caracas + choroni

so caracas, i need to write more on that...the contrast between poverty and misery and wealth and consumism is really evident there, after 10 whole days in the country i had never seen the kind of people i was rubbing shoulders with at the numerous malls of caracas: those are exactly the same as the ones in miami, the people as well...plastic surgery and a lot of importance to looks and brands...the center of town was really crazy though, a unique experience of overload of sounds, smells, people and things everywhere...i kept walking around the same block trying to find my way around, while watching for my stuff and trying to find something to eat!
i enjoyed the center of town, then i went to miraflores, the armed forces headquarter, and while i was taking pictures a soldier approached me asking me for my camera...to make it short, i unbelievably made my way inside the heavily-protected building just because of my innocent picture...and all because they had to check my identity or whatever! the president of ecuador was visiting chavez, so security was tight...plus the situation, and the city in general, is just very electric and it feels like it could explode at any second! that's one of the things i think i liked the most about it, the energy...there's so much energy that it either "kills" you, or it rubs onto you and you can feel it too...and i did while walking through piles of trash, completely surrounded by people, things, vendor stalls, food smells, car horns, you name it, it was there...moreover, the city's setting is spectacular, with the avila dominating everything that goes on...
i luckily made my way out of town without any damage or loss, and finding myself enjoying the mess/chaos/energy, you can call it whatever you want...
then we had some interesting experience on the bus out of town: a tire went flat right on the highway, and the noise was so loud i woke up and got up like everybody else...we thought the thing was going to catch on fire, and i am afraid there isn't much as far as safety there! but it was just a flat tire, and boy, was the tire was smooth and worn out!
from maracay i got on a fun, old american schoolbus with the interiors spraypainted a fluorescent green and turquoise, and we slowly made our way towards the beach with reggeaton blasting through the sound system...we entered the henri pittier national park and drove up to 1830 meters, only to descend through woods and fog all the way down to the beach! it was really fun, and it wouldn't be the same without the music and the crazy driving!
so now i am staying in choroni, technically puerto colombia, this touristy town that is surrounded by mountains and woods (the parc itself), the beach is really nice too, but i took a fisherman's boat to chuao, a town that i had to walk 4km inland to and that is famous for its cocoa...it was surrounded by cocoa plantations so i got to see cocoa "seeds" really up close...then i took another little boat to playa cepe, a semi-secluded beach that is surrounded by palm trees, it was all very enjoyable...
tomorrow i am going to coro, a colonial town, to spend christmas eve at this place where i am going to cook myself up a feast and then sleep, for the first time, on a hammock...and from there on christmas day all the way to colombia passing through maracaibo...so merry christmas everybody!