Merida via the Andes

We had a night in Barinas which is described as a place where dingoes don't go out by themselves. The hotel was surrounded by high walls, barbd=ed wire and security on the gates. We were secure inside but were advised not to go outside for any reason.

I had a visitor as I was settling into my room.

It was a huge monster of a tortoise and seemingly quite unafraid of people.

We left the net day to cross the Andes from Los Llanos to Merida and onwards to the north coast. after the flat Llanos it was delightful to see some mountains.

We stopped a few times, largely to see whether we could find some beautiful butterflies..we saw some but they were elusive and photographs never turned out in any resemblance as to what we saw.

We passed a dam which produced hydro electricity.

And a rather nervous me standing on a rock high above the lake.

We reached the top of the pass at over 3.600m, high in the rain forest and although there might be good views on cloudless days, there was little to see through the fog of clouds.

An unexpected sight of str gazing observatories.

And another unexpected local and iconic sight of a church built by a local man.

We arrived in Merida and had a few days to see the local sights, including these photos of the local Science and technology Museum with its own well kept gardens and lake...

snd local dinosaurs.

A random photo of a trout at an aquarium...beautiful to see and colourful.

After that I went to see the local botanical gardens that were apparently not open but I got a whirl wind tour by the security guard.

And I was lucky enough to see a squirrel.