Somewhere Back in Time on the Rio Caura

The 5 day Rio Caura tour we booked with Adrenaline Tours, thanks to other cruisers and the Lonely Plant, costs us all of $500. For that we had our own tour guide, cook and boat driver. The owner picks us up promptly at the Ciudad Bolivar terminal and takes us to the Don Carlos posada, the nicest posada in Ciudad Bolivar. They have the 3 bed loft available, the nicest room in the place for $25. The 5 hour bus ride from hell is becoming a distant memory.

Day 1: Sadly, a freak accident involving downed power lines killed our driver’s two teen nephews. We strolled through the historic Spanish city along the Orinco River until another driver was found. In the market, we purchased some toothbrushes and whistles to destroy the indigenous children culture and introduce “civilization”. Ciudad Bolivar is a stepping off place for tours throughout the interior of VZ, so it has a backpacker vibe.

Did I say they like to drive fast in VZ? 80+ mph down a 2 lane highway is common. After 5 hours of riding on bench seats of a safari truck my bottom felt great. After fending off a macaw attack and hugging some newborn puppies, we are loaded up and ready to go up the river in a the 35’ long dug out canoe equipped with a 40hp Yamaha 2 stroke, the most popular engine around. The 100 meter wide river is loaded with underwater hazards (ROCKS), areas of rapids, and zero facilities. The fact that we carry no spares or first-aid kit is alarming to this former Boy Scout but laze faire to our hired help.

These canoes, because of their narrow beam and long water line, move very fast through the water. We have 7 people, 80 gallons of fuel, all of our food, clothing, hammocks, and supplies and we are going over 20mph. Pretty impressive. At the second rapids we are maneuvering up hill, the motor stalls…hhmmm. We’re looking down at the rocks and rapids while scrambling for our lifejackets. The driver has the engine cover off and bleeding off water from the float bowl and pulling like crazy to geter’ goin’ again. At the last moment, the engine revs to life and we propel our way out of danger and up to our first nights camp!