Beautiful Los Roques, Venezuela

Sunset under sail on the way from Isla Margarita.

Approaching Los Roques in the early morning after a night's sail.

Our neighbours in Los Roques Grande Bay.

Flocks of seabirds swarmed the little fishing port, including these seagulls as well as divebombing pelicans.

Deliveries from mainland Venezuela with Life's A Dream anchored in the background.

Unloading cases of Polar Beer to the main dock!

The village of Los Roques Grande is really beautiful, some photos from a walk around town...

Mark & Theo wandering around

Energy saving lightbulbs in Los Roques! Very cool.

Street volleyball

Local plane charter company for all flights to the island.

A puppy finding some shade under a fishing boat on the beach.

Sunset over Los Roques Grande Bay.

Devon & Robin with the Rum! Rob is a portable bar with rum, coke, ice and even the lime all in his bag ready for anytime you might need a Cuba Libre.

Saturday night in the town square - great music and dancing - and the whole town is there!

Our early morning hike to the top of the hill with the oldest lighthouse on the island.

The view to the other side of the island. Strange landscape of black volcanic like rocks, cacti and even red crabs ontop of the slopes!

Shirley on the walk from the lighthouse to the other hilltop. Overlooking freshwater lagoons, mangrove forests and islands beyond.

Ontop of the lighthouse hill, overlooking Los Roques Grande.

We took up anchor from Los Roques Grande and sailed across to Franciski, also in the Los Roques Archipeligo - one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. The photos just dont do the island justice! Will try and load some underwater photos in the next few days...

Surf boards to rent.

A beach in the middle of the ocean... tons of fun running around the shallow sand banks.

Picture perfect.

The estuary between Mangrove forests. Most beautiful snorkelling, ever, lay just beyond the light waters.

Happy hour everyday at six in the evening :)

Absolutely flying under spinnaker sail to Bonaire!

Tortuga

Fishing boat towing a fishing boat of the coast of Venezuela. We were under sail when crossing their bows and came quite close!

Sailing into the sunset on our way to Tortuga

A catamaran that never made it past the shallow reefs and dangerous rocks on the coast of Tortuga

The most gorgeous reefs for snorkelling and just enjoying the beautiful waters! We were the only boat in the bay. Tortuga is a rather low lying island, very dry, but the beaches and waters around the island are breathtakingly beautiful. The island is only inhabitated for parts of the year by fisherman.

Washing, yacht-style ... wetsuits, bikinis and the bare essentials!

Isla Margarita

Dorado! Brilliant green as Rob caught him but lost colour quick. The most delicious fish I have eaten, ever.

Lighthouse on the way into Isla Margarita.

Pelicans all along the coast of the island... really big birds when you see them up close!

The guys - Robin, Mark and Theo - on the way into Porlamor Bay.

Kids swinging from one of the stays off the mast of a wrecked super yacht, dont leave your boat unattended! We have to lift our tender (motor dinghy) every night and lock it up at the docks to avoid it being stolen. Also had to take a 40 mile detour on the way to Los Testigos to avoid a section of the coast notorious for pirates, seriously.

El divino nino - the divine boy!

Beautiful bay packed with people on a Sunday afternoon, agreat way to enjoy the weekend.

Chevy's are like the national automobile of choice, some real classics.

A couple of Caipirinas (rum, lime, sugar) later... great live band and awesome fresh seafood!

"Beer tasting" of local beer varieties at the beach restaurant where we had lunch.

For about 70 000 boliva (R150 or $20) you can hire this car and other similar classics for the day to cruise around the island in style.

One of at least fifty beach bar / restaurants along Playa del Agua - great sea breeze and even better pina coladas!

Even the streets are lined with palm trees!

More?

And on the way back to the yacht in a super pimped up taxi that could fit 4 of us in the back, with room to spare. Tinted windows, low suspension, pumping music, the works ....

Venezuela, or at least what I have seen so far, is such a crazy cool place. Everyone is really friendly and always ready for a party! Doesnt hurt that the place is totally stunning as well!

Los Testigos

Just off the coast of Venzuela, we anchored in the archipeligo of Los Testigos (meaning the Witnesses). Beautiful islands, turquiose waters, untouched reefs and palm lined beaches! Scuba diving was awesome and the site seems like it has never been dived before - so many colourful corals (massive fan corals) and an explosion of underwater life!

Some of the 'crew' - Theo, my uncle Mark (El Capitan), Aron, my cousin Robin and Nicki.

Shirley by the helm.

Playful kids from the little fishing village. Los Testigos total population = 160.

Nirvana, Pamapatar - need I say more?

Vehicle registration, Caribbean style.

On the beach with giant turtle nests, burning hot sands and the occasional small iguana.

Rob down the ridiculously steep (and hot!) sand dune we climbed to get to the beach on the other side.

Devon and Theo on our way back to the yacht.

Mark on the sail dinghy in his element!

Another gorgeous sunset in the Caribbean!

Trinidad

On the beautiful 47 ft catamaran Life's A Dream with family and friends for the next few weeks sailing through the Caribbean and on to Panama, Galapagos and Hawaii. Flew into Trinidad last week Saturday, such a great island! The people are so friendly, laid back and easy going. A real Caribbean lifestyle ...

View from our anchorage in Chaguaramas Bay, Trinidad.

Mark & Theo on the lines, setting the main sail.

Super speed fishing boat / ferry / taxi / anything else you could imagine

Cliffs on our way out of Chaguaramas

Beautiful sunset on our way to Venezuela