Hello from Playa Colorada!

The April Team (Jon, Tash, Amy, Tristan, Sophia, Adam, Chattie and Gerry) are all present and correct, everyone’s feeling healthy and happy having traded in the dreary English weather for the Tropical Venezuelan 35 degrees and loving beach life here on the Caribbean Coast…what a difference a week makes! We’ve already made a start on the first conservation project here, continuing the great work of the last Leap team in renovating Playa Melissa, a beautiful beach on one of the nearby islands and I’ve been easing them into the community work too.

Here’s a sneaky peak at our first week’s diary:

(30/03) Arrival: The group arrived on schedule and all went smoothly in Caracas airport (no getting lost and missing their flight like the Leap’s Alice did back in September!).  They met our rep at the airport as arranged and received local telephone and local money change- helping to navigate the many currency touts and avoid the hassle most tourists experience on arrival at the international airport. They called me whilst in Caracas airport and I  talked them through airport proceedings and the Barcelona airport pick-up was co-ordinated. They arrived in Playa Colorada, ate a yummy typical Venezuelan dinner (see below!) and went to bed as they were utterlyn exhausted…but very happy to be here finally, Caracas airport is a warm welcome!

Bienvenidos a Venezuela!

(31/03 )- 1st Meeting and Orientation: One the team’s first morning we arranged a big breakfast followed by the welcome meeting, I introduced the team to our staff here, went through all the local do’s and dont’s and also outlined the program for the next 10 weeks. The  meeting went well as everyone appeared up-beat (despite the time difference!), and from my end – as this is now the second Leap Team we’ve had we are all now familiar with the (tried and tested!) program and have done significant ground work done already, which allowed me to be really detailed in my explanation.

After the meeting, our local guide Luis took the group into the nearest town, Puerto La Cruz to show them around the city, giving them their first real taste of Venezuela. This also allowed them all to e-mail  home, we dont have internet here at the lodge so really Puerto (35 mins away by bus) is the best bet. That evening we opened up the climbing wall for the group, which was great fun and helped to break the ice.

Playa Colorada- home from home!

(01/04 ) Spanish Lessons and Beach Life!: The next morning we  introduced the group to Spanish classes, which they’re now going to have for 2 hours every morning for the next 8 weeks.  The teacher assessed  their standard before class and split the team into 2 groups of  4, speaking basic and intermediate levels of Spanish. The afternoon of the second full day we went out to visit Playa  Melissa, and it was a warm Easter welcome for the group as we arrived  by local fishing boat. The beaches were busy, lots of action and very  ‘Venezuelan’!


(02/ 03) Project Planning: After Spanish classes the group and I met for our first real project  meeting. We discussed the issue of beach conservation, what local problems and attitudes to this were and the reason why we  ‘volunteers’ were required. The team all contributed ideas about what we could do about it and how we can do it which we will add to the project timetable. We then put people into specific job roles and delegated tasks. Again the climbing wall was used that night…they’re getting better every night!

(03/04  + 04/04) Weekend: The weekend, no class nor project work. The group  spent sociable evenings in the camp on Friday and Saturday nights.  Also visited the town themselves and bought an abseiling tour on Sunday from us.

(05/04) Spanish and Beach Clean Up: Back to Spanish classes and volunteer work. The group and I went to the beach in the afternoon for a big clean-up.

Admiring the Playa Melissa sign the January Group painted!

(06/04) Spanish and Village Tour: At 10:30 AM after 2 hours of Spanish Classes, the group and I  went on a village walk (Life was back to normal after busy easter!) to show them a typical day in the village and to  discuss the typical social issues along the way. It is also to  introduce them to locals and present shopping options – considering  consumer awareness and trying to support the local economy whilst they’re here. We also like to  visit the local schools and  during our visit to the local primary school we watched the travelling  classroom perform a presentation for the kids discussing particular  social issues.

This afternoon we went back to Playa Melissa where we continued  cleaning the beach before boating it all back to Playa Colorada tip by  local fishing boats. The project is taking shape, all going well, nobody sick, all healthy….all excited about the coming 9 weeks!

Ciao for Now, Brendan.

(Venezuela Leap Project Leader)

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