Gran Roque, the jewel of Venezuela

While the rest of the Los Roques is of coral origin, El Grand Roque (The Grand Rock) juts 280’out of the ocean from tectonic plates buckling. El Grand Roque is one of the coolest places on earth with its sand streets and well-maintained. brightly painted stucco structures. Unlike the rest of VZ we had seen, the iron bars and barb wire were less excessive, the streets were litter free, and the hombres wore shorts vs. long pants. The mujeres, as in most of VZ, could arouse the dead with their attire. Small charming posadas lined the beach and other streets were interspersed with restaurants and small scale shopping. Basic provisioning was possible and the people were very friendly. At one shop I found a lone pair of size 13 Crocs for only $20 since no Venezuelan has feet muy, muy grande. Sabrina and Parker negotiated for their trinkets letting them know it was their earned money. All in all it was one of our favorite places.

Los Roques

Los Roques, the jewel archipelago of VZ, was another overnight sail. Upon entering we hit a school of tuna. Angie did circles after 2 hits were had.. bang, bang. That was a first for us, prolonging a sail to try to catch fish. Standing taller than all the islands, except Gran Rocque, is a massive freighter washed up on the barrier reef. Though we tried, the current and crashing waves kept us from snorkeling around it. Sandy bottoms and clear blue coral studded waters is something we hadn’t seen since the Tobago Cays or the Bahamas and just felt right. The kids were excited to find a bat fish.. a rare find indeed.