Camping in la Parque Nacional Sierra Nevada

On Friday night we, Ace, Marcus, Dror and I, met a group of really cool Venezuelan guys and girls in our posada, spent the night drinking with them and then joined them camping the next day.

We didn’t have much stuff for camping, so one of the guys, William, ran around with us getting a tents, sleeping bags, isolation mats and food, and organized a jeep to take the 9 of us 2 hours to la Parque Nacional Sierra Nevada, where we had a short hike to get to a great, quiet camping spot nestled in the mountains and next to a stream where we spent the night.

We were up around 3,500 meters so it was a little chilly but not too bad. There was thick fog on our way up which gave a dreamy feel to the land, added to by little babbling streams and horses grazing in the rolling hills. Given my track record I was a little nervous about slipping in a stream, but luckily there were no incidences for me.

On the way up William gave us the run down on the plants and mountains. Once we’d setup camp, our resident chief, Ace, took care of dinner. After dinner the sky cleared to a perfect night, lit by a moon so full that you didn’t need a torch.

The clear sky lasted until the morning, and we were greeted by incredible views of the fields, streams, lagoon, waterfalls and mountains around the camp. We went on a quick walk into the mountains during which the fog came back in and within 30 minutes visibility was reduced to 10 or 20 meters.

We had a quick breakfast and walked to the main road to get buses to our respective destinations; Ace, Marcus, Dror and I to Mérida; William, Poncho, Dixie, Gabby and Lisbette to Maracaibo.

It was sad to say goodbye, but I’m going to stop off and spend a little time in Maracaibo on my way to Columbia to visit them which will be great, they’re some of the friendliest and coolest people since I’ve been out here.