Merry Christmas everyone! Time to kick back, relax, and enjoy time with the family. Time to eat too much and drink to excess. Time to exchange presents and have a kiss or two under the mistletoe. To tell you the truth after 5 months on the road and a tiring 6-day trip to the summit of Roraima and back, the only Christmas present that Christi and I are looking forward to sharing is that of doing nothing for one whole day. I don’t know who put this blistering schedule together (Christi just reminded me that I am the one who organized our itinerary so I have no one to blame but myself. And in case I don’t blame myself, Christi most assuredly does!), but tomorrow we move on yet again. Assuming we can get bus tickets.
In the meantime Ya-Koo may be eco-friendly, but the management does not extend the same courtesy to its paying customers. It’s Christmas morning, our bodies are very fatigued after hiking Roraima and breakfast is only available from 7-8 am for goodness sake, so we’re up early despite our weariness. In addition, Ya-Koo does not offer lunch, but it’s Christmas Day and we’re miles from town so we literally have to beg the management for some munchies. To add insult to injury the hotel staff are having a Christmas lunch and playing secret Santa and generally having the time of their lives. Bastards. I beg the management to let Christi and I sneak a few mouthfuls of food. The phrase (from Oliver Twist) ‘Please, sir, I want some more,’ springs to mind. We don’t get any presents, though. So sad.
Having satisfied our hunger pangs as best we can, Christi and I mix the day up with reading, updating our diaries with tales from Roraima, and editing the photos we took on the trek. Of course we cannot truly experience Christmas in South America without at least trying to sing Feliz Navidad. We’re much better with the English bits! Dinner (yay!) is a rather tasty chicken casserole and later we watch a PBS DVD on Roraima and Angel Falls. Angel Falls is our next adventure – also organized by New Frontiers Adventure who have still to be paid for the Roraima trip! But first we have to escape the seductive clutches of Ya-Koo’s comfortable bed and Santa Elena de Uairen’s laid back vibe.
Blog post by Roderick Phillips, author of Weary Heart – a gut-wrenching, heart-wrenching, laugh-wrenching ride.
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