Venezuela has a good transportation infrastructure, with flights linking all the major cities and most tourist destinations, an extensive system of asphalted highways crisscrossing the country, and an efficient subway system in Caracas. Access to cheap petroleum has historically favored roads over rail, and it is only now that the government has started to invest in railroad construction, principally by extending the Caracas subway system to the suburbs and nearby satellite towns.
As elsewhere in the tropics, health care and precautions are an important consideration. Travel insurance is essential, and should cover everything you do during your stay, including adventure sports if you plan to windsurf, paraglide, or go white-water rafting. You should also ensure you get all the necessary inoculations before you travel. Prevention is better than cure.
An increasingly challenging crime and safety situation over recent years has meant that visitors should be extra cautious about when and where they travel in Venezuela, but by following sensible advice it is still possible to enjoy the magnificent natural beauty of the country, as the top tourist destinations are generally much safer than the cities.
Venezuelans carry their ID card, known as a Cédula de Identidad, with them at all times. This is because they can be stopped at a police or National Guard checkpoint, and anybody without a valid ID can be detained until they can prove their identity. Foreigners are not exempt from these rules, and are advised to carry their passport with them at all times. Photocopies of ID documents are not generally accepted, even from tourists. It can be unnerving to be woken on a long-distance bus by armed men in uniform, but the best approach is to remain calm and, of course, polite. They are only doing their job, and it doesn’t help to annoy them.
Apart from the odd charter flying in to Margarita, most international flights arrive and depart from the Simón Bolívar international airport at Maiquetia, about an hour’s drive from Caracas. Airports in the USA with direct flights to Venezuela are Miami, Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles, and Dallas. Flights from the main European hubs, except for those from the UK, are direct. From Maiquetia airport there are domestic flights to all major cities.
High inflation has made domestic air travel more expensive than it was a few years ago, but of course it is the quickest way to commute the vast distances between some cities and to reach holiday hot spots such as Margarita, Mérida, and the Gran Sabana.
New airlines have recently entered the market, and others have expanded their routes. The main airlines include Avior, Aserca, and the state-owned airline Conviasa. Aerotuy has small planes operating the route to Los Roques and other remote tourist destinations and Transmandu flies small Cessnas that link Ciudad Bolívar and Puerto Ordaz to Canaima, the jungle base for trips to Angel Falls.
In Caracas there are modern Metrobuses that link the subway system to other parts of the city. They are clean, efficient, have bus stops, and run more or less to a timetable.
For most journeys Venezuelans rely on the hundreds of owner-operated por puestos buses, sometimes called camionetas (minivans) that clog the streets of Caracas and other cities and towns. These have their destinations on the front windshield, and you simply wave your arm to flag one down. Usually, the driver has an assistant who collects the fares as passengers get on, and shouts out the destination. There are no set stops for por puestos, and they add to the general chaos by constantly speeding up and slowing down, cutting in front of each other to beat their rivals to potential passengers, and stopping in the middle of the road to let people off. Por puesto travel is usually accompanied by tropical tunes like salsa, merengue, or headache-inducing reggaeton. To cut through the noise of the sound system, passengers clap their hands to ask the driver to stop, or shout “En la parada, por favor” (“Stop here, please”).
At the main bus terminals in some towns you find carritos, or carritos por puestos, which are cars that operate as a bus service, charging by the seat and only setting off when full. Routes generally have set fares, and if you’re in a hurry you can pay for all the empty seats and set off straight away.
Internal flights are out of the budget range of most Venezuelans, who are more likely to travel the long distances between cities by bus. Most journeys start from the main terminal de pasajeros (central bus station) of each town or city or from the depots of private bus companies. Service is frequent, and many long-distance buses travel at night.
The main terminal in Caracas is a three-story bus station called La Bandera, a chaotic crush of humanity as people try to buy tickets at the jumble of bus company offices on the upper floor. It is almost impossible to buy bus tickets online or in advance on these buses, so the only way is to turn up on the day of travel and get what you can. At holiday times the crowds at La Bandera can swell to massive proportions, so plan to leave a few days before the rush and return a few days after the main holiday dates if you are taking a bus during these periods.
Expect Arctic conditions on long-distance buses. For some reason the companies insist on keeping the air-conditioning on full blast for the whole journey. Venezuelans are used to this, and will take woolly hats, sweaters, coats, and blankets. I once traveled to Puerto Ayacucho in Amazonas State, and dressed for an expedition up the Orinoco in long shorts and a T-shirt. Five minutes into the twenty-hour journey I realized that I was severely underdressed and would freeze if I didn’t take action. Seeing my predicament, a Venezuelan woman across the aisle invited me to share her duvet, and I was saved. Now I wear long trousers and pack a fleece and blanket when traveling.
The other problem on buses is the videos they play. On a twenty-three-hour bus trip from Santa Elena to Caracas, after six exhausting days climbing to the top of Mount Roraima, all I wanted to do was curl up and sleep. Instead, I was treated to five films featuring Jean-Claude Van Damme, played back to back and with the sound at a level that made dozing off near impossible. I just remember one film blurring into the next as I slipped in and out of sleep, promising myself that next time I’d bring some earplugs.
At other, smaller bus terminals it is easier to get tickets on the day of travel, but the only companies that allow you to book online or in advance are the ones with their own terminals, such as Aeroexpresos Ejecutivos (www.aeroexpresos.com.ve).
Buses have varying grades of comfort, and prices to match. An Expreso just means a fast intercity service. Ejecutivo implies a greater degree of comfort on board, and a Bus Cama (Bed Bus) will have seats and footrests that allow you to recline. On the twelve-hour journey between Caracas and Mérida, a Bus Cama taken at night allows you to sleep.
There are several types of taxi operating in Venezuela. There are those that work in lineas de taxi (taxi stands) at airports, hotels, and shopping malls, with their company logo clearly visible; there are dial-up taxi companies that will pick up you up wherever you are; and there is the type known as a libre that drives around waiting to be flagged down.
All licensed taxis have special yellow number plates, and are typically white with a yellow and black checkered band—although the official taxis at Maiquetia airport are black Ford Explorers. Unlicensed taxis, known as piratas (pirates), will sometimes put a plastic taxi sign on the roof when looking for fares, but should be avoided, even if they do offer cheaper rates.
Always agree on the fare before getting into a taxi or booking one on the telephone, as they don’t have meters. You don’t normally tip for a routine trip.
In some places it works out more cheaply to use taxis and buses to get around than renting a car, and you don’t have to worry about finding a safe parking space. If you are going out at night in the major cities, always take a taxi, as walking is not recommended after dark.
If you are hiring a taxi for several days, try to negotiate a day rate for the whole car, not per passenger, and make sure you specify the places you want to visit, and the start and finish times each day, to avoid arguments. Pay at the end of a journey, not up front, and then, if you feel you have received good service, a tip would be in order.
If you don’t mind taking a risk and really need to get somewhere fast during rush hour, then you might feel like jumping on the pillion of one of the thousands of motorbike taxis, or mototaxis, that buzz around Caracas like so many busy bees. By weaving through gridlocked traffic, mounting the sidewalk, and ignoring the rules of the road, mototaxis can greatly reduce travel times in a city overrun by cars and buses. Riding scooters or motorbikes, mototaxistas work out of cooperatives based on busy corners. A report in 2011 estimated that some eight hundred cooperatives were operating in Caracas, ferrying ordinary people to poor slums where buses don’t run, or rushing businessmen across the city to important meetings. Although passengers are provided with a helmet, the dangers of riding on a mototaxi are many, as accidents are frequent and the bikes themselves can be the targets of armed thieves.
Taxis and buses are probably the cheapest way to travel. However, if you plan to spend a few days exploring somewhere like Margarita Island, with gas prices so low it might be worth renting a car for the convenience.
International car rental firms including Hertz, Avis, and Budget operate at most airports, and cars can be ordered from abroad online. To rent a car in Venezuela, you will be required to take out insurance, pay with a credit card, and be over twenty-one. To rent a four-by-four vehicle, around double the cost of a small car, you will need to be over twenty-five.
Always check the tires, brakes, and seat belts, and note any dents with the rental agency before taking the car. In Venezuela a car must by law be equipped with a reflector triangle in case of accident. Ensure you have all the tools and security devices noted down correctly.
Venezuelans drive on the right, as they do in the USA, but the driving experience is quite different and the rules of the road are rarely respected. Particularly in Caracas, drivers swerve about and cut in front of each other, pass on either side, and honk their horns for no obvious reason, and the chunkiest, most aggressively driven vehicle wins. Add in the por puestos, which stop and start to pick up and let off passengers, and the mototaxis and motorbike couriers weaving in and out, and you have a recipe for chaos.
Drivers are supposed to wear their seat belts. Checks are made at roadside checkpoints set up by the police and National Guard.
There is a speed limit of 40 kmh (25 mph) in cities and 80 kmh (50 mph) on main roads, but it is virtually unheard of for anybody to be charged with breaking the speed limit.
Running red lights is endemic, especially at night, and there are no effective deterrents to drunk driving, as Breathalyzers are seldom if ever used. The only way to survive is to drive defensively at all times.
However, if you are stopped at a police checkpoint, or are involved in an accident and the transportation police are called, you will find yourself in trouble if you do not have all the necessary documents for yourself and the car.
With the cheapest gas prices in the world, it’s no wonder that Venezuelans with cars drive everywhere. Gas costs about 2 US cents a liter (about 8 cents a gallon) and filling your tank is cheaper than buying a liter bottle of water. All gas stations sell unleaded gas, such as 89 or 95 octane, and in cities there are plenty of gas stations. If you are travelling to the rural areas, however, it is better to fill up in advance. In some border areas, such as Santa Elena, on the border with Brazil, there is rationing to stop Brazilians from exploiting the price difference at the pumps and effectively smuggling gas over the border to sell. This can result in long lines at gas stations.
The Caracas Metro is fast, efficient, and (outside rush hours) a great way to get around the city. Opened in 1983, with just one line running from Propatria in the west to Palo Verde in the east, the Metro has now expanded to three lines. From Parque Central Metro station there is a link to the Metrocable, a small-scale cable car system that serves the hillside barrios, which started limited operations in 2009.
More extensions are planned, and the system is gradually linking central Caracas with the major suburbs outside the valley. One of the new lines will link up the Metro to the Warairarepano cable car station at Mariperez, which takes passengers to the top of the Ávila Mountain.
As por puesto prices have risen in Caracas, Metro fares have stayed relatively low, due to subsidies, and the government has made travel free for those over the age of sixty-five. The result has been a dramatic increase in passenger numbers, to the point at peak hours when people have to cram themselves forcefully into the cars. This can be hot and uncomfortable, can result in altercations between passengers, and makes the work of pickpockets easier.
Both Maracaibo and Valencia have inaugurated their own Metro systems, which have started to operate limited services.
Up until the 1950s, when the decision was made by the dictator Marcos Pérez Jimenez to undertake an ambitious building program of new highways and other projects, including the two massive concrete viaducts on the road to the airport, Venezuela did have some railways. The Puerto Cabello to Barquisimeto train is a relic of the days when Caracas was linked to Valencia and La Guaira by rail.
Now Venezuela is again turning to railways, with plans to build new lines at several points around the country. The first of these was completed in 2006, with an electric line from La Rinconada Metro in Caracas to Charallave and Cúa in the Tuy Valley. Built by an Italian, French, and Venezuelan consortium, the 25 miles (40 km) of track cost US$1.9 billion and has twenty-three tunnels, one of which is 4.2 miles (6.8 km) long. The trains travel at a swift 75 mph (120 kmh). A second stage will link Puerto Cabello to Cagua.
The main links to the tourist island of Margarita are the car ferry from Puerto la Cruz and the fast passenger ferries from Puerto La Cruz and Cumaná. A small car ferry also operates between Margarita and the tiny island of Coche. The biggest line is Conferry (www.conferry.com), which was taken over in 2011 by the government, with frequent delays and poor operating standards cited as the reason. The other ferry company is Naviarca-Gran Cacique (www.grancacique.com.ve).
Venezuela has all the usual accommodation options, ranging from five-star luxury hotels in the major cities to hammocks strung up under the stars in jungle camps. It is worth noting that prices tend to rise during high season (temporada alta), which includes Christmas, New Year, Carnival, Easter, and the school breaks in July and August.
Caracas is the most expensive place to stay, given its importance to business travelers, and there is a choice of international chain hotels with all the modern conveniences, swimming pools, and Wi-Fi. Smaller boutique hotels have also started to spring up in larger cities. Margarita, which is a magnet for Venezuelan vacationers during holiday periods and long weekends, also has a range of high-end hotels and beach resorts, many offering package deals. In hotels, a habitación doble can mean twin beds, while a matrimonial is a room with a double bed.
The greatest concentration of accommodation options on the mainland is in Mérida State, with more than 140 small hotels and 170 posadas (guesthouses), including the basic but lovely mucuposadas—rustic family homes in the high Andean valleys around the city of Mérida that have been converted to offer rooms and meals to hikers. Posadas are found in the countryside and along the coast, and can be quaint colonial houses or modern concrete blocks. These family-run establishments usually have fewer rooms and can be more rustic than small hotels, but on Los Roques, where there are strict building regulations, the Italian-owned posadas are decorated in a grand Mediterranean style, and have prices to match.
In Los Llanos, some large cattle ranches, called hatos, offer accommodation to wildlife enthusiasts and bird-watchers. Hato el Cedral in Apure State is one of the most famous of these. Accommodation is basic but comfortable, and there is a small pool.
Be aware that some of the motel-like places seen along major highways and on the outskirts of towns, especially the ones with romantic-sounding names, are “love hotels,” known in Venezuela as hoteles de cita (date hotels) or, more crudely, as mataderos (slaughterhouses). Equipped with mirrored ceilings and Jacuzzis, and as busy at lunchtime as they are at night, these discreet establishments don’t cater solely to unfaithful spouses. Many people use them because they can’t afford to move out of the family home, and have nowhere else to be with their partners. Extra discreet versions, for those who really don’t want to be seen, have two-story units with a parking space below and a garage door that lowers to hide the car.
The public health system in Venezuela is free to all, but is hampered by a lack of organization and supplies. The conditions in some public hospitals are very primitive, and the system often depends on family members to provide medicines and food for patients, and in some cases to supply basics like bandages and gauze.
A world apart from the public health system, there is a thriving private health care sector offering sophisticated scans and lab tests, emergency facilities, plastic surgery, and all major operations for those who can afford to pay. Medical staff are well qualified in the private sector, and treatment is good, but as in the USA and other countries private health care is not cheap, and must be paid for up front, or at least before patients are discharged. Foreigners with insurance will still need to pay by cash or a credit card before being admitted for treatment, as most insurance companies pay out only on your return.
For minor ailments, many people head first to a farmacia and ask the pharmacist for advice. Some medicines and antibiotics that would need a prescription in the USA or northern Europe are available over the counter. If it’s late, and the local pharmacy is closed, it will display a list of nearby pharmacies that are open.
Venezuelans who can’t afford private doctors or who live far from public hospitals often go to the small clinics set up in poor areas run by Cuban doctors, part of an oil-for-doctors deal between Venezuela and Cuba known as Misión Barrio Adentro (Inside the Barrio Mission). Attempts to expand this parallel health care system have hit snags as the main federation of Venezuelan doctors has challenged the legal rights of Cuban doctors to practice medicine in Venezuela.
Venezuela is a tropical country close to the equator, and visitors are advised to take basic precautions when spending time in the sun. Always wear sunscreen with a high protection factor, and reapply it regularly after swimming. Drink plenty of liquids, and wear a hat to avoid sunstroke.
Tap water is not safe to drink, but can be used for cleaning teeth. Many restaurants and posadas offer filtered tap water, which is fine, but if you’re not sure ask for bottled water.
Traveler’s diarrhea is a possibility, so pack Imodium, Kaopectate, or a similar product, which will help when traveling on flights or long bus journeys. Usually, this clears up on its own and is just a reaction to a change in routine, new foods, and hot weather. Rehydration salts will also help.
Before traveling to Venezuela you should make sure to have the required immunizations. A tetanus-diphtheria booster shot is recommended if you haven’t had one in the last ten years. Typhoid, hepatitis A, and hepatitis B immunization is recommended. A yellow fever shot is not compulsory, but is needed if you expect to cross into Brazil by land, in which case bring the certificate, as you will be required to show it.
Some parts of Venezuela, including the more remote areas of the Orinoco Delta, Bolívar State, and Amazonas, carry a risk of malaria and other insect-borne diseases. Consult a medical professional for the latest advice before taking antimalarial medication. In rural and coastal areas, use insect repellent, wear long sleeves and long pants after sunset, and sleep under a mosquito net.
Crime levels have increased markedly in recent years, and Venezuelans list crime and insecurity as their chief concern. Business travelers and tourists are advised to exercise all sensible precautions, particularly while in Caracas and other cities, and should heed the advice of their embassy, which will have advice on security issues on its Web site. The city of Mérida, while not completely crime free, is seen as a safer alternative to Caracas for tourists wanting a base from which to explore Los Llanos and other destinations.
The constant fear of crime in Caracas is reflected in the barred windows and security doors on houses and apartments, and the armed security guards outside supermarkets and gated communities. This is partly due to the general rise in drug-related crime throughout Latin America, but is also down to poor policing, collusion between police officers and criminals, and corruption in the judicial system, which allows those who can pay to avoid justice. The understandable paranoia is fueled by newspaper and TV reports filled with frightening stories of murders, muggings, and “express kidnappings” (secuestro express), in which victims are taken to ATMs or banks and forced to empty their accounts over a short period of time before being released.
Along with an increase in robberies and kidnappings across the country, Caracas has earned a reputation as the murder capital of the world. The weekend murder rate regularly tops fifty murders, with most taking place in poor hillside barrios, where life is cheap and drugs are rife.
Other hot spots are located along the border with Colombia in Tachira, Zulia, and Apure States, since guerrillas, paramilitaries, and organized crime gangs have carried out kidnappings in those regions.
A report by the Observatorio Venezolano de Violencia (Venezuela Violence Observatory), a local NGO, stated that according to the crime figures collated in 2011 by university researchers the murder rate could be as high as 19,336—or 67 murders per 100,000 inhabitants—a national record.
• Don’t attract the attention of thieves. Leave gold chains, good jewelry, and expensive watches at home and keep digital cameras and cell phones out of sight.
• Don’t change money in the street. Try to use hotels or travel agents for changing money, and avoid street hustlers, who will offer a higher rate just to see, and then steal, your cash.
• Safety in numbers. Solo travelers, especially women, can be targeted.
• Learn some Spanish. The more you can speak and understand, the better.
• Listen to local advice on places to avoid, and don’t enter shantytowns.
• Know where you are going. Don’t wander around with a map, looking lost. Take taxis at night.
• Avoid crowds. Don’t travel on the subway or buses during peak hours because pickpockets, including minors, will be taking advantage of the crush.
• Use the hotel safe. Don’t walk around with all your cash, but always have something on you to hand over if mugged.
• If you do get held up, hand over your stuff. Keep calm, and don’t resist.
• Have a backup. Keep emergency bills hidden under your clothes or belt, or in your shoes, just in case.
• Copy documents. Scan your passport, airline ticket, and other documents, and e-mail yourself a copy.