Caracas

Back to Caracas and the end of another leg. We arrived at Caracas in rush hour which was a big mistake. Noel took a wrong turning so decided to go round the block. 2 hours later we were passing the same square we've seen before, just from the other side. It had taken us 2 hours to go 200m round the block. Apparently Caracas has never had town planning, resulting in total gridlock during rush hour and there are still areas of the city that don't have running water.

It was another group meal that night to say goodbye to more wayfarers. Katrina and Mikkel, the Danish couple, were leaving to be replaced by some more Danes. Also there was a white-toothed, smooth-skinned American joining from LA, who had no idea what he was getting himself into. He would become the butt of many jokes during the next leg of the trip.

Our meal was at TGI Fridays for some reason, which was expensive and crap. We left skint and sober so didn't go out afterwards, saving ourselves for the meeting the next morning and welcome party the next night.

As usual at these meetings, we were briefed on what to expect on the next leg. The included a lot of places where there was no access to the internet, a worry for me because my granddad was ill in hospital. We were also told that the price of the Angel Falls trip had risen by US$150 to US$400, which meant we would have to save up for it.

That evening we ended up at a cheaper restaurant where Dee could afford a bottle of wine. Despite her ordering the wine and asking for 1 glass, the waiter looked confused and still brought out 2 glasses. He obviously didn't think Dee could drink a whole bottle for herself, the fool. We all went to an English bar afterwards which was small, trendy and expensive.