Golfo de Cariaco, Venezuela

The Golfo de Cariaco, about 40 miles south of Margarita is a great stop before getting to the mainland.  A large gulf  tucked behind the Araya peninsula, it is a cruising ground with many unique delights; red rock hills and cactus-laden islets, fantastic snorkeling plus the civilized joys of Medregal Village, a posada (hotel) with pool and restaurant. We buddy-boated down the way from Margarita with Sid/Manuela on s/v 'Paradise', a great couple and lots of fun - not to mention the fact that Manuela is from Switzerland and a fabulous cook and hostess.  Sid is very laid-back and is a pretty savvy & security-minded guy.

Dolphins making their appearance

Paradise having a spinnaker run

As we cruised the first 15 miles into the gulf, we were surrounded by pods of dolphin, surfing in our bow wave and chasing each other around like crazy.  Finally we turned up into Laguna Grande, a large lagoon off the gulf that offers great hiking and quiet, calm anchoring.  Most of these bays have fish camps set-up in one corner or another, but the fishermen are very friendly and always wave hello.

Anchorage in Laguna Grande

Laguna Grande is a wonderful, quiet lagoon off the main body of the Golfo de Cariaco.  The hiking and diverse hillsides are stunning.  We saw some magnificiant sunrises, sunsets and golden hour couldn't be believed!  Below is the view from either direction from the top of the ridgeline.

Looking out east at the anchorage

Looking westwards towards the mainland

Dreamtime during the "Golden Hour"

One must add one's rock to the cairn at the top

The views from up on top of the ridgeline were incredible - we could see all the way back to Margarita and down to the mainland, plus all the nooks and crannies within Laguna Grande itself.  We made several hikes, each in the early morning to avoid the mid-day sun and thoroughly enjoyed stretching our legs.  One afternoon we had a big gulley-washer and all the runoff from the surrounding hills turned the water around the boat red from all the erosion.

After several days there we moved on to the area at the far end of the Golfo, it’s headwaters, the river Cariaco, the home of a large flock of scarlet ibis.  This was great bird watching - along with the ibis which “commute” back and forth each morning and evening, there were 50-75 pelicans fishing the waters all day everyday.  We eventually stopped being startled by the big SPLASH they made all around us.  We took the dinghy up into the mangroves to get a peek at the ibis which roost low in the mangroves during the day.  Great stuff.  We also explored a defunct shrimp farm made up of miles of overgrown ponds, each about the size of a football field, with interconnecting drainage channels and floodgate assemblies.  Pretty interesting.  I gathered that an earthquake some years back put an end to things, along with a pollution runoff issue causing some animosity between the plant and the fishermen.

Scarlet Ibis fly home for the night

Ibis roosting in the mangroves during the day

Views of the Rio Cariaco headwaters, quite muddy after a heavy rain.

Great Blue Heron and Scarlet Ibis in flight... fantastic birding

Manuela made these terrific "vases" with the ibis feathers found floating