#5: [02-Apr-11]

#3: [11-Feb-06]

#1: [05-Oct-03] (incomplete)

21-Aug-2009 --

Being inspired by our last year’s trip through Peru, Bolivia and Chile we had been looking forward to travelling again to South America this summer. The choice for Venezuela was an easy one, as our neighbour and Spanish teacher Gill had been living there half her life and my former school friend Anja, living now in Caracas would provide us a “home”.

Long before we set off I also contacted the active confluence hunters in Venezuela, Alfredo B. Remon Mendez and Rainer Bostelmann. Before we even had met for the first time, it appeared to me that we were already good old friends. Not only we had read each other’s confluence reports but we also shared common problems - as if the world’s confluence hunters belong to one spread out family.

Our trip started and ended in Venezuela’s capital city Caracas, in-between we travelled through Brazil’s Roraima Province, Guyana and Trinidad. A kml-map of the tour can be downloaded for viewing in Google Maps here.

Information about this confluence

At noon, the five of us (Alfredo, Ricardo, Elionora and 2 Rainers) set off from Caracas in Alfredo’s Jeep. We cruised on highway no. 9 for a couple hours. At 4 pm, shortly after having an obligatory lunch with huge arepas, we reached the turn off from the highway at a distance of about 3 km. Alfredo navigated his vehicle up to a distance of 1.4 km, until the track got so rough that walking was the quicker option. Alfredo, who had already visited the confluence stayed in the car, while the rest of the team followed a dry valley up to a distance of 270 m. From there, we had difficulties to find a path that brought us nearer, until we got help from Alfredo via radio. Rainer B. cleared the thickets with his machete. At a distance of 40 m we crossed a fence, went down a steep valley and half way up on the other side we located the confluence. At a distance of 10 m, we could take a beautiful panorama.

There was not much time left for a dance, because daylight was fading. We reached the car with the help of our flash lights at about 6:25 pm. We stayed the night in Puerto la Cruz in order to visit 11°N 63°W.

CP Visit Details:

• Distance to an asphalt road: 3 km
• Distance to a track: 1 km
• Distance to a path: 40 m
• Distance of car parking: 1.42 km
• Distance to houses: 2 km
• Time at the CP: 5:20 pm
• Hiking time (distance): 1:20 hours (1.4 km)
• Measured height: 273 m
• Minimal distance according to GPS: 1 m
• Position accuracy at the CP: 5 m
• Topography: steep slopes, rough terrain.
• Weather: clear sky, 25° C (felt temperature)
• Description of the CP: In northern Anzoátegui State, just South of the main costal East-West highway. In an area with dense vegetation, varying between forests, shrubs and clearings.
• Given Name: The Lazy Alfredo Confluence

Story continues at 3°N 61°W.