Weekend at the Waterpark

This weekend we went to the biggest pool in Venezuela for a day.  Coincidentally, it was only forty minutes outside of Merida and we had a friend that was a member so we were able to get in for free.  The water park was huge and had some interesting quirks about it.  For example, majority of Venezolano men had speedos on.  Also we weren't allowed to go on the water slide because we had board shorts and not speedos.  

All in all, it was cool to go to a water park here and see how different it was.  They still had a wave pool, three diving boards, and a couple other fun water activities to do.    

Riding on the bus to the waterpark

View from atop a big tower of the pool

Some people can't handle a long day at the waterpark

Another weekend, another adventure...

A big benefit of studying abroad in Merida, Venezuela is all the extreme sports and mountain climbing/hiking opportunities we have.  So of course we had to go climbing in the mountains.  I went on a trip hiking in the mountains for a couple days with six other Americans.  We wanted to save half of our money so we opted to not to the trip with a guide because our usual trip guide over charges us.  One of the guys in our group got a map and we planned it out.  We rented gear and bought food to last over a couple days on our hike to the peak named "Pan de Azucar."  Unfortunately, we didn't end up making it to the top.  Once we got high up in the mountains, in the clouds, it started to downpour all day and night long.  It also got very cold, as in Minnesota cold.  Which I didn't think was possible here.  Nevertheless, we managed to still have a lot of fun.
I'd never been this high in the mountains before.  On our first night it was so foggy we couldn't see twenty feet in front of us.  Little did we know we were in the middle of a vast range of mountains.

Paradise!?

This past weekend we went on a 12 hour bus ride over night north to the Venezuelan coast.  Even though we are technically studying abroad, it was basically like we were on vacation or a cruise in the Caribbean.  It was my first time in the Caribbean and was absolutely breathtaking and beautiful.  Full of dreamy blue waters and water much saltier than that of Florida.  We went to a couple beaches while staying a hotel there for three nights.  We went on a boat trip to a couple sites and even got to go snorkeling and see coral reefs.  I have never been snorkeling or scuba diving so this life changing to be this close to the fish.  These were scenes straight out of a windows desktop background with sand beaches and palm trees. 

On our drive back we had a big traffic jam and went outside to find out it was caused by a fallen tree on the mountainside.  A large tree fell from rain or a mudslide in the middle of the road so no one could get past.

The other day we went to a local Botanical garden and learned to make Sangria too.

Turtle at gardens

Bamboo tree at gardens

Wild Pineapple!!!

La selva

Partying on our 12 hour bus ride to the beach

Boat ride

The Caribean

Monument we saw exploring

That ocean shore lunch, definitely suspect

Making use of the hammock

When the tree fell in the road 

classic muchismo

Sangria making night

Yes, it was alcoholic.

A cemetery we went to

The most American snacks I could find at a big grocery store