FITVen2013 - Talking Tourism in Venezuela

After writing a tour guide and book about living in Venezuela it was good to spend time talking tourism at Venezuela's International Tourism Fair, FITVen 2013. I even got interviewed a few times by the local media. 

Venezuela is so blessed with natural treasures that it's hard to understand sometimes why more people aren't visiting the country. Where else can you find the world's highest waterfall, Angel Falls, which cascades down from a heart-shaped mountain in a jungle setting that is so lush and wild and untouched by man that it looks like it comes straight out of the movie Avatar? Where else can you sit on the porch of a stilt house surrounded by water and watch the night sky lit up by fiery arcs of electric lightning like you can in Catatumbo? 

With more Caribbean coast than any other country, Venezuela has more than its fair share of beautiful, unspoiled beaches, islands, mountains, lakes, waterfalls, and tropical rainforest.  

The seasonally flooded Llanos, or great plains, are so teeming with anacondas, capybaras, caymans and piranhas that getting up close to the wildlife is as easy as opening the door of your lodge and stepping outside. For birdwatchers' the ranches of Los LLanos are the best kind of paradise. 

Sure there are issues that affect tourism, some of them political, some social, some economic, and others that come down to how much marketing you do in what is a very competitive battle for the tourist dollar, but the raw material, the natural attractions, are all in place.  

And so when I was invited by the Venezuelan Tourism MInistry (MinTur) to attend FITVEN 2013, Venezuela's International Tourism Fair, I jumped at the chance to visit Venezuela again and to talk tourism with people in the industry. 

This year the even was held from 24-27 October in the Andean city of Merida, at the Cinco Aguilas Blancas Complex.

Merida is a great place to start any tour of Venezuela and an extreme sports and hiking destination that is worth a few days at least to explore.

It was good to hear Tourism Minister Andres Izarra began his inaugural speech  by emphasizing the importance of tourism to the Venezuelan economy.

After oil and the agro-industry, tourism comes in third place, he said, pledging greater resources for tourism promotion and a boost to tour operators and hotels with a scheme offering access to cheaper credit lines.

Minister Izarra was open enough with the international journalists to acknowledge that crime and insecurity and distortions to the economy created by the black market for dollars were problems that have to be overcome for Venezuela to become more attractive to foreign tourists.

The minister also acknowledged that in recent years investment in tourism had been low, but said that a new plan is being developed to increase promotion and boost tourist numbers. This Plan Maestro (Master Plan), includes the development of Margarita as a central tourist hub, with more incoming flights and greater links with mainland destinations like Angel Falls, Merida and Barinas.

Other plans include the long-awaited termination in mid-2014 of the fully revamped cablecar in Merida, known locally as the teleferico. 

World-renowned for being the longest and highest cablecar system  in the world, the teleferico was always a key tourism magnet for the Andean city and Minister Izarra said that tourism had fallen from a million annual visitors to about 500,000 since it ceased to function in 2008.

The new system is being built by the Austrian firm Doppelmayr and is nearly 80% completed. When it is finished it will be able to transport 500,000 tourists a year to Pico Espejo (4,765 metres, 15,633 ft) at the foot of Venezuela's highest mountain Pico Bolivar (4,978 metres, 16,332 ft).

Luckily, as part of the trip to FitVen2013 I was allowed to travel up to the cablecar station at Pico Espejo with the other invited journalists, and it was amazing to ride with the workers in their open-sided cars and see them engaged in the backbreaking work of dismantling the old concrete infrastructure at such a high altitude.

More than one of the workers had the telltale stains on the teeth of the strong local chewing tobacco, called chimo, that has been used since ancient times in the Venezuelan Andes to keep out the cold and stave off hunger and exhaustion.

It was reassuring to see that the cable system is all in place and operational, leaving the construction of the concrete stations as the last major infrastructure task facing the workers.

Another plan announced by the minister is the completion of the cablecar system on the Caribbean side of the Avila mountain in Caracas, which would allow passengers to travel from Caracas up to the Humboldt Hotel (at 2,140 metres above sea level) and then down to the beaches of Macuto. The Caracas-Macuto journey time - on a day with no lines to wait in - is estimated at 45 minutes. 

The cablecar is expected to be operational by 2015, and in the meantime the government is planning to reopen key hotels, such as the former Melia Caribe, and Macuto Sheraton. 

This is the 8th edition of Venezuela's annual FitVen tourism fair, and it attracted large crowds to the three pavilions. One showcased tourism in Venezuela and the different regions and states were represented; another focused on International Destinations with stands from Germany, Ecuador, Spain, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Colombia, France, Japan and Russia; a third was for tour operators to hold business meetings and there was another area where food and handicrafts from Venezuela were on sale to visitors. 

It was certainly busy, final figures on the last day showed some 58,000 people passed through the doors of the Cinco Aguilas Blancas Complex. 

Having traveled so extensively in Venezuela to many places that my Venezuelan friends at the time considered to be no more than "monte and culebra" (scrubland and snakes), it was refreshing to see so many young Venezuelans eager to learn more about the tourism alternatives in their own country.

For more information about visit the official FitVen2013 website here:

Bradt Guide to Venezuela: At home with the author Russell Maddicks

Author, translator and traveller Russell Maddicks discusses his latest book: "The Bradt Guide to Venezuela" in a short film directed and shot at his house in Caversham by Reading film maker Jorge Franca.

Socialist Dreams & Beauty Queens - author interview

It's always good to see a new book about Venezuela, especially a travel book, and Jamie Maslin's "Socialist Dreams and Beauty Queens" does not disappoint.

The author not only takes his readers on a journey to the capital Caracas and the tourist isle of Margarita, but also heads south to the jungles of the Gran Sabana where he treks up Mount Roraima and takes a canoe to the highest waterfall in the world, Angel Falls. He even camps out on the shores of Lake Maracaibo to experience the natural phenomenon of all-night lightning storms known as Catatumbo Lightning.

What makes Maslin's account different is that he learns most about the country from the strangers he meets couchsurfing, a friendly bunch of Venezuelans and expatriates who not only show him around their respective towns and teach him a few basics in Spanish but also give him a sofa to crash on.

So what did the author really learn about Venezuela? What were the highs and lows of his trip? And what tips does he have for those wishing to visit Venezuela or publish a travel book of their own? I put these questions to the author and this is what he had to say:

Your first travel book "Iranian Rappers and Persian Porn" took you around Iran, a country that few tourists visit or know much about. What made you choose Venezuela for this latest book?
I first decided to visit Venezuela after flicking through a dog-eared National Geographic magazine in the dusty confines of a second hand book store in London. Whilst doing this a photograph stopped me in my tracks. Rising up from the magazine was the most magnificent flat-topped jungle plateau jutting ominously out of a sea of Amazonian mist. Even before reading where it was located, I knew, there and then, that I would have to visit the place one day. On turning the page I discovered that the mountain was Roraima and it was in Venezuela.

Couchsurfing is quite a new phenomenon. What turned you on to it and how easy was it to travel around Venezuela relying on the hospitality of others?
I first heard about Couchsurfing whilst trying to find a place to stay in New York which I travelled to on my way to Venezuela. I had to do some book promotion there and needed to find accommodation for about a month before continuing to South America. Despite contacting the limited friends I had in the U.S. I initially struggled to find a place to crash, it was then that one of my friends suggest Couchsurfing. In the end I didn't need to couchsurf in New York but it gave me the idea to try it in Venezuela, which, with the exception of Caracas was relatively easy to use to find a place to stay – Caracas, for some reason, proved tricky, although not impossible to find willing and available couchsurfing hosts. It's such a great website that I've now used it all over the world and have made some great friends and been shown incredible kindness and hospitality through it.

How difficult was it to travel without any Spanish? Are there things you could have done before your trip to have made it easier?
Couchsurfing was the key to travelling in Venezuela with zero Spanish. One of the things you can do on the couchsurfing website is select people who as well as speaking the local lingo also speak English. This is what I did, which made my trip a hell of a lot easier than it would have been otherwise. I discovered soon after arrival in Venezuela that quite a low percentage of the general populace speak English.

That said, there were times when some rudimentary Spanish would have made my life a lot easier, and I really should have brushed up on it before going. On one occasion I was trying to get pills for malaria but, like a complete numpty, ended up with a jab for yellow fever instead. As anyone who speaks Spanish knows, yellow fever is fiebre amarilla, it was the “amarilla” bit that was my downfall. On asking at the hospital for Malaria tablets I received in response what I incorrectly heard as a confirmatory “Amalaria.” It was only after afterwards when I met up with my couchsurfing host in the evening that I discovered my schoolboy error – they'd been saying “amarilla” not “amalaria” and I got jabbed up with an unwanted vaccine unnecessarily.

You spent time in the capital Caracas, on the island of Margarita and in the south visiting Angel Falls. What were the highlights of your trip?
Climbing Roraima was magnificent and exceeded all my expectations, as did Angel falls. Venezuela has some truly world class scenery and no shortage of it. I got to see a little of the famed Catatumbo lightning too but unfortunately not at its best. It's something I'd love to return and see when it's really firing.

Were there any low moments when you questioned what you were doing, or got fed up?
I got quite badly ill during my trip – shortly after getting the yellow fever jab! So obviously that wasn't the best of times. One low moment occurred on my second day in the country when I was arrested by the [local Caracas] Policia Metropolitana for not carrying my passport on me in the street. I ended up getting berated for the next couple of hours at a makeshift police station by a stumpy little cretin of a cop who drew his pocket knife and mimed slitting my throat – nice chap. Other than that the rest of the trip was top draw.

Any tips for budding travel writers considering following in your footsteps around the world and producing a book of their own exploits? How do you go about getting published, for example?
Getting published is no easy task. You've got to have a tenacity bordering on obsession and refuse to take “no” for an answer. Unless you're incredibly lucky, you're going to get a ream of rejection letters, so you've got to keep at it. If you get knocked down ten times, damn-well get up eleven. Re-write, re-edit, try every agent, try every publisher and if you have no success domestically try those abroad. Then try them all again. And again.

Once you've got your manuscript written a good place to start is the Writers and Artist's Yearbook, which lists all the agents and publishers in the UK, US and elsewhere. Different agents and publishers have different submission guidelines, all of which can be found in the book. Most will require a cover letter and synopsis of the work which, if they like, they will then request a small sample of. If this meets with their approval, they’ll then generally ask for a bigger sample or possibly the whole book. Even if all this goes well, they still have to feel really strongly about the book’s potential. If they do, hopefully they'll make you an offer.

However, there exists something of a catch 22 situation in the book business, in that without an agent a lot of publishers won’t look at your submission, and without any published work a lot of agents won’t consider taking you on. There’s no real answer to this dilemma other than to keep getting your work out there to both and then hopefully you'll succeed.

Another bit of advice a friend of mine who writes scripts once told me was that when you’re happy with what you’ve written and you think that it’s finished and ready to be submitted, well, the chances are, it isn’t. On the whole I agree with this, so get other people to read it and then re-edit until it is as good as you can possibly get it and then, and only then, submit it.

You devote a portion of the book to discussions about the pros and cons of President Hugo Chavez with the people you met couchsurfing. Did your impression of the political situation in Venezuela change at all during your trip or when writing the book?
I think if anything visiting Venezuela affirmed my belief in the importance of engaging people from all walks of life in the political process. It was very refreshing to see and meet so many people who were politically active, either for or against Chavez.

What tips would you give anybody wanting to visit Venezuela?
Read the superb Bradt Guide to Venezuela, it's got everything you need to know! Other than that I would probably add a word of caution; be wary of the cops, especially in Caracas. As my couchsurfing host there told me, “If you see the police coming, cross to the other side.”

What's next for you? Any more travel books in the pipeline?
I've recently returned from a trip hitch hiking over every land mass from Tasmania to the UK. It took over a thousand lifts through Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, and France to get me home to England. I'm currently writing up this adventure and am contemplating continuing the journey next year across the Atlantic, North America and the Pacific... We'll see.

Jamie Maslin's book "Socialist Dreams and Beauty Queens: A Couchsurfer's Memoir of Venezuela" is published by Skyhorse Publishing and is available in hardback and Kindle editions.

To purchase Socialist Dreams and Beauty Queens in the UK click here -in the USA click here.

Venezuela's mysterious Catatumbo Lightning on ABC News

Sorry about the annoying advert. If you wait 16 seconds you can watch an interesting report by ABC News about a unique Venezuelan phenomenon known as Catatumbo Lightning, a nightly show of thunderless lightning that occurs over the southern part of Lake Maracaibo.

Video of a talk about Venezuela I gave in London

This is the video of an illustrated talk about travel and tourism in Venezuela I gave at the Venezuelan cultural centre, Bolivar Hall, in London on 7 July.

Exploring Venezuela: A Land of Natural Wonders in Words, Sounds and Pictures
In this illustrated talk, Russell Maddicks, the author of the Bradt Guide to Venezuela will highlight some of the most fascinating areas of Venezuela to visit and what you can expect to see and do.

Drawing on his experience of adventuring in Venezuela for more than 20 years, the author will take you to:

* The "Lost World" mountain of Roraima and the unique ecosystem of its summit

* The thunderless lightning phenomenon in the south of Lake Maracaibo known as Catatumbo Lightning

* The magical mountain of Sorte where devotees of Maria Lionza practice a syncretic religion unique to the country

* The record-breaking and awe-inspiring waterfall of Angel Falls, known as Kerepacupai-meru to the local Pemon people.

One of the 17 most megadiverse countries in the world, Venezuela is home to Caribbean beaches, dense rainforests, high Andean valleys, mysterious table-top tepui mountains, and seasonally-flooded plains that are literally teeming with birds, beasts and creepy-crawlies.

From the anacondas, capybaras and crocodiles of Los Llanos, to the jaguars, monkeys and tarantulas of the jungle, a well-planned trip to this fascinating country can reap rich rewards for wildlife watchers.

Venezuela is also alive with the sound of folk music, from the Afro-Venezuelan tambores of the coast, to the harp-driven Joropo songs of Los Llanos and during his talk the author will present several examples of the music to be found in the regions he discusses.

There will be a live group performing traditional folk music, an opportunity to sample some of Venezuela's excellent local rum and Gillian Howe of Geodyssey - a tailor-made travel company specializing in organized trips to Venezuela - will be on hand to offer her own expert tips and advice on travelling in Venezuela.

BBC documentary explores Catatumbo light show

All photographs copyright to Alan Highton

According to the British particle physicist and documentary maker Brian Cox, a unique natural phenomenon in Venezuela known as El Relámpago del Catatumbo, or Catatumbo lightning, could contribute to repairing damage to the ozone layer.

A professor at the University of Manchester, Brian Cox is a famous face in UK after presenting a number of science programmes for the BBC, most notably the visually stunning 2010 series 'Wonders of the Solar System'.

Cox and a BBC camera crew are currently in Venezuela filming for the first episode of his new series "Wonders of the Universe", after jetting in from Sao Paulo, Brazil.


The popular TV scientist made his comments about the ozone layer after spending a few days on Lake Maracaibo, trying to capture on film the electric light show known as Catatumbo Lightning played out nearly every night in the skies above the stilt-house villages of Congo Mirador and Ologa.

Nowhere in the world can you see lightning like you can in the Sur del Lago, with great arcs of thunderless lightning going off across the sky all night, with just seconds between the flashes.

"This phenomenon is unique and occurs because the swamps in the area generate methane gas that rises into the atmosphere, cools and creates the conditions that produce these lightning flashes permanently," Professor Cox said in an interview with Venezuelan daily El Universal.

He also said that he wants the footage of the Relámpago del Catatumbo to open the episode on light in "Wonders of the Universe" as it brings a human dimension to the phenomenon and what lightning means to us.

"I spoke to the people of Ologa and they shared experiences and knowledge with me about the lightning," he said, "having this lightning here permamently affects the people who live on the lake."

Cox and his BBC film crew visited the Sur del Lago with of Catatumbo tour specialist Alan Highton of Cocolight, who has been bringing vistors to experience the lightning for years and knows the lake and its inhabitants like a native.

The four-part series, which first airs on BBC 2 on 6 March, 2011, not only features Catatumbo Lightning but also Venezuela's greatest natural treasure, Angel Falls, the highest waterfall in the world.

Dr Cox explains that the same laws of light, gravity, time, matter and energy that govern us here on Earth are applied in the Universe and uses spectacular footage of the 979-metre plume of water cascading down from Angel Falls to demonstrate the way light behaves around a black hole.

The first episode of Professor Brian Cox's documentary series "Wonders of the Universe" airs on BBC Two on Sunday, 6 March, at 2100. 

Watch a teaser video for the series in glorious HD.

To buy the book that accompanies the series click here:



Video of Catatumbo Lightning

Catatumbo Lightning - a Venezuelan mystery

Anybody who has travelled to the houses on stilts in the south of Lake Maracaibo to witness firsthand the mysterious natural phenomenon known as Catatumbo Lightning, or El Relampago del Catatumbo in Spanish, will understand the awe that these great arcs of thunderless lightning inspire.

The lightning can be seen on an average of 160 nights a year, with the electrical storms lasting up to 10 hours and with up to 280 lightning flashes an hour.

One of the first to pen an account of the phenomenon, and so bring it to the attention of the wider world, was the German scientist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt, who described the powerful and sustained lightning flashes as "electrical explosions that are like a phosphorescent gleam".

Humboldt referred to the phenomenon as "El Farol de Maracaybo", or "The Lighthouse of Maracaibo", because navigators on the lake are "guided by it as by a lighthouse".

"The distance, greater than 40 leagues, at which the light is observed, has led to the supposition that it might be owing to the effects of a thunderstorm, or of electrical explosions which might daily take place in a pass in the mountains," wrote Humboldt in his famous book "Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America."

While it can be seen from hundreds of miles away, the main area in which Catatumbo Lightning is produced is in the sky over the mouth of the Catatumbo River as it empties into the south of Lake Maracaibo, known in Spanish as Sur del Lago.

Most tourist trips organized from Merida start at the small fishing village of Puerto Concha, on the shores of the Sur del Lago, from where boat trips can be arranged to houses on stilts in the Las Cienagas de Juan Manuel National Park, where the best views are available.

Congo Mirador is a community of some 120 stilt-built shacks reached in two hours by boat from Puerto Concha.

As the documentary suggests, there is still no accepted single cause for the phenomenon, which remains a mystery, although most theories are linked to the atmospheric conditions that result from heavy winds blowing down from the Andes Mountains in Merida, which then collide with ionised gases - specifically the methane created by the decomposition of organic matter in local marshes.

One of the companies offering Catatumbo trips from Merida is

Fanny Tours and Adventures