hey yáll,
just checking in with you folks. my mom wants me to email her every week to let her know what´s up, so yáll are gonna get an update from me if you like it or not!
so, this past week i met this bloke from England at the hostel. His name is Carl and since he spoke english, we became quick buds. here´s a pic of carl lakeside at lago maracaibo. no, he´s not naked, and yes he´s happy to be beach-side. anyhoo, we planned an expedition to see the infamous ¨Lighting of Catatumbo.¨ we could of paid a crapload of $$ to go on a tour, but we decided it would be much more macho to find it ourselves.
We set off Tuesday morning after acquiring a new tent, some cans of tuna, and some jam. We took a bus to El vigia, then a van to santa barbara, then a vintage Ford Fairlane 500 to the town of Puerto Concha. there´s a bunch of old classic cars turned taxis down here, it´s awesome! we arrived to puerto concha only to find that it would cost alot of $$ to take a boat out to these houses on stilts to view the lighting.(the lighting is based near the mouth of the river catatumbo which flows into lake maracaibo). we decided to take our chances on land and find someplace to camp for the nite.
on our way out there was a bunch of commotion near the docks. people were crying and gathering around. i pushed my way through the sea of people to find two officials picking up a dead body from the ground and slapping it onto a metal slab. this was quite odd, since i´ve never seen a dead body up close before. looked like he must of drowned in the river... it was wierd, some people were crying, others were giggling and making small jokes. anyhoo, we were losing daylight, and had to find a camping spot.
Near dusk, we broke into this farmer´s field of small palm trees. we set up camp and fought off the thousands of moquitos buzzing around. the mosquitos were so bad, we could barely open one can of tuna before giving up and retreating to the tent. the heat and humidity was sweltering. my clothes were drenched in sweat and i couldn´t stop itching my left arm´s colony of bug bites. we saw a few flashes of light that night, but nothing spectacular...
anyhoo, this email is becoming long winded.... too bad, there´s more to it....
the next morning we changed tactics and ventured forth towards the town of Bobures. a van, a bus, and a dodge dart later we came to our destination. it was beautiful. on the other side of the lake, we landed ourselves on a small beach, with perfect weather, and a perfect spot to camp and view our lighting. dinner was a treat with tuna, rice, and bread. we had some time to kill so we swam in the lake, drank beer, then drank some rum.
later that night, it started to rain like crazy. we found our tent to be a bit soggy, but it was better than being outside. around 2 am carl woke me up to see the lighting show. it was pretty cool to see. it was flash after flash, withing seconds of each other. this natural phenominom occurs every night at the mouth of the river. lighting strikes consistently thoughout the night without any thunder following it. i watched it for the next hour, and i eventually passed out.
the next morning we packed up our wet belongings at set out for the hostel. all in all, i think it was an excellent adventure. however, i might go back though for a closer look. i really want to get some good shots of the lighting. even though we could see it from across the lake, we were too far away for decent photography.
that´s all this week folks!
later,
-patrick
just checking in with you folks. my mom wants me to email her every week to let her know what´s up, so yáll are gonna get an update from me if you like it or not!
so, this past week i met this bloke from England at the hostel. His name is Carl and since he spoke english, we became quick buds. here´s a pic of carl lakeside at lago maracaibo. no, he´s not naked, and yes he´s happy to be beach-side. anyhoo, we planned an expedition to see the infamous ¨Lighting of Catatumbo.¨ we could of paid a crapload of $$ to go on a tour, but we decided it would be much more macho to find it ourselves.
We set off Tuesday morning after acquiring a new tent, some cans of tuna, and some jam. We took a bus to El vigia, then a van to santa barbara, then a vintage Ford Fairlane 500 to the town of Puerto Concha. there´s a bunch of old classic cars turned taxis down here, it´s awesome! we arrived to puerto concha only to find that it would cost alot of $$ to take a boat out to these houses on stilts to view the lighting.(the lighting is based near the mouth of the river catatumbo which flows into lake maracaibo). we decided to take our chances on land and find someplace to camp for the nite.
on our way out there was a bunch of commotion near the docks. people were crying and gathering around. i pushed my way through the sea of people to find two officials picking up a dead body from the ground and slapping it onto a metal slab. this was quite odd, since i´ve never seen a dead body up close before. looked like he must of drowned in the river... it was wierd, some people were crying, others were giggling and making small jokes. anyhoo, we were losing daylight, and had to find a camping spot.
Near dusk, we broke into this farmer´s field of small palm trees. we set up camp and fought off the thousands of moquitos buzzing around. the mosquitos were so bad, we could barely open one can of tuna before giving up and retreating to the tent. the heat and humidity was sweltering. my clothes were drenched in sweat and i couldn´t stop itching my left arm´s colony of bug bites. we saw a few flashes of light that night, but nothing spectacular...
anyhoo, this email is becoming long winded.... too bad, there´s more to it....
the next morning we changed tactics and ventured forth towards the town of Bobures. a van, a bus, and a dodge dart later we came to our destination. it was beautiful. on the other side of the lake, we landed ourselves on a small beach, with perfect weather, and a perfect spot to camp and view our lighting. dinner was a treat with tuna, rice, and bread. we had some time to kill so we swam in the lake, drank beer, then drank some rum.
later that night, it started to rain like crazy. we found our tent to be a bit soggy, but it was better than being outside. around 2 am carl woke me up to see the lighting show. it was pretty cool to see. it was flash after flash, withing seconds of each other. this natural phenominom occurs every night at the mouth of the river. lighting strikes consistently thoughout the night without any thunder following it. i watched it for the next hour, and i eventually passed out.
the next morning we packed up our wet belongings at set out for the hostel. all in all, i think it was an excellent adventure. however, i might go back though for a closer look. i really want to get some good shots of the lighting. even though we could see it from across the lake, we were too far away for decent photography.
that´s all this week folks!
later,
-patrick
2 comments:
Hey Mate. Good adventure stories. Wish I were there. I'll be sure to pass along the good word to Mr. Bailey.
Hey! This story reminds me of the Simpsons episode where Homer finds a dead body in the quarry with Carl, Lenny and Moe. Don't come home with night terrors!
Post a Comment