We met a family with 8 children who we befriended on the river. They bought some gasoline for us while they were in Tucupita and delivered it to us when we returned to their area. They all showed up at our boat so we invited them aboard. They had never been on a sailboat before so it was an interesting experience for them. They said it was hard to believe they were on a boat.

We only saw one vehicle in Pedernales because it is only accessible by water. However, we assumed they used the vehicle to transport goods that arrive by boat.

This is a common means of transporation in Pedernales and it works well.

Our first stop was Pedernales at the head of the Pedernales River and just around the corner from the Manamo. We unofficially checked in at the police station where they took our passport information. We had them stamp a piece of paper when we left so we had something to show Customs & Immigration when we returned to Trinidad (as they always ask for your departure information from the last country you were in).

Pedernales is much more sophisticated than the rest of the river people we saw but it gave us an idea of what we might expect.

We were so surprised to learn that 81 Toyota representatives were coming to the Mis Palafito Lodge on the Manamo River to spend the night. How people learn about these remote places is curious to us. However, they picked a beautiful place for a getaway.

One of the villages we visited had one hut dedicated to a school room. We noted that school had not been in session for a long time as teachers are not always available. Melinda had the children recite the Spanish alphabet while several of the mothers stood by and watched with interest.

While we were in Pedernales we learned that Chavez was holding a referendum that weekend wherein he was asking for two things: (1) that he could be elected for multiple terms and (2) that he could make decisions on certain matters without representation. In an effort to secure a "Si" response, he was offering bags of groceries to any family who would vote for him. We understand he lost the referendum regardless of his gifting. For people on the river who have little, the temptation of the groceries was too much to refuse. Other people on the river told us they were offered 350,000 bolivar (or about $70 U.S.) per adult.

We were impressed how the Chavez government is the first government in Venezuela to actually support the people in rural areas where he provided each river family a 40 HP Yamaha outboard. His government is funding hospitals and schools where none before have been available for the people.

The jungle is full of unique and beautiful birds, but capturing them in a photo is almost impossible. These tame ones give us a close-up of what we only catch glimpses of in the wild.

One of the highlights (and there were many) of our trip on the river was our two nights anchored on the south end of Ibis Island. At sunset thousands (like 30 thousand) scarlet ibis return to roost for the night at Ibis Island. They start by filtering in a few at a time, then by the hundreds, then by the thousands, until all the trees on the entire end of Ibis Island are scarlet colored. We sat in awe watching this sight and got up early the next morning to observe their departure. Within a 10-15 minute period, and on the dot of sunrise, they all left the island. Unfortunately the photos just don't give it justice. We ended up spending two nights at Ibis and watched this amazing phenomenon both days.

There were few sailing issues on the Manamo. We did ground briefly on two occasions but it was in mud and not a big deal. The rivers are wide and deep for the most part. The evenings were calm and tranquil. We even started to identify constellations with the help of Chris Doyle's Cruising Guide. There appear to be a gazillion more stars in the sky when you get away from civilization. What a glorious world we live in.

Another lodge we visited was Orinoco Delta Lodge. There were a few European guests there and a couple of them sat on the dock fishing for piranha, accompanied by a couple of domestic cats, also hoping for a catch.

We enjoyed a wonderful dinner in the lodge which consisted of delectable breaded piranha (with garlic, peppers and a blend of herbs), parsley boiled potato and a mixed tropical vegetable salad.

We heard men hunting along the river with guns and figured they were hunting capybara. This relatively tame one was hanging out at Mis Palafito Lodge. They are described as overgrown rats but serve as food for the Warao.

One surprising sighting we had was a deer swimming across a cano. We only caught a glimpse of his head and he moved away quickly when he saw us.

There was never a shortage of visitors to our boat. We were told take twice as much stuff to trade as you think you need, and you still won't have enough. They were right.

The water hiacynths floated in and out with the current and at times during the day the space between our boat and Sea Schell was a sea of water hiacynths. We tried to maneouver through them with our dinghy (and our sailboat for that matter) but when they are this thick it's pretty complicated.

We kept digging in our boat for more goodies for the families that paddled out to us. We wanted to share equally with everyone which created a challenge at times. If we went on another trip we'd take more children's clothes and hats. Melinda had some bottles of nailpolish that the girls went crazy over. Once the word got out girls would show up at their boat and point to their finger nails. They knew what they wanted but didn't know how to ask.

Some of the little tykes that visited our boat by dugout canoe, couldn't have been more than 3 years old. Occasionally a family would come with the mother holding a babe in arms and a whole troup of little ones lined up in the boat. What fun!

Melinda and Harry have the same boat as we do, a Tayana Vancouver 42, Center Cockpit. They introduced themselves when they arrived in Trinidad and immediately told us about their planned trip to the Manamo River. They invited us to come along. Once we eliminated all the reasons why we couldn't go, we agreed to join them. We had a marvelous time and became great friends, sharing many dinghy explorations, sundowners and meals together.

Harry, from Sea Schell, enjoyed a moment with this beautiful toucan. We spotted the more wild variety in the jungle but it was nice to get a close up view from this relatively tame one.

We visited a beautiful lodge called Mis Palafito, down a side cano, isolated and very remote, where we didn't expect to see any tourists. To our amazement there were 60 lovely little huts for guests and a large dining area. They were preparing for 81 Toyota guests arriving by speedboat for one night and the tables were set in preparation. Incredible. How do people find these places? Large bowls of fruit were on the table and as we watched two monkeys came into the doorway, scanned the room, then scurried down to the floor, up onto the table and snatched some fruit. The large screen door was closed to prevent a second occurrence.

There were some relatively tame parrots and toucans that hung around and entertained the guests.

These are two of the children of the family we spent time with. The father handcrafted this beautiful furniture and the children wanted to pose for the photo.

We certainly didn't expect to find a church in the middle of nowhere but the Lord directed us to this one. We were told that there was a family near where we were anchored who spoke English (formerly from Guyana) and invited us to visit. We met the family with 8 children and visited with them in their home, learning much about life on the river. We spotted another hut next to their home with benches set up. Inside there was a handmade sign that said "Iglesia Evangelica Pentecostal, Viene de Boca de Tigre". The family used to live in this hut but when it rained the water came in. They built another home and decided to turn this building into a church. It has been going for 7 years. On our way back down the river we were blessed to attend Sunday worship service with them. This is the music team that let the praise and worship. What a blessing it was to fellowship with this lovely Christian family on the river.

This beautiful flower grows wild in the jungle along the river.

Even the pigs have pens on stilts above the water.

Most of the floors in these huts are made of logs so it isn't all that comfortable walking around them. You can't put your feet on a flat floor like we are so accustomed to.

We were not surprised to see this hairy critter in the bushes. We read about tarantulas and discovered they are not as poisonous as their reputation.

What did irritate us during our trip on the river were horse flies (that delivered a nasty bite) and mosquitoes. Regardless of how well prepared a person is to prevent contracting malaria or dengue fever, there are just too many mosquitoes to avoid being bitten. They came out in full force right at sundown. We kept our deet handy and discouraged them for the most part. We did have a mosquito net for our bed but the mosquitoes left by then so we didn't use it.

We were anchored near the hut where this woman and her son lived and noticed they had almost nothing in their hut. We put together a little package with flour, cooking oil, fabric, needles, thread, coloring book and crayons and a small amount of bolivar (Venezuelan currency) and delivered it to her. It was completely unexpected and she was taken back. She motioned for me to wait while she ran and returned with a plate with a small fish covered in salt. I believe it was their food for the day and she was offering some to me. I didn't want to be rude so I pulled a piece of it off, thanked her and left in the dinghy. We were both moved to tears at the kindness displayed by this woman. We learned later that the husband fishes all day for their daily needs and tries to catch and sell a couple of extra fish for their other needs.

We travelled along numerous canos in our dinghy searching for monkeys. We use the motor until we got into the thick of the jungle then turn off the motor and drift with the current. There were howlers and capuchin that we were aware of and the howlers made such a loud roar you'd think they were fierce lions. Most of the ones we saw were pretty cautious, coming close enough to catch a glimpse of us. This monkey was near one of the lodges we visited and was obviously quite comfortable around humans.

There were many huts along that river that were not part of a village without any luxuries. The huts have no walls and they sleep in hammocks. They live a very simple day-to-day existence.

In the village there was one hut with a communal washing machine, stove and freezer provided by President Chavez. We didn't expect to see such luxuries on the river.

We were surrounded by dugout canoes when we arrived at this little village and were invited to visit. The homes are built on stilts and are joined by a common walkway.

We decided to go to the Manamo River in the Orinoco Delta, Venezuela for a couple of weeks. We travelled with another Tayana Vancouver 42 named Sea Schell who we met in TTSA, Trinidad. We had a marvelous time and it was an experience we will treasure forever.

Before we left we purchased items to trade with the Warao Indians who live on the river. They came to our boat in dugout canoes in droves and we traded staples, like flour, cooking oil, fabric, needles, thread, etc. for baskets and jewelry.

These were among our first visitors. It was not uncommon to see about an 8-year old at the controls with six or seven passengers coming to our boat. One or more of the passengers would normally be bailing. What a sight! It was such fun and we loved engaging with the children. They spoke Warao (and occasionally a few words of Spanish) so communication was with smiles and gestures.