Saturday, October 21, 1995 - Isla Margarita, Venezula

Yesterday, Roy had put a plastic bag of trash in his Royak to get rid of in a trash can, but he hadn't seen one. This morning when he looked in his Royak, the trash was gone! The kids must have stolen it yesterday! We hope they didn't strew it all over the beach. Roy had the nutty idea that he wanted to eat breakfast at McDonald's, so we paddled in that direction, thinking we could walk there from the beach. Ha ha. Passed Angel Point, with its interesting rock sculpture of a kneeling angel. Saw a breakwater that looked as if it surrounded a marina, so we paddled over there to check it out. It turned out to be a marina under construction. It will be a dandy when it's finished, but it's not going to be for transients; they're going to sell the slips to people on a permanent basis. We pulled up on the beach just past the marina. A couple from England came along and struck up a conversation. They were very nice but extremely talkative. They just talked on and on, despite our hints that we wanted to go eat breakfast. The woman made our day, though, by saying we looked fifty. Eventually we got away from them and started walking towards the street. Some workmen in a golf cart came along and offered us a ride. That was very nice of them. It wasn't a very long ride, but every little bit helps. We walked a short distance along the street and then decided we had to turn right to get to McDonald's. We had only the vaguest idea where we were and where McDonald's was. We walked about a mile without seeing any sign of it, so we got on a bus and rode into Porlamar. It was noon by then, and we were hungry. Walked around looking for a likely place to eat, but all we saw were refreshment stands and ice cream parlors. In desperation, we ate some strawberry ice cream for breakfast. It was delicious and gave us the energy to continue on. There's a tremendous demand for U.S. money in this country. They must be expecting another devaluation of the Bolivar. People keep offering to exchange money. We were walking along the sidewalk when a man with a pocket calculator came up to us and punched in 240. That was five more than yesterday, so I told him I'd like to exchange $100. Roy had $20 he wanted to exchange. The man took our money and handed it to another man, who started to walk away. We had visions of our money disappearing, so we followed close on his heels. He went to a merchant and tried to make the exchange, but the merchant refused. We were relieved when he handed back our money, but he kept urging us to follow him. After several futile attempts, he finally found someone who would exchange the money at 240. Roy got 480 Bolivares, and I got 24,000. That made us feel better. We saw a restaurant across the street, so we crossed over and ate a real breakfast. It was called "Desayuno Americano" (American Breakfast). It consisted of orange juice, bacon and eggs, toast with butter and strawberry jam, and coffee or tea. Roy had coffee, and I had tea. It was a tasty and filling meal. Our strength renewed and money in our pockets, we headed for the CM Supermarket, which is supposed to be the largest on the island. We got on the first bus that came along, without paying attention to its destination. We ended up in Los Robles, so we got off and walked back to the main road. Waited a while at what appeared to be a bus stop, but no bus came along. We saw some people waiting at a bus stop around the corner, so we went over there. Of course, right away buses went by the stop we had been at. We got on a bus that we thought was headed towards Pampatar, but instead it took us back to Porlamar. We're not disoriented, not much. Anyway, when we got downtown, we crossed the street and carefully read the signs before getting on another bus. This one took us to the CM Supermarket. We were greatly disappointed in the market. If this is the best Margarita has to offer, we have a problem. There were almost no U.S. products, and the produce was quite limited and sorry-looking. We bought a few things, including some chicken thighs, and then caught another bus towards Porlamar. Our next problem was finding our way back to the Royaks. We got off in the outskirts of Porlamar, crossed the street, and watched to see which direction the buses went in. One came along that said "Playa Azul" (Blue Beach). A beach had to be on the waterfront, so we got on. We lucked out. It took us within a block of the hotel or apartment building or whatever it was where we had left our Royaks, so it was an easy walk from there. Our Royaks were where we had left them, and we got home before dark.