The Orinoco Delta

We jumped in a cab and took the hour's ride to our campsite where we´d be staying for the next 2 nights. It was a great little place with a couple of cabins thatched with palm leaves. Basic but clean - what more could you want? There were 5 more people taking the tour - 2 Austrian girls and an Austrian guy and a French couple. We were greeted by Roger who would be guiding us on the tour. We sat down in the little dining area and he gave us the low down on the itinerary and showed us where we would be going on a map of the delta. He gave us some interesting facts and after a short while we were ready for the off.

We drove the short distance to the boat and all climbed aboard and took a seat (or rather a bench). Roger explaind to us that the water levels were low because of the dry season and this meant we wouldn't be able to access some of the smaller tributaries but there would still be plenty to see. Apparently the water level can be up to 15 metres higher in the wet season.

So off we went towards the wide expanse of the Orinoco. We had to start off very slowly as the water was indeed very shallow but we were soon motoring along at full speed in the blazing sun and looking at the scenery around us.

We had a short tour around the area and hopped in and out of the boat a couple of times. At one point a bolt came off the propellor and we couldn't find it so we would head back for some lunch while Roger repaired the boat. So far so good.

After lunch we had about 40 minutes to kill while Roger worked n the boat so I decided to go for a little siesta. I dozed for about half an hour then went to join the rest of the group.

We headed back out and explored some of the smaller tributaries. We saw quite alot of wildlife, mostly birds but they were all too quick to get a decent picture (try as we might).

Later that afternoon I decided I was feeling a bit dodgy. I hadn't felt right since having a siesta but I put it down to feeling tired. I still enjoyed the rest of the afternoon, the scenery was amazing and it was all very tranquil and so different from anything you would experience at home. Occasionally someone would have to jump out of the boat and push because of the low water levels and sometimes we'd have to help out by pushing against the sand banks with the oar.

We headed back to the camp at around 6pm and I think we'd all had a great day but were feeling a bit tired after being out in the sun all day. It must've been 35 degrees or maybe even hotter at times.

Once we returned to camp I went straight back to the room as I was feeling very dodgy by this time. It looked like that was the end of my Orinoco excursion as I spent that night in a fever with really bad stomach and next day I had to stay in bed while the rest of the group went back out exploring. It had to happen at some point I suppose - maybe better sooner than later eh.

That was the start of 3 days without any food and drinking only water. It has been said I could afford to miss a few meals so maybe it was for the best.