South America & Falklands - part two

Northwest of Caracas is Coro, dating from the Sixteenth Century and one of South America's oldest colonial towns. Our visit's so unusual, it's covered on the local television news. Most Caribbean cruises, with mainly American passengers, come nowhere near Venezuela. Those aboard Minerva are largely British.

In the main plaza, the requisite Bolivar statue.

Nearby, some modern 'revolutionary' art. Josefa Camejo was a heroine in the struggle for independence from Spain.

We are, by the way, near the northernmost point on the South American mainland - Punta Gallinas, Colombia. In twenty-nine days, we should be passing Cape Froward in Chile, the mainland’s southern tip.

I leave Venezuela with three particular thoughts: who would have guessed, well, in Canada anyway, there'd be an ice rink here? Gas costs about two cents a litre, less expensive than water. And my guide was more than happy to forget revolution and the official bank rate, and do a black market exchange for American dollars.

Minerva heads into the setting sun. Two days until Panama; time to alternate Bolívar and Che.