"La enseñanza de las buenas costumbres o hábitos sociales es tan esencial como la instrucción".

Simon Bolivar.

Venezuela como tu no hay dos

Venezuela's contemporary state of affairs has been solidly influenced by oil revenues which has turned the country into one of the most industrialised and wealthy nations in Latin America. In recent times, the people of Venezuela had chosen to elect a President that advocates the plight of the have not and his advocating of fundamental changes has been seen by many observers around the world as a good far-reaching benefit for the country as a whole, his name is Hugo Chavez. Venezuela is also known for their world famous storytellers, authors and poets, the names of Romulo Gallegos, Arturo Uslar Prieti and Alfredo Toro-Hardy come to mind, and, of course, the fame of its most loved heroes, Simon Bolivar and Jose Antonio Sucre, is still being sang at all times these days, and the names of many of past and present baseball players are chanted evermore without end, such as Alejandro Carrasquel, Alfonzo "Chico" Carrasquel, Luis Aparicio, Enzo Hernandez, David Conception, Tony Armas, Cesar Tovar, Victor Davalillo, Roberto Marcano, Camaleon Garcia, Oswaldo Guillen and Johan Santana. In fact, between 1939 and 2007, 199 baseball players born in Venezuela played baseball in the Majors. Indeed, baseball is the national game of Venezuela. However, each year thousands of holiday-makers are drawn to Venezuela and many go back there year after year with the same reason as the first one that took them there: eagerness to find out about unfamiliar regions, customs and local art. Indeed, Venezuela is steeped in enlightenment, customs and local art. Venezuela's fauna and flora are unique;  it is a near-perfect place for bird-watchers and the hospitality of its people is second to none. Deep in the countryside, Venezuela has large areas of unspoilt beauty and I can assure you that the variety of landscapes will not fail to impress you. It vaunts snow-capped peaks and chains of mountains along the Andes and the Caribbean coast line rising up to over 2500 metres above sea level. The southern part of Venezuela is clutched tightly by the Amazon and its wilderness where one will find the highest waterfall in the world (Angel Falls). Rivers, plains and savannahs in the heart of the country are anglers' paradise on earth. The Orinoco river is perfect for holidays and pageantry in Venezuela tends to go down well with tourists. Caracas, the capital of the country, has everything a tourist could want. You name it, Caracas has it and it does not suffer from sky high prices. Caracas is never boring. There is always something going on and its main attractions are set out in most guide books. My wife, Sally, fell in love with the Venezuelan countryside at first sight. Venezuela extends a welcome to all tourists to discover its landscapes, mountains, rivers, beaches, cities and its people. It will be an enjoyable experience. It is worth a visit.

P.Figueras