MARGARITA - VENEZUELA
The summer of 1994 began with our family travels. Staša and Maja successfully finished their school years, so Staša soon traveled to Europe, this time by Inter-rail, to visit: the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Greece, and Poland. We all had the habit and obligation to call each other from the trip, so that we would know where everyone was at a given time and if everything was going according to plan. That's what Staša called us from many European cities. She was thrilled and overjoyed with her trip. She left Toronto with another school friend from Greece. Stasa also stayed in Greece for the longest time, about 25 days, where she mostly stayed with Eva, her school friend, a Greek girl, and she was also with her relatives on the island. Maja was left alone at home, she worked at the University of Toronto, she made artificial red blood cells in the laboratory, where she was preparing a thesis for her master's thesis.
This time, Bosa and I decided to travel to Venezuela. We reviewed a lot of tourist brochures and decided on the island of Margarita, where we booked a stay from June 18 to July 2. We flew with Royal Airlines, which operated charter flights in the Caribbean.
Margarita Island consists of two interconnected islands, Margarita and Macao La Rastingua. Their relationship is beautiful, seen from the plane, in the shape of a sandbar. These two islands, at a distance of no more than a hundred meters, have different climates. In the east, Margarita is fertile, and in the west, Makanao, a desert. The northern beaches of both islands are sandy, and to some extent the eastern: Punta Arenas, Boca de Roso, Robledal, La Carmela, El Tunal, El Saco and Playa Aqua. La Pared Beach is located in Makanau, but without natural protection from the strong tropical sun. It is written that there are no more beautiful sunsets in the world than in Makanau.
The capital on the island of Margarita is La Asuncion, in the interior, and the largest city on the island is Parlamar, with about 150,000 inhabitants. We visited both places, and the closest to our beach was the town of Pampatar.
The history of the island of Margarita is connected with Columbus' discovery of America in 1494, i.e. his third arrival, as well as with the construction of the fortress of Santiago near Pampatar and San Carlos de Borromeo (1626 and 1664-1684). The top of Guayamuri is 488 m, constantly wrapped in fog which is why it is considered magical. The native Indians once considered it a divine abode. In 1991, the Japanese established a similarity between Guayamuri and Mount Fuji. Even UFO researchers mention Guayamuri because of the unusual appearance of a ball-like object, which appeared in August 1992 above the hill, and then mysteriously disappeared into the ocean like a big explosion. The Margarita Sea is rich in various species of fish and beautiful corals. Several surrounding smaller islands with crystal clear water, have an average temperature of 24 ° C at a depth of 6-12 m, which is most suitable for coral development, unique in the world.
On Margarita, you can still occasionally hear the fable about "Chimichimitos", which is associated with voices in the night, usually in the moonlight, from creatures like fish with human voices; it is believed that they are unborn children, according to local mythology.
Macaws and Periwigs parrots still live on Margarita, which best imitate human speech, while the Parakeet parrot is almost extinct. It is one of the 8 species of parrots that are considered the best in the world, and there are only about 1000 of them left. Their biggest enemies are tourists who steal their eggs from their nests and / or newly hatched young. The United Nations is implementing a program to protect these species of parrots on the island, and it seems that this program is working.
Margarita Island has an area of 943 square kilometers, and has about 300,000 inhabitants. The island is connected to the mainland of Venezuela by an electric power cable and a water pipeline, and the traffic is done by planes and ferries. Margarita is about thirty kilometers away from the mainland. The food on the island mostly comes from the continent, and the hotels are very varied and deliciously prepared.
In the tourist arrangement every night you have an entertainment and music program of local artists that make your stay pleasant. The facility is built in Mediterranean style, with a central pool and a number of ancillary facilities. The arrangement is all-inclusive.
In the souvenir shop, next to the reception, immediately upon arrival, we met a Serbian woman, Valerija Ivanović, born in Caracas, whose father used to be the owner of “Nolit” in Belgrade, and since he moved to South America, he has stayed there all his life. Valerija and I became friends, and I talked to her father on the phone while he was in Caracas. He gave me the address of his school friend in Quebec, whom I later contacted, and behold, they found each other after many years. Upon our return, we contacted Valerija. She spoke Serbian quite well. She told us that she had never visited Belgrade, and she had heard many stories about Belgrade from her parents and lived with the hope that her wish would one day come true. She is married and living with children at Margarita island.
