Venezuela a destination for individuals?

It s different than in most other SA countries. There is little tourism, and not that much infrastructure for backpackers once you go to places out of the big sights. The hotels you'll use then are the same ones venezuelans use and many hotels double as love hotels during the weekend.

Nevertheless, it s this being less touristy part that makes it even more easy to meet other travellers: many people are travelling alone in venezuela, and everyone tends to congregate at the same places. Santa Fe, Santa Elena, Choroni, Merida are the places everyone stays.

Agreed - most highlights are only to be seen with a tour, and yes, it has occured to me that I had to wait two days for a sight because there were not enough tourists (for the roirama trek, don t miss it by the way !).

Distances are big, agreed, but that's the case for most countries on the southern continent. average travel time between sights is usually 12 h : santa elena - ciudad bolivar - choroni - merida, and busses can be FREEZING cold because of a ridiculous habbit of turning the airco to max !

Well - hope this answers at least part of your question. You should go - it s a very beautiful country and relatively unexplored. Biggest disadvantage is that sometimes the people are not that friendly....

Hi OP

I agree with Peejee's comments. I think a good starting point is Meridaa as its a University town and I think this is as close as it gets in terms of backpacker scene. the best way to meet other people is to join a one week spanish course in town where you are bound to meet someone. Also, if youa re on your own the spanish does help you out and you can meet locals and get by easier.

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Peejee

I just came back from a 3 week trip to Vietnam and I actually thought of you and your comments that people are not friendly in Venezuela.

The Vietnamese would come to you, all smile and say hello, chat, talk various things and then... try to sell you something or ask you for something. I constantly engaged in conversations feeling quite excited to meet a local to then.. after 10 minutes be pushed into a shop. We never met anyone that actually wanted to speak to us out of simple curiosity or help us out for the sake of it.

After being dissapointed so many times I then thought Why the hell should they be friendly? Why should we think we are special and that people have to go out od there way to befriend us? Do you go about smiling and saying hello to random strangers? Does that mean you are not firendly? I coudln't care less about people smiling to me if the only reason they do it is becuase they depend on tourists to pay the bills.

I started to think that the fact that Venezuela does not have a dependency on tourism as other SA countries do it maybe means people see no need to go out of their way with foreigners. Also, with the access to internet and american tv etc peope dont see foreigners as exotic as in other countries. I can proabably agree with you that people are not as polite or well mannered. in our service industry and that it has a massive way to go but I have to again question your definition of friendly average locals.

Kyles, the waiting depends of the company you use for tours. Not all of them will make you wait, ask before booking.

It is a shame to hear that some don't think that Venezuelans are friendly. I guess it has to be a lot with your luck. We visited Venezuela past December and my husband found a lot of people (streets, grocery stores, shopping malls, etc) who will try their best to speak English and talk to him. I think he can find more friendly people if he speaks Spanish.

Maybe the culture and the manners are different of what you are use to; but I'm sure if you need help overthere you can find people who will get out of their way to help you out, even if you are a tourist. At least that is what I'm trying to do in this forum.

Nancy ~ Venezuelan

Well man:

i have to agree with someone above, Venezuelans are really nice people, have to tell you,maybe it helps im mexican and speak the language, but anyway, people around have been really friendly with me and some guys ive met during the Salto Angel tour. I was supposed to pass along as fast as possible through here, and now i have been spending morethan a week in Ciudad Bolivar.

There is not much of a problem travelling, just remember to bring a jacket for the buses, cause they just put the air conditioner all the way.

If u are thinking of doing roraima trekking maybe the best thing is to go to Sta. helena de Uairen. There are lots of tours, and places togo, if u want to relax on the beach, Choroni is one of the places, alternative to Margarita, but there are much more nice sandy beaches around. From Ciudad Bolivia you can teake off and do other things. Well enjoy and any question dont doubt to ask.

good trip
alvaro

I completely agree with Alvaro - Mexman - that most Venezuelans are extremely pleasant, friendly, and eager to assist travelers with any issues they may encounter. I've traveled solo through VE twice now, speaking very little Spanish (and most of that is poorly executed!), but the people there have made me feel safe, welcome, and not NEARLY as confused as I really was! The thing that impresses me the most is how they actually take the TIME to try to understand my Spanglish - accompanied by my weird hand and arm gesturing. With a little effort, most "conversations" get completed and understood without mutual language skills. I still think it's those hand/arm gestures!!

To be honest, I've not encountered any of the "anti-American" attitude I had read about in travel reports or general press articles. Surely, there are always going to be random acts of violence in the cities, but tell me where I WON'T find that, and I'm moving there! For now, I'll continue to travel to VE and enjoy it's untouched and unrivaled beauty.

Deb Nelson
Charlotte, NC USA