The city of Merida is a perhaps the capital of the organized tour in Venezuela. Despite this claim, it is still a great place to visit. This church, sits alongside some colonial architecture, as well as the university buildings. Merida is lively at night, and easy going during the day. There are parks, shops and the ice cream shop with the most flavors of ice cream in the world.

An interesting excursion from Caracas is to the German town of Colonia Tovar. It is a quiet place at nearly 2,000 meters altitude. The restaurants are excellent, and the environment pleasant and fresh. I stayed here for three days after Los Roques, and before going to Choroni and the playa grande with all the other tourists...

The cloud forest of the Andes features in the last picture of my selection from Venezuela. It is worth getting off the beaten track in Venezuela, as many of the more familiar tourist sites are over exploited, expensive and crowded. I spent two days walking in this forest, that is more forgiving than the tropical jungle, in that it is fresher and not full of mosquitoes. Camping out here is a tranquil and pleasurable experience.