What a fun day! We picked up the jeep at ten o'clock and took off. The clerk this morning was a different one from yesterday. She didn't speak much English. When she was filling out the contract, she asked which hotel we were at. I tried to tell her, first in English and then in Spanish, that we weren't at a hotel; we were on a valero (sailboat). She didn't seem to be getting the picture, so I repeated, "Nuestro valero en la Bahia de Pampatar" (our sailboat in Pampatar Bay). Later, when I looked at the contract, I saw she'd written "Hotel Valero, Bahia de Pampatar". Oh well, I tried.
The tank was only a third full, so we stopped at the first station we came to and filled it. We could scarcely believe the price of gasoline -- ten Bolivares a liter. That works out to about twenty U.S. cents a gallon! Haven't seen prices like that for decades. Headed to the western, less populated end of the island. Went through Boca del Rio and then followed the coast. About 11:30, we passed a little restaurant and wondered how it managed to stay in business, so far out in the boons. We soon found out. It was the only restaurant for miles and miles. We kept kicking ourselves for not stopping there for lunch. We would have starved if we hadn't brought trail bars and apples with us.
We drove to a little town called San Francisco. It was at the base of a mountain. We hoped there would be a road going up into the mountain, but there wasn't. We were very hungry, so we stopped at the only eating place (if you want to call it that) in town. According to the menu, they had sandwiches, but that was a myth. They didn't have much of anything to eat, so Roy ordered a Pepsi and I had a bottle of water. A wash basin was standing next to the counter in plain sight, so I went over to it to wash my hands. Turned the faucet, but nothing happened. Then the proprietor leaned over the counter with a pitcher of water and poured water over my hands. So there was running water!
The houses most of the people live in are pathetic. They reminded us of Mexico and Central America. They're tiny little huts, nearly bare of furniture. Chickens wander around the yards, and probably inside the houses as well. The little children run around in their brown skin.
Our dopey map showed a dirt road running along the waterfront, so we tried to get to it, but were unable to do so until we came to La Restinga National Park. This is a very large lagoon that nearly cuts the island in half. There was a wide, level dirt road from the highway to the beach, and a narrower road that paralleled the beach. The beach went on for miles and was nearly empty. Roy pulled off and parked, and we walked around on the beach for a while. It's a good thing we had four-wheel drive, because we nearly got stuck in the sand. A little farther down, we saw a small bus that had gotten stuck. Roy offered to help him, which was a rather futile gesture, as our little jeeplet couldn't have pulled the bus, even if we'd had a chain or strong rope. All the driver of the bus had was a skimpy line, that broke immediately. There was nothing further we could do, so we continued on down the road.
Came to a little beach community that was pitiful. I don't know if the people lived there year-round or just rented a cottage (?) for a week's vacation, but the place was littered with trash and garbage and stank of untreated sewage. The beach was nice, and it could have been a pleasant resort if it had been maintained properly. Visitors came here by boat across the lagoon.
We continued on towards La Guardia, the town at the other end of the strip of beach between the lagoon and the sea. The map showed a road going all the way, but the map lied. The road diminished and turned into sand, so Roy turned around before we got stuck. We had to go all the way back to the park entrance and down the highway to Boca del Rio. Then, after only one or two wrong turns, we found our way to La Guardia by paved road. They have surprisingly good roads on this island. They're well-paved and lighted, and the highways are divided.
We were still looking for some lunch. Thought there'd be a restaurant in La Guardia, which looked like a large town on the map, but when we got there, there was no there there, so we continued on to Juan Griego. We didn't want to go back to the place we ate at yesterday, so we just had some ice cream at another little place. The restroom looked nice at first glance, until I saw the two-inch cockroach walking along the edge of the wash basin.
We continued on up the coast. Passed a huge, luxurious hotel with its own golf course and beach. Stopped at a viewpoint overlooking the sea. Went as far north as we could, and then headed south towards La Asuncion. I kept trying to find the road shown on our map that would take us along the coast to Pampatar. After several false starts, we finally found a side road that took us to an uncompleted six-lane highway. It will be a dandy when it's finished.
We zoomed down it to Pampatar as the sun was setting. When Roy turned on the lights, they hardly showed up at all. He figured the alternator wasn't working. There was just barely enough daylight left to get us safely back to Pampatar. We parked next to the silly looking post office.
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