Anacondas, Piranhas, and Anteaters, Oh My!

Roughly three weeks left until I have to leave this beautiful country! This thought makes me sad, so I suppose I’ll focus on something a little less depressing this time and tell you all about my time in Los Llanos this past weekend!

Los Llanos (otherwise known as the “the plains” of Venezuela) are absolutely breathtaking. The wildlife is incredible and the sun is scorching! We left on Friday, early in the morning, and drove for about 12 hours (with stops, of course). A few times we were stopped by la poilicia and a few of us didn’t have our original passports with us (HUGE NO-NO, if you’re traveling out-o-state)… we would have been in trouble, but, as I’ve been saying this whole time, Venezuelan men seem to have a huge weakness for gringas. At one point, we were stopped, but they forgot to even ask for all of our passports because my roommate and I were in the front seat smiling at them. Hahahha. I’m sorry if this makes me sound egotistical, and I promise I’m not exaggerating–I just find it so hilarious!

Once we finally arrived in Llanos, the place looked kind of like something out of nature magazine. It was kind of the picture that I had in mind before I came of what I thought Venezuela would be like–honestly, I thought I would be roughin’ it way more that I am, but in Merida we have great living conditions. All things considered, we’re pretty spoiled the house where we live (I mean, besides the occasional blackout, there really isn’t much to complain about). However, at Los Llanos, one is most definitely roughin’ it. With pipes for showers and dim electricity only at night, you really get the feel of what life is like on the plains as opposed to in the city. Luckily, I’m one who can appreciate living in all sorts of situations, so this experience was actually quite exciting for me!

We slept in hammocks (well, there were beds in our hut, but I’m all about getting into the spirit of the place, so I opted for the hammock). Good thing I did, too, because the night when we arrived, there was an ANTEATER that came into the camp! Her name was Dulce Maria (sweet Maria), and the guides told us that they had raised her from when she was just a baby. We all marveled at her drinking milk in the campsite… however, that night, when it came to sleeping with no lock the door, we ended up having a bit of interesting experience (at around 4am) concerning Miss Ducle Maria (check out the photos, they can explain better than anything I could possibly write).

Okay, moving on… the first day we went on a safari on the river, caught piranhas, gutted them, and then ate them! (pictures to come). It was a tiring day because, the night before, we danced like crazy! It was so fun; the people who live at the camp site just got out these massive speakers and blasted some Joropo (which is the kind of music that Los Llanos is most known for). I must’ve danced for four hours straight! All of them were so impressed that I could catch on so fast that, once they find out that this gringa has rhythm, it was very hard to sit a moment without being asked to get right back up again! Haha, but I really don’t mind, because I love to dance, and most of them are amazing dancers.

I hesitate to say that Los Llanos was my favorite experience here, simply because all of the experiences are so different that it is impossible to compare them and come up with the best…

Having said that, Los Llanos is where I finally got to ride horses! (And those of you who know me, know how important this is to me). For that reason that reason alone, if I had to rank my experiences here, Llanos would definitely be top three. The horseback riding was so intense! I would have been happy with simply following a trail and walking the whole time, but what we got was so much more than I ever expected! (I should have known to expect more though, I mean, this is Venezuela). Anyway, the experience was one of the most amazing things I have ever done in my life. The one guy who lived there who accompanied us on horseback asked me how many years of experience I had, and when I told him 14 years, he basically told me to “just go.” So, I did. I trotted, cantered, and galloped all across the plains of Venezuela basically by myself! I’ve never experienced anything so wildly freeing in my entire life–definitely something I will not soon forget.

Pictures: