Day 9 - Barquesimeto - Higuerote:
Fact Sheet: 492 Km
Barquisimeto - Valencia - Maracay - Paracotos - Sta. Teresa del Tuy - Caucagua - Higuerote
Hotel Barlovento (Higuerote) - twin std. aprox. USD 20 (very good hotel)
From Barquisimeto to Paracotos, the traffic was light, and the roads excellent: very good dual carriage motorways. Then however, to avoid the chaos of crossing Caracas, we decided on a "short-cut" bypassing Caracas through Sta. Teresa del Tuy and Caucagua via secondary roads. They actually looked quite good on the map... However, it was more like a paved mountain pass - paved for most of the way - that probably was as hard driving as crossing Caracas! However, the Caribbean Sea was glistening in our eyes by late afternoon, and we caught some nice scenes watching the sun set. The first leg of our adventure was over, and we now swapped the Andes, the altitude, cool and dry climate, for the Caribbean atmosphere: sun, sea, and relaxation! The icing on the cake, was finding a great four-star hotel at off-season rates: the "Barlovento" is highly recomendable, and the staff was great!
Events:
| Zé and Ivone fell ill at night - food poisoning was later determined as the cause - probably the dinner at Barquisimeto, gobbled down before dropping off that night. |
Pictures:
