousers on the run yelling instructions ahead to pick up our possessions and run for it. Sarah and Jemima led the way, then me with Whizz and Monty, two packs and a guitar.

We made it, of course, we always do, but I’m taking charge again. We have 16 more flights to take on this trip, and I don’t have enough adrenaline to cover all of them.

Thursday (Jemima)

We woke up at 4:30 in American time as it would be around 9:30 in the morning in England. We took lots of pictures for our first proper day, here is one of them. Had breakfast at 5:00 as we had an early plane to Puerto Ordaz, then Canaima on another plane to go and see Angel falls in a boat. As probably you know Angel falls is the highest water fall ever recorded in the whole world. Angel Falls is 979 metres high (almost 1 kilometre!) and was named after the America pilot, Jimmie Angel, who flew over it in 1937 only to crash onto the top of Auyantepuy. Unscathed, he, his wife and two fellow passengers decided to descend the Carrao river and 11 days later managed to regain contact with civilisation. We are hoping to re-enact his adventure.

Travelling (Jemima)

Today we woke up at 4:30 in the morning everyone thought they were going to fall asleep any minute now but happily no one did apart from daddy who did in the taxi. The taxi came at 5:00am and we got in. Balloo thought he was coming with us so he jumped in but we eventually got him out so we drove off having to say goodbye to Kjasa our au pair; here is a photo of us when we left our house.



Ebony was sad and put her chin on Mummy’s footrest. We got into the taxi and we had a short half hour journey. When we got to the airport we went along corridors, upstairs, downstairs and then we got in all the queues and then finely got to all the shops and we had a drink in one of the cafes. Then suddenly the speaker said that our gate was nearly closed so we had to run about three times around the building. Then finally we reached the gate just as it was closing and got in.
We got on the plane and settled down, the plane took off and we all played on our Nintendos and then when we got there we saw a club car with nobody in it so Monty drove off in it so we had to chase him and jump on. Here he is on the car with us.



Now we are transferring to Caracas. Just the ten hours then.

Goodbye

We had to say our last goodbyes today as it was our last day before our big holiday. The sad thing is is that Mrs Shar our maths teacher and Priya Shar in Elizas class our leaving while we are gone. they are going to Brunei so we will probably never see them ever again.

Eliza is getting excited

I'm very excited about seeing the bigest waterfall in the world.

I'm very very excited because we are going to stay in a RV.

This is the packing.

Preparations ever more furious

I wonder whether this industrious blog beginning will continue. Probably not. There will certainly be fewer boring train rides. If it does, I hope that it does not become any more toe-curlingly embarrassing than its very existence necessitates.

Today was my (Hugh) last day in the office and characterised by the usual succession of events - spent the morning rubbing shoulders with attractive celebrities, long lunch, then a massage and snooze in my chair, followed by a couple of pints. The final bit is in fact true - picked up a stash of drugs in the Hole in the Wall from a medic friend to sustain us should disease hit the team; now heading home for tearful farewells from Goodfellows senior. We're only going for 10 weeks for goodness sake.

Schedule for the next few days:

0800 Tuesday - meet Jemima's teacher for "hot wash-up" following recent exams. No doubt an exhilirating reinforcement of our investment in the private school system;

High noon - sign last will and testament in front of local solicitor who cannot understand how one can get to 40 and not have previously considered death in any of its forms. She should have come climbing in Slovenia last June, that would have taken the colour out of her face;

0755 Wednesday - depart Luftwaffe flight to Caracas via Frankfurt;

1630 local time - arrive Caracas. Immediately hijacked;

0730 Thursday - transfer to Puerto Ordaz;

0930 - transfer to Canaima. If the skies are clear then we will "enjoy a stunning landscape of open savannah, stands of open forest and flat table mountains called tepuys." If the skies are not clear, then we will wonder what the hell we are doing here.

Upon arrival we will be taken to the Waku lodge beside the "beautiful Canaima lagoon". In the afternoon we will be taken across the Canaima lagoon by boat. Presumably, if we are still all together at this stage, this is one of the first of many opportunities the children will have to test the local health & safety arrangements. The next obvious opportunity comes only the next day, when we have the chance to walk behind the El Tapo waterfall in soft shoes.

For film buffs, I think this might be the place that the last of the mohicans attempted to eradicate his race entirely, having failed to hide successfully from the bad guys, but I could be wrong. No doubt it is a safe place to take small children though.

Reached Witley now, so must pack up. Won't miss the commute chaps.

Packing furiously

2 days to go, and we are all packed for our adventure. We watched Planet Earth to see where we were going and what it would look like. The mountains are called tepuys and we saw Angel Falls which we are going to walk through and Daddy is going to jump off probably!!!