Wanted, up to date info re safety in Venezuela
 

Hi, we are currently in Peru heading north 2 yrs into our RTW with no definate plan as to our ride, we have been to Venezuela before but about 14yrs ago and would like to visit again, Isle de Margarita looks good, it was a great place years ago to chill out for a while, any up to date info appreciated.
Thanks in advance Pete n Brucella

Bumped
 

Sorry to bump this but we still need info, also we have had a PM from somebody else also requesting info, Thanks Pete n Brucella

Haven't been there in a couple of years either. But, we do business with Venezuela on a weekly basis. Things have turned for the worse. I know a couple of business associates, who have lived there for a long time or all their life. Some are trying to get out. Crime is on the up rise and life is getting more difficult. Courtesy of Hugo Chavez.

Again, no first hand info. Hope this helps anyway...

Hey, don't listen to secondhand reports about Venezuela--particularly those which come from disenchanted business owners. They're all pissed because the easy times (which they'll describe with great gusto) are gone, but this doesn't mean it's a bad country to ride in or that you'll have a difficult time there. I rode through a couple of weeks ago and found it fine--no more dangerous than anyplace else in particular; no more police hassles or corruption than, say, Brazil; the usual confusion about routes; the usual language difficulties. There are some spectacular places to see, and friendly folks throughout.

My only two specific pieces of advice: get a good grasp of the way the currency black market works, or you'll end up paying double for everything. And when the men in uniform stop and ask for money at roadblocks, they don't actually seem to expect to get any....unlike some places, where fortitude is required if, like me, you don't intend to pay.

Caveats: I did not go to Caracas, but some folks do. And by way of context, I've just been all over Central and South America on a bike, including quite a few places considered dangerous, disgraceful and/or difficult, and not a single place has been as bad as the terrifying stories told by people who, by and large, have never been there.

Of course, YMMV.

enjoy,

Mark

(from Disneyland, a.k.a. Antigua Guatemala, still limping steadily homeward)

I was there 2008..

I found that the people are friendly and hospitable.. Just stay away from the Major cities.

The checkpoints and road blocks are everywhere though. 95% of the time you're always waved through. Just the odd moody copper or captain who wants to see all your paperwork and look important.

I stayed polite and patient and was never fined, bribed or threatened.

Not sure on right this moment though...

:w00t: :lol2: ...Oh my, here we go. We have a real expert on business :thumbup1:

Of course, first hand and most recent information is the best. But, to really understand current, underlying issues, one needs to speak, and more importantly, understand the language and culture. In my travels over the past 25 years to Mexico, Central- and South America, I only have met fantastic, warm and welcoming people. It's not the people that are reason for concern, it's the governments and their actions of many countries in before mentioned region. Venezuela is currently one of them.

One of my best experiences with people was during the late '80 in El Salvador and Nicaragua. Probably, because of the difficult times they went through...

Don't really know if there's a problem here, but the original poster was not asking what it's like to operate a business in Venezuela; the question was about traveling and hanging there, presumably with a motorcycle. That's an arena in which I've got recent experience, while the previous poster, apparently, does not....and I'll almost wager that neither do his business associates, but maybe I'm wrong about that.

Businesspeople in Venezuela (particularly well-off businesspeople) sound a common theme these days: without exception, those I spoke with said something like "Five years ago you could start up a business and pretty soon you'd be buying cars and a house and have everything you needed. Now Hugo Chavez takes it all. I've got a million dollars I'm trying to get out of the country, because it's too risky to invest it here...."

Now, that might not bode well for business, and it might not bode well for the country either, but these are not people who can generally be trusted to give balanced advice on what it's like to visit as a tourist on a motorcycle. They're too busy resenting Hugo and bemoaning the potential loss of what looks to me like a fairly comfortable lifestyle. Note that all this complaining happened over drinks in nice restaurants, or in private homes with hilltop views, or behind large, locked gates manned by security guards. As an overland rider, you're far more likely to spend your time joking with the soldiers at the roadblocks about your resemblance to Che and Fidel, if bearded like myself.

FWIW, I have no direct experience whatsoever conducting business in Venezuela or with Venezuelans. Ask me what it's like to do so and I'll defer to those more knowledgible than I.

Hope that clarifies.

Mark

ex-Venzuela, now in Guatemala (which is not exactly a paradise for businesspeople either, but is a wonderful place to ride a motorycle)

Hey Pete,
I have send you a PM with the email contact of our representative in Valencia, Venezuela. This gentlemen was born in Venezuela. Besides Spanish, he is fluent in English and German.

Just make sure you use my full first and last name in the subject line. I am certain he will respond with most up to the minute information, with the perspective of a local.

All the best and safe travels,

Thomas

He Pete,
me again, please check your PM again. There is a new email address.

All the best,
Thomas

Edit: 07/16/2010 - 6:17 pm EDT

Stefan got back to me, he is expecting your email inquiry. The gmail.com address works fine.

Thomas

Hi man (sorry my English is not very good)
I went to Venezuela in January 2008. I go in for Santa Elena del Guairen, in the Brazil´s border and go out for the Guagira, in the Colombia´s border. I went alone and sleeped in tent every days (except in Caracas). One night the police to allowed sleep in your barracks and for the rain(Colombia, Venezuela y Ecuador are very rainy) my tent come to flood and they game me a bed. All okey. About politycs is not a problem: one half speak very well over Hugo and the other half very bad. But all them are very festive. All the best for you
Raúl

Great info
 

Thanks for the info, this is just what we needed, as in most of our travels, every where you go somebody says oh my don,t go there!!!!!
We have never took any notice and we have been 2yrs and4 months TravellingRTW on a pair of Battered XT600,s including the delights of Sierra Leone and Guinea Bissau with virtually no Problems
There are 2 Aussies about a month ahead of us who have PM,d me asking for info, so after reading this I hope they feel that its worth the trip through Venezuela
Anyway if they get eaten by Dragons at least we,ll all know, HEHEHE
Once again thanks for the PM,s
Pete n Brucella

a Gun to her head is good enough!!!
 

To make long story short good friend of mine just got out of the country...sh went there alone for a few days and she got stopped by police, stripped naked got a gun to her head and asked to buy all her belongings back from the POLICE.

No jokes, i don't know personally cos i've never been there but it makes me wonder, the power of the police went right to their head.

It is not good although generalise!!!i'm sure there are plenty of good cops up there, just heads up....btw, without sound sexist she was alone...i would advise to any european girl Not to get in Venezuela by her self ANYHOW I'm not quite sure what it's the deal with a bike....at the moment i'm in BA long way from there!!!!.

hopefully the country will get more stable!!!!


Fingercrosssssss!!!!

:)!!!

That's a truly sad development. Is there any way you could ask her to post her first hand account on HU...?

Glad to hear she made it out OK.

she is not part of this community unfortunately!!! but is a true true story!!!

Maybe you'd like to share a bit more of the story, then, so that it will inform rather than merely titillate. Like: Where? When? Why? How? In what context? Etc. The idea is to provide information. You are not producing trailers for the 11:00 news ("Tune in at 11:00 for details on this and other breaking stories!!!").

I'm always a bit dubious about stories like this, although I know that they do happen. The combination of "stripped naked" and "asked" doesn't make much sense to me. Most often, by the time one party is naked and held at gunpoint the conversation has progressed beyond "asking."

Mark

(who will feel much less grumpy once he figures out what's wrong with his @#%$^&*(& fuel/air mixture)

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...enezuela-42199
read this post, it is one year old and I think is objetive.
It is inconvenient mix our politics positions with the folk peoples positions. Imagine me saying: "oohhhhhhh don´t go to the States, they have got handreds of Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo prisions and are going to torture you". That is not truth and all the people are wellcoming

As you know, it doesn't take much to join.

In addition, from the sound of it, she's a gal who likes to travel on motorcycles. She could hugely benefit from this site. Especially, getting good safety tips before departing into the "unknown"...

I'm am certain, she'd be most welcome by this group!

Look at it as signing her up for "AAA" ;)

+1 to markharf comment.
btw i live and had been living for the last 15 years in venezuela !!
spend also part of my time in colombia.

Great! So what is your take on the OP question?

Venezuela
 

Greetings from Puerto Colombia, Ven. We have been in Venuezela for a week now. Some problems at the border as immigration was open but Aduanes was closed.:oops2: Apparently only open week days.! Immigration guys did not know this as they directed us to the office. Policia very helpful as they rang Aduanes and a guy came out and processed the Temp. Import papers. No payment. Bit stressing though. Need photo copies of bike papers, passport, licence and insurance. Need to have fuel rang to Maracaibo if not maybe you can buy some locally. Black market exchange rate 7 - 8 Bols to USD.:clap:

1st stop Maracaibo (3 nights) in contact with a Moto Club. motoclubzulia(at)gmail.com. Maximiliano the president looked after us and showed us around. Next stop Coro (3 nights). Bike friendly Casa Tun Tun. Damien and Norko French/Venezuela owned. Nice friendly colonial city. Next stop Puerto Colombia at Hostal Colonial (planned 3 nights.):Beach:

On Monday to Colonia Tovar (German village) then follow the coast to Barcelona, Cumana, Isla Margarita. Cuapano on Peninsula Araya/Paria then south to Ciud. Guyana, Pto Ordaz, Ciud. Bolivar, El Tigre, El Sombrero, and West to the Colombian border. This plan like all our plans are never set in stone!!! Decided not to go to Caracas although we have met people who have been.

People are friendly and helpful. Spanish spoken is very fast. We have no GPS so we ask for directions a lot as signage is poor. Fuel is soooooooo cheap!!!:D (91 and 95). Bought 28.8 litres for Bol2.80. Not available in towns near the border. Weather is HOT!!!

If anyone requires any more up to date info please contact us.

K & C:D

Venezuela
 

In addition to this posting we will endeavour to update bike friendly accommodation in Venezuela.. Safety issues and corrupt police is another query we have received. To date we have experienced no corrupt Police and safety issues have been nil. We do not ride at night and always check with the hostal/hotel/casa management in regards to safe areas and no go areas.

K & C

Great to hear that
 

Great to hear from you two and to hear that everythings fine, we are about two months behind you in Ecuador.
We are spending some time in Quito with Horizons comunity members doing some repairs to the bikes, just maintainance, but it must be done.
We,ll stay in touch as the situation seems to be fluid at the moment.
thanks for the info
Pete n Brucella

Referring to the op question, I would go ahead with my trip. S
using common sense and the same basic precautions you use inany poor nation, you should be ok and enjoy a nice trip. People are very helpful and eager to help. In my 15 yrs in Vzla I never paid a bribe to the police or national guard, but I agree that they are intimidating, not like the Colombian counterpart, but note that I always try to have all papers legal.

Ken & Carol,

The listed eMail does not work.

I am currently riding with Brucella and Peter, who started this post. I am hoping to arrange storage for my moto in Venezuela for 10 months and then rturn and continue riding.

I have tried the eMail for the moto club but got an "address invalid" reply.

Do you have a correct eMail?

Thanks,
Neal

Venezuela
 

Greetings from Juan Griego, Margarita.

Sorry Neal.

Picked the email address up from the web site but now it looks like they use the following. motoclubzulia(a)hotmail.com. The web site is Moto Club Zulia :: Motociclismo de Aventura Maximiliano does not speak English (we speak little Spanish) however we used GoogleTranslator and this worked.

Road to Colonia Tovar was OK, read better than the one to Puerto Colombia. VERY STEEP but dual lanes made it better than the P. Colombia road. Cooler in the mountains. Road from C. Tovar to coast was great without going to Caracas. Followed coast towards Higuerote. Vague information on this road but was a great ride. Mostly paved (see below), coastal cities were busy but after Naiguta less traffic, hilly, twisty with great coastal views. Could have camped here for a week if we had the time. Less than 10kms of good dirt between Chuspa and Chipumena. Signage was OK although we did ask directions a couple of times. Reached Cumana following day and booked ferry and Hostel at Juan Griego on Isla de Margarita.

Safety. No issues on the road. Cumana...no walking streets at night as advised by Tourist Information. Colonia Tovar and Juan Griego OK at night.

Updating accomodation details now.

K & C

Isla
 

Hi you two, we spent many weeks in Juan Griego about 19yrs ago, going back every year for 4 yrs, where are you staying there and is the island still as chilled out as it used to be, great beaches and very friendly people.
We used to rent a house there on the beach but I can,t remember the nameof the people we rented off.
Glad to hear your enjoying it.
Pete n Brucella

Venezuela
 

We spent a week on Isla de Margarita and found it very pleasant. Juan Griego was safe and we walked around in the evening under the advice of our Hostal owner. Returned to Cumana for one night then headed East to Rio Caribe. Arriving we found this to be similar to Isla de Marg. so continued South towards Pto Ordaz. Got stopped by a huge storm after riding in a downpour for over an hour. Reached Pto Ordaz following day. No issues with Police often using them to get directions.

Met with HU Community member Roberto who advised us on road conditions and places to stay on the way to Merida. Two nights in Pto Ordaz then onto El Sombrero for one night then Barinas (not safe at night) for one night. Merida for three nights... Safe at night. Information advised was given to us by local people or Hotel/Hostal owners.

Sunday we rode to San Antonio del Tachira and stayed one night before crossing into Colombia. Got caught out with Customs (Dian) again on the Colombian side this time a Public Holiday and we had to stay one night in Cucuta. Met up with a bike shop (USA Motors) owner James Ospina (650 Dakar) who happened to be open. Actually stopped to ask for directions. Booked into a hotel before he gave us a tour of the city including the location of the Dian office. Very helpful guy who's shop is on the main road from the border.

Our experience in Venezuela was an excellent one with no problems at all. We were stopped twice by the Police in 3 weeks and 4000 kms for a document check. People were helpful and friendly. Would recommend the ride to anyone.

Please ask if any other information is required.

Ken and Carol

up to date info
 

has anyone been there more recently? I am currently considering visiting in the end on January 12 and would appreciate any any info from recent travelers or locals.

Thanks,
Joe

Venezuela
 

Greetings Joe.

Contact the communites in the direction you are travelling and we are sure you will find everyone very helpful with any information you need. I think we listed some of the hostels/hotels we used on the HU accomodation site. Some were very basic and others were exceptional.

Motoclub Zulia in Maracaibo were really helpful. Our map was old and some of the roads listed as dirt were paved. We had more Police checks in Argentina than Venezuela although Police checks never really worry us.

Cheers and enjoy the ride and the cheap gas.


Ken & Carol

Thanks, for the quick answer, I'll try to contact the Motoclub you mentioned.

Cheers,
Joe