Las Trinceras and Morrocoy National Park

Las Trincheras

To reach our destination there was no direct bus so we had to change no fewer than three, and in the early afternoon we had finally arrived at the thermal spa of Las Trinceras. It's a little village built alongside the main road that wouldn't have any reason to exist if not because in this valley there also spring beneficial thermal waters (the second hottest in the world after those of Japan). This was the reason that had driven us all the way here, the desire to treat our bodies for the terrible sunstroke we had gotten in the previous days, the wish to be pampered by the warm waters and the thermal mud present at the spa. Two days dedicated to health and wellness flew by all too quickly among excellent dinners, cable TV and lots of relaxation.

Morrocoy National Park

After settling our bills (not even too steep) we put our backpacks back on our shoulders and headed to the main road to catch the first passing bus on the fly: destination Chichiriviche, gateway to Morrocoy National Park, another marvel of Venezuela. After two hours of travel we arrived at our destination in this small town which right away seemed to us much less dangerous and more touristy compared to the rest of the country. Mind you, the town, besides a few little hotels and restaurants, strictly owned by some Italian, didn't have much else to offer: the only attraction was precisely Morrocoy National Park. It is a bay characterized by countless inlets and little islands covered by dense and very green vegetation where mangroves reign supreme.

Here too the only way to admire these marvels was to rent a little boat with its respective driver, which crowded the little port of Chichiriviche. No sooner said than done: having found lodging at the Hotel Capri, whose name decidedly does not betray its made in Italy origin, we headed out to gather all the necessary information, also thanks to the help of a fellow countryman of ours who ran a gelateria a few steps from us. Having weighed the opportunities at our disposal we took a little reconnaissance stroll around the town center and our initial impressions were confirmed: we were in an all-too-quiet little town. All that was left was to go take a shower and get ready for dinner at a restaurant recommended to us by our Italian friend (we only discovered afterward that it was his).

The following day, which also coincided with the town festival, we went to explore Morrocoy Park. We headed to the port and, after negotiating the price for a ride in a little boat, our adventure began. We had opted for a tour that would take us to visit several little islands and inlets to try to understand as best as possible the structure and morphology of the park itself. We initially pushed on to the most extreme point of the park and then descended, stopping at several characteristic spots. The park is characterized by rich vegetation which along the coast is composed above all of mangroves populated by very many aquatic birds. Our first landing was on a strip of white beach that separated the open sea from an inner lagoon: a completely deserted place if not for a happy little family busy with their Sunday picnic.

The second stop was what the locals call the "natural pool," a wide marine space characterized by a shallow seabed and dotted with mangroves where we made the acquaintance of a gigantic and friendly puffer fish. Having set off again and immediately landed on another beach, this time very crowded with local people busy sunbathing, eating and filling up on beer. We kept as our final destination the most touristy and characteristic one of Morrocoy Park: Cayo Sombrero. Indeed it had all the credentials to be the best known of the park: water and sand were almost comparable to those of Los Roques. It's precisely at this Cayo that we ended our tour, treating ourselves to a refreshing swim and stretching out on the very white beach to get a bit of sun. Back at base, washed and shaved, we headed once again to the usual restaurant to have our dinner.

The following day the time had come to move westward with destination Coro, a little town declared a humanity heritage site by UNESCO (honestly we didn't understand why).