What a great couple of weeks it has been! Things are really back into the swing and I am busy as ever- but busy in a good way! Last weekend was a great and busy weekend. Ivan and I celebrated our one year anniversary with a trip to La Isla Tortuga!
Isla Tortuga, far from the debacherous party island portrayed in PIrates of the Caribbean, is an uninhabited, undeveloped barrier island about 85 km off the coast of Venezuela. It is only accessible by boat, and Ivan and I were up for this maritime challange. And by up, I mean up at 2:30am on Saturday morning to catch the boat at 4am! After a quick stay in a posada in Higuerote, we headed to the dock very early to catch a small boat that would take us to our waiting yacht, which would take us on the 4-5 hour journey to Isla Tortuga!
Whew!
We, being Ivan, I and 18 of our new best friends, piled into the "lancha", or motor boat, at the dock and were quickly whisked with all our bags, chairs and coolers off to the yacht. Travelling at night through the sleeping marina was so calm- the beautiful bay front apartments and houses stood stoic and dark against the moonlit water. Before long, the city lights faded and just when I thought that the lancha would take us all the way to Tortuga, we came to our yacht, moored just outside the last marina. Sleepily we loaded on and all found a soft spot to sit. Though some spots were definitely softer than others, we all nodded off in no time.
By the time Ivan and I came to, I had an adorable six year old's legs in my lap and the sun was well above the horizon. I enjoyed the rest of the boat ride standing at the open door to the deck, watching Isla Tortuga slowly emerge from the blue abyss in front of us.
The boat made port on a barrier island just past the eastern tip of Tortuga- a cayo (small island) as they call it in Spanish. There, we found about 200 new new best friends! Many private yachts were moored around the island, and tents were set up along the beach for us touristy, non-yacht-owning types. And so our adventure begun! We claimed a tent right next to a beach umbrella so that I could stay mostly out of the sun- 24 hours on an equator island is too much for my German skin without a lot of shade time! We cracked a few beers and headed to the gorgeous blue, clear, perfectly cool but not too cool water.
We spent the next 24 hours enjoying the beach life- snorkeling, pasaering, sleeping under a full, amazingly bright moon, taking morning dives into the welcoming water, talking and just enjoying one anothers company. Besides some over zealous music playing by the yacht anchored directly in front of us and the absolute lack of any facilities besides a shared bucket, it was the perfect weekend. After another lengthy yacht ride (and nap) back to the mainland, we made the jaunt back to Caracas in time for a good nights sleep before the work week.
The work weeks have been blowing past at an alarming speed....I mean, not like I am complaining about that! Between school, Spanish lessons, physical therapy and the various after school activities I am tangled in, I barely have time to get eight hours of sleep before the next day is already on top of me. I actually hope this speed keeps up- I have a lot to look forward to in the next few months! Walli, Anne and I are visiting Holly in Colombia in October and then in December I get to take another trip with Ivan AND go home for nine glorious days! I am SO stoked I get to go home for Christmas. I really want to hug my Mom and Dad! Sometimes I think I am more homesick this year than I was last year....I guess the honeymoon is over! :) But, I found milk in the store today so at least I am only homesick for my parents and not for basic foodstuffs! Small victories!
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