At the notice of Hugo Chavez unfortunate death last night, I got reminded of our impromptu visit to Venezuela a couple months ago. Maybe you'd like to hear the story?

We had spent a month in lovely Grenada, the final stepping stone out of the West Indies, and were eager to get moving Westwards. Bonaire was the first on our radar, and we hoped to make the 400 miles in approximately two and a half days. We decided to leave in the night so we'd get the first twelve hours of darkness quickly over and done with and then only have another night left before arrival. That was the plan at least. But you might know that on the seas one shouldn't attempt on making too many or too firm plans, as they often tend to get turned around. You never really know what mother nature has in store for you before you actually know.

Anyways, for a long dark night ahead of us, Alex prepared the yellow jacklines from the bow to the stern, would we ever need to go up and do something on deck in darkness. 

Raising the sail, off we go from the cruise ships and town of St George's.

Now, I don't have any images at all from the following 24 hours, because as soon as we had raised the sails and got going towards Bonaire, huge squalls came over us. That could have been refreshing in a sense, if it wasn't that they decided to stay with us for the following 24 hours sharp. You can already see them lurking above the mountains in the image above.

There was a predicted 20-25 knots of wind for the first few hours, then it was supposed to drop down to 16-20, but the same goes with this. You can never really rely upon the weather and wind reports, as they always tend to be intensified when you least want them to.

20-25 knots turned quickly into 25-30 and gusting occasionally close to 40. The consistent wind kicked up large waves as it always does and the whole night we rode waves of around 12-14 feet. Wonderful. I doubt anyone of us got any sleep that night, and we were three people onboard for this crossing mind you. 

As the morning arrived, the wind slowed down a little, not too much, but at least we could get a better stability and finally could we, exhausted as we were, get some sleep. One hour here, another hour there. As the morning sun got stronger and our minds got sharper, we realized what we didn't wanted to see.... our mainsail had dramatically ripped during the stormy night. 

With two hundred something miles to go, we agreed on that we had to repair it, as we wouldn't want to risk it ripping apart completely up to the next reef. Our options at this time were A.) Repair it while on the sea, meaning lowering the sail and stitching it while bobbing around in, now, 8 foot seas. An operation that would take at least 2-3 hours and involve at least one of us three throwing up in the process. Or option B.) Stop at the first Venezuelan island that we passed, anchor and stitch that sail in peaceful waters and also get a peaceful nights of rest. Luckily or unluckily who you were to ask in this moment, one island of Venezuela proved to be just a couple hours sail away from where we were in this moment of discovery.

I know I'm repeating myself, but what a wonderful change to be here in a South American country. The West Indies are great in many ways: the beautiful beaches and lush nature. The scenery, the sailing grounds and the volcanic mountains are equally attractive and especially in hurricane season, you can still find astonishing places where your boat is the only one in the bay which gives a sense of disconnection to all and everything. You can also get a hold on good craftsmen for boat restoration and repair, for that Antigua and Grenada seem to be the best. But no matter how much we tried to see it, the culture and way of living didn't rhyme well with the way we see life should be lived. Here in Colombia people are happy though they don't have much in terms of money or security. They find joy and thankfulness in each other, music and just the fact that they are alive. People work hard for the little money they make and they are, generally, very friendly and hospitable to both natives and visitors alike.

In many parts of the West Indies (of the islands we've visited), many of the people we met seemed unhappy for some reason, or unmotivated is maybe the right word. There are many West Indian people that work hard, but most of the ones that you meet, are either extremely unproductive or have an attitude problem or in many cases, both. Something else that could frustrate us immensely is that people rather spend hours and hours, days after days waiting in the shade for that right tourist to pass by who they can overcharge for an, often, bad service or for not such a valuable product, rather than lowering the price and offering a smile, to be able to sell more. The philosophy on how to make a living and keep your visitors and clients happy seem to be the extreme opposite in the West Indies as opposed to a country like Colombia and many other places on earth.

The native West Indian people are also often racists towards white - some are better in hiding that than others, and inevitably, it creates a tension and feeds the negative energy from both sides and a segregation between locals and visitors is an unfortunate fact. Even many of the expats who've chosen to settle on the islands, has become equally bitter and pessimistic, probably due to how they've been treated, this is especially the case in Antigua (Falmouth Harbour area in particular). Sorry to say, but it's one of the most depressing places we've ever been, not because of the beautiful beaches for which they are so famous, but because of the fact that such a large amount of its population, whites as well as blacks seem to be fed up with life and they spread that negative energy all around. I would like to not have to mention any of this at all, but after having lived in the Caribbean for two years, it is a fact impossible to ignore. The only two ex-British islands we've come across that gave us a real positive overall experience were Grenada and Nevis, especially due to the kindness of the people we met, and we can't recommend them enough as lovely vacation destinations. 

The French islands are generally more hospitable than the British in our opinion, and the smaller ones of them, Marie-Galante and Les Saintes, are some of our favorites in the Caribbean - and the special sort of small-island-vibe is very much apparent on both of them. St Martin and St Barts will forever be very close to our hearts but unfortunately in this case, it is mainly because they reminded us of the mixed culture of Europe rather than the one of the other Caribbean islands. I have so much more to say about the West Indies and as soon as I have an opportunity I will go through them all one by one, but for now we are just happy to be someplace else to be able to get a real perspective of our past two years that we've spent over there. As you might know, we had never planned on spending such an extended amount of time in the West Indies, but different events kept us there for longer time than what we wanted and so we tried to make the best out of it according to our possibilities. But it is not before now that we are out of there and being in the light of this new, inviting and hospitable culture, that we can establish a fair look upon what we've actually been through. 

A monkey friend. Outside of Africa, Grenada is the only place in the world where you can find the mona monkey. It was brought here with slave ships from West Africa during the 18th century.

The breadfruit trees were brought from the Pacific to the Caribbean during the colonial times. The fruit was used to feed the slaves in a cost effective way. When you've peeled the fruits, the white colored inside can be boiled in water and taste reminds of potatoes though a bit more jellylike.

They have so many different variations of bananas around here. Some of which never reaches Europe or the States as they ripe too fast. 

Huge Dasheen leaves/Taro plant/Elephant ears. The dasheen leaves are in the Caribbean used to make the traditional dish called callaloo which is pretty similar to creamed spinach. And the roots/corms, which are known as Taro, can be cooked in a variety of ways, roasted, baked, fried or boiled, and they have a nutty flavor.

Rainy roads. It's almost as if it was the rainy season right now as it's been raining great amounts every day for almost a month. What is good though is that everything is so very green and lush and the mangoes are ripe even though it normally isn't their season at the moment.

Unfortunately they don't make much use of the goats milk here in the Caribbean. There's tens of thousands of goats on the islands, but Grenada is the first place where I've come across one person that actually produces goat cheese. Goat meat is widely used for cooking, but there doesn't seem to be a demand of the nutritious milk. If I would have lived here, I'd have a couple goats in my garden and eat fresh chèvre each and every day.

Arriving to River Antoine, the oldest functioning water propelled rum distillery.