Tourism in Venezuela - would you? Have you?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I saw a few minutes in a nature show devoted to Angel Falls, and instantly added them to my bucket list. The awesome just would not quit. Those 1000-meter cliffs make the grand canyon look like a ditch (hyperbole, but it really looks like a movie intro for The Land That Time Forgot or something).

So I did a bit of reading up and it appears do-able, finance-wise.

Then I got to wondering if I wanted to pump my own hard-earned dollars into Chavez’s economy; whether I could handle the jungle hiking, the bugs and other critters; whether a helicopter flight to the mesa at the top is safe and non-terrifying (I tend to have fear of heights); and so on and so on.

So, has anyone here been there? How was it? If you haven’t, would you like to?
Roddy

2

Funny, that’s what a lot of law-abiding, tax-paying Venezuelans worry about, too. And some exploration of the Wikipedia uplands suggests that that is a long way from their only worry.

Maybe rent a copy of Green Mansions:

(which did location shooting there)
I spent one (ONE) day in Caracas decades ago, a cruise ship port call. I did mostly historic sites. My experience is not really relevant to your question, but at least I have actually set foot in the country, which not a lot of people have.

3

I spent time in Venezuela, but mostly on a beach outside Caracas. I was at the end of a few months in South America, we were waiting for seats on a flight home, so we didn’t see much of the country actually. But I did feel relatively safe there. Y’know, compared to say, Bogata or Lima.

4

I’ve been to Caracas and Angel Falls. I got robbed at gunpoint in the cab from the airport. There was actually a warning in Lonely Planet about the scam, but I was exhausted after some interminable flight, and didn’t have my wits totally together. The officials are totally corrupt and they pretty much condone the criminality. Fortunately I convinced the guy to let me keep all my gear (They took a ton of cash from me).

Angel Falls is spectacular. It’s a real bitch to get to. You take a small puddle jumper to a remote Indian village. There are a set of spectacular falls right at the village that have a trail that takes you underneath the falls. Some guy took 20 years digging out this trail. You take a crazy fucking boat ride up river. You have to get out and hike a bit as there are some rapids that a fully loaded boat cannot traverse.

Then you stay at a remote camp. Make sure you haul a ton of alcohol with you. We ran out and then convinced the guides to make a midnight run down river to bring us more! The next day, you take a boat upriver to the falls, which is just a short stroll to the base. It is really spectacular.

Caracas is pretty much a shithole. It was a gleaming metropolis at one point in time, but it was a decaying slummy place in 2002. The only colonial vestiges are about 1 block in diameter. This includes Simon Bolivar’s birthplace.

5

Well, people that work and run enterprises are generally the people that are against Chavez, so by spending money with them you’d be generally spurning that idiot leftist. Of course then you’re leaving it to them to decide how to further spend the money that you’ve given them. Presumably they’re careful.

6

Screw it, if you want to go, to. People live their whole lives in refugee camps, you can handle a couple uncomfortable days for a life long memory.

Then again, you are talking to the girl who just took a fun vacation to Zimbabwe.

7

I suspect if you put gas in your car in the States, your putting more money into Chavez’s pocket then if you buy some T-Shirts at a giftshop in Caracas.

Plus, his main sin is mismanaging the Venezuelan economy. While certainly bad for the people of Vezuela, its not like he’s history greatest monster. Some part of your money will go towards poorly planned and short-sighted welfare programs, not deathcamps or nuclear bombs.

8

yeah, that’s such a minor thing. Laid waste to the economy, alienated and scattered all the productive middle class, presided over huge increase in violent crime - but hey, his Marxist heart was in the right place. Not like that bastard Pinochet whose example of purging the Commies infesting the government and academia deserves to be subject matter for eternal “never again” vigilance.

9

I haven’t been to Venezuela but if you want to go, go. Since I last checked, we haven’t cut off diplomatic relations with the country nor is there an embargo in place. I don’t think a trip to Caracas and Angel Falls will earn you surveillance and a visit by the FBI. The only problem with Venezuela is that its leader is a ridiculous popinjay who likes to occasionally tweak Uncle Sam’s nose. However, I don’t think you should necessarily avoid visiting a country just because its leader is a dickwad.