Well as it turned out all was reasonably calm for the elections - can't vouch for Caracas, but it was certainly peaceful enough in San Juan. Myelf and Krista (Canadian) were the only tourists in town. Perhaps a little too quiet.
I'd planned to start heading South towards Ciudad Bolivar and Krista was heading East to Puerto Colombia. Puerto Colombia was the first place i'd wanted to visit, but because of the flight to Merida I never made it there - so instead of going south, I ditched my plans and set off for Puerto Colombia with Krista. Well worth the long trek west (again), a real chilled out little village with a great beach. This seems to have been the pattern for the last month!
I spent 5 days in Puerto Colombia, usual 'routine' - beach all day, a bit of Rum in the evening and then maybe a night swim (often interesting with a belly full of Rum and some scarey surf!). The only problem that surfaced at Puerto Colombia was with my right ear which was becoming increasingly painful.
After leaving Krista and Puerto Colombia, I spent 1 night in Maracay before making the long trek back to Cumana in the east to continue my trip were I left it. West - East - West - East, basically i've been zig-zagging backwards and forwards, but will start the journey south soon enough.
In Cumana I met up with Dayana (Venezuela) and Nataly (Venezuela) who i'd met earlier at Medina beach. By now my ear was causing a LOT of discomfort (and loss of hearing) so I decided to join Dayana on her day trip to Margarita Island (Christmas Shopping) and we agreed to visit the hospital whilst we were there. Turns out both ears are infected, the right one much worse than the left (its never a good sign when the doctor takes a look at something and says "Eewwwhhh!"). Diagnosed with Otitis and i've been prescribed 10 days of antibiotics after which i'll then need a check up to see how things have progressed. So it looks like i'll be in Cumana for some time to come, maybe even for Christmas.
