Woah – rated PG for language

Posted on November 15, 2012 by rfljenksy

Now, I’m not about posting videos with foul language. I’m really not. However, my site has been down so I’ve been a bit behind on posting anything. Also, my space has been used up and I’ve been struggling with figuring out what kind, if any, of upgrade I should consider purchasing. Apparently I am photo heavy in my blogs so I’m at a loss of what I should do. I would welcome any suggestions.

At any rate, back to the point of this blog. I’m behind.. no biggie.. it was all for good reason. Travel, internet down and more travel. It was a great break to not have access to internet over the past couple of trips and during the past week in Venezuela. Amazing amount of things I was able to accomplish in that time.. but again I digress.. the point of this blog is I”m about to post a video that has some extreme language. I cannot edit it out as it is not my video to edit.

So here’s the story. About 2 weeks ago I went to Catatumbo, Venezuela for 4 days. This is a place in Venezuela that is re-known for it’s lightening storms. I flew out of Venezuela with only about 3 hours of sleep, I arrived in the location after a 2 hour bus ride and about 3-4 hours on a boat in the sweltering sun. So by 8 pm I was exhausted. It was a great day but was completely exhausted. So I went to bed about 9 pm. At about 10:30 pm we were all roused from our sleep to the sound of a door banging open and our tour guide Alan Highton screaming, “The lightening show is starting.. the lightening show is starting!!”

So we trudge out of bed and are impressed and amazed at the spattering of occasional brightness in the sky.. after about 10 minutes of me being completely UN-IMPRESSED and discombobulated from lack of sleep.. i head back to bed to be awakened about 45 min later with our lovely tour guide Alan Highton pounding and screaming again.. “The lightening show..” well you get it.. so let’s just say the first night was a bit of a bust on the show. I could not even capture a tiny bit of lightening.

So the second day we participate in a food delivery donation to a local village.. I will talk more about this in my next post with some photos as soon as I figure out what upgrade I want to purchase..(this is your hint to give me some guidance).

All day Alan kept singing the Black Eyed Peas chorus from “I gotta feeling.. that tonights going to be a good night.. that tonights going to be a good- good night..” By the time evening rolled around and after about a 2 hour nap I did feel better but when 9 pm rolled around I was still uh.. not impressed. I decided to use the bathroom and just go back to sleep. By the time I got out of the bathroom a breeze had picked up and some thunder started rolling a bit.. so I decided to sit up for a bit. Everyone else on this tour seemed to have these amazing cameras with telephoto lenses and were catching some good lightening shots but I could not do the magic with my point and shoot. The best shot I got was of the following which was taken at 1 am in pitch black after lightening had blazed through the sky..

Lightening pounded down on this dock. It was 1 am and pitch black when I shot the picture. Looks like daylight.

Wow.. another sort of lame shot from my great but lame for shooting cool pictures camera…lightening in the distance

Another mediocre shot.

My friends great, awesome camera shot with long exposure. I wish I had that camera.

A different long exposure shot of friends awesome camera.

A distant shot of bolts of lightening from friends camera… so cool.

Long shot of distant lightening. Friends camera

Awesome friend in cool picture with someone’s awesome camera.. can I say awesome one more time?

How Western press distorts Venezuela (greenleft.org.au)
Venezuela prioritizes ‘happiness’ in its national budget (csmonitor.com)
Venezuela Vacations (orbitz.com)

Travel Theme: Sunsets

Posted on August 18, 2012 by rfljenksy

“A large drop of sun lingered on the horizon and then dripped over and was gone, and the sky was brilliant over the spot where it had gone, and a torn cloud, like a bloody rag, hung over the spot of its going. And dusk crept over the sky from the eastern horizon, and darkness crept over the land from the east.”
― John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath

Los LLanos, Venezuela

One of the most beautiful regions in Venezuela is “los llanos”, those huge plains where only the horizon stops your sight. Both, the vegetation and the fauna are full of beauty. Several ecosystems will make a trip to this region an unforgettable one.

I missed the last Sunset Travel Theme from “Where’s My Backpack” so I was very pleased That it came around again. Throughout my travels I have been fortunate enough to have seen some of the most brilliant sunsets. Like clouds for me, I am often spell-bound by what nature is able to produce.. simple yet complicated, heart stoppingly beautiful.. and a gift.. yeah you heard me. Absolutely free.. ours for the taking. So take I did (photos).My favorite sunsets are seen from the mountains or near the ocean or really any body of water. Possibly due to the connection of cloud formation near water and elevation, they are some of the most stunning sunsets I have experienced. Here are a few sunsets I have collected in the past couple of years in Venezuela. I hope you enjoy.

“There’s a sunrise and a sunset every single day, and they’re absolutely free. Don’t miss so many of them.”
― Jo Walton

Curacao- is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea. About a 45 minute flight from Venezuela.

Imagine an island where hidden coves reveal an emerald-blue sea. Where arcs of golden sand stretch out beneath vibrant, multicolored sunsets. Where a rich historical heritage meets Caribbean vitality. Where the only thing you need to worry about is deciding how to spend your next day in paradise. Imagine Curaçao: the best-kept secret in the Caribbean.

Delta Orinoco in Venezuela.

The Orinoco delta is a vast, intricate labyrinth of waterways weaving through a simmering jungle to carry the waters of the Orinoco to the Atlantic Ocean. The Orinoco Delta – the landmass now known as Delta Amacuro State – has formed over the course of thousands of years as the mighty river has deposited millions of tonnes of sediment into the ocean.

Los Nevados, Venezuela located in the Sierra Nevada National Park.

The Andean Parque Nacional Sierra Nevada of southwestern Venezuela, barely an hour into our five-hour descent from the 4,045-meter heights of Loma Redonda to the whitewashed walls and red tile roofs of a hidden hamlet called Los Nevados.

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