Carnival

Our friends Helene and Peter made it back OK from Merida, after finding out that the flight ticket for Merida to Puerto la Cruz they had paid cash for here prior to their trip wasn't paid for and lost the flight. The travel agent who sold them the ticket then arranged a flight for the next morning at 8 and assured the ticket was paid for, but again the flight was not paid for and so they had pay again. They also found out that the flight from here to Caracas to catch their flight back to Europe is
not paid either, so we have some talking to do with this travel agency. Anyway, we moved out of the house which we truly enjoyed, it sure was a treat for a while. I felt a little uneasy leaving the two parrots as the gardener who is suppose to feed them never showed up, so I left them with lots of water and food and amazingly the gardener showed up just before we left. We moved into the anchorage in front of Maremares just on time to get ashore for the brunch potluck by the tree of knowledge. We
had a wonderful time and over 20 people showed up, the food was wonderful and so where the Bloody Mary and Mimosa. It is Carnival in Venezuela and they take it very seriously, most businesses are closed from the 1. to the 5. of February and parades are held daily. Maremares organized a good carnival party with awesome music, dancers and shows all day long which made our party even more fun. I haven't danced like this in a loooooooong time and found mussels in my legs and butt I didn't know I had.
Sid took it a bit easier and went to the local sports bar to watch Super Bowl Sunday.
We are still in the windy season meaning daily winds around 20/25 knots and finally had a day of somewhat calm so the morning after the party we pulled anchor o/dark thirty and headed out of the harbor. Big swells headed our way a sign that high winds lay ahead of us, of course we hoped to get to El Oculto before it got too bad and luck was on our side, just as we headed behind the islands of the Mochima National Park the wind started gusting up to 25 knots. We were surprised to see that the anchorage
had already 13 boats anchored, usually we are by ourselves. Helene and Peter are having a wonderful time, especially Peter who for the first time saw dolphins coming up to the bow and swim along side the boat, which he didn't believe could happen. So we're relaxing, reading, snorkeling, eating, drinking and just enjoying finally sitting in an anchorage again. Poor Sid is nursing a bad cold which I already had and Helene just got over with, watch our Peter you'll be next. The wind was howling all
night long, Peter tried to sleep on deck but said he got almost blown off the boat. Looks like we're stuck here and may not be able to head to Laguna Grande in the Golfo de Cariaco as it is a 36 miles trip right into the weather, but that's no problem as this anchorage has some of the best snorkeling and hiking, so we will not be bored.