Isla de Margarita was our next destination off the Caribbean coast very close to Trinidad and Tobago, by a 4 hour ferry ride from Cumana for US$5 for us and the bike. When we pulled up to the dock 15 minutes late, we missed the ferry by 1 minute and had to wait 5 hours for the next ferry!
Isla Margharita is beautiful and we drove the full circumference of the Island. We loved El Yaque the windsurfing beach best as it had a safe, happy vibe and lots of choice of nice hotels. Other beaches like Playa El Agua have the infrastructure but apparently its not safe to walk after dark and all beach restaurants close at 5pm.

After 5 days of exploring we try to leave on the 8am ferry, but find it and the next one are full! Luckily there was space on the 3rd one out... the luxury one to Puerto La Cruz and cost twice as much at $10! Our goal that day was to reach the highly recommended beach area half way to Caracas called Boca de Uchire. As we were delayed by the ferry, we arrived in the dark to Posada Sonho Meu! This is against one of our cardinal rules of travel, especially on a small, dark, deserted road that seems to deteriorate with every kilometre! After going down many dead ends in the dark we finally find the right one to a warm welcome from the proprietor Nella. This enterprising lady really knows how to treat her clients with no request being too much trouble, therefore it is not surprising that the posada is full from word of mouth only. She even supplied us with a 2 way radio while we were on the beach so we could order "Dos mas Pina Colada's Por Favour" from the posada 100m back!
We have heard many bad stories about the city of Caracas, in that it is not safe at any time! So we plan our departure from Boca at 6am Sunday morning, thinking that any self respecting Bandido would be sound asleep at 9am while we slip quietly through! If there was any other reasonable route around Caracas we would have taken it! All the stories had our anxiety levels at maximum. That days destination was the highly recommended town of Colonia Tovar that was settled by the Germans in the late 1800's and still has a real German feel and Swiss German architecture built on the mountainside.

Colonia Tovar is only a 30 minute drive the other side of Caracas, but the locals do a good job of keeping it safe for the tourists. All is going well as we are making our way on the highway through Caracas, when Belinda shouts "OH shit, we have just missed the turn" This leaves us no choice, but to drive the last third of Caracas through local streets and traffic congestion! To say that "Pat was pished off to the max" would be an understatement! As we drove through the worst areas imaginable, with garbage piled up on the streets and many dero's huddled up to burning drums of trash for warmth! It was the longest and most tense hour we have EVER had on a motorbike!
Colonia Tovar was like an Island paradise having German restaurants with fire places and hot chocolate. Francisco Sanz Brandt deserves a mention here as he would send us a daily email of where to go and where to stay and even what to drink and eat! His suggestions were always fantastic and from now on we are relying solely on his guidance! We would email him first when we got to our destination each evening.. sorry Mum, and he would give us our route for the next day... fantastic hey! Again, our recommended Hotel Bergland was a real prize and the best accomodation of the whole trip. Our room was very modern, with a huge ensuite and great views from the balcony of the surrounding hills that looked like Switzerland a hundred years ago.

Breakfast was included in our $18 room bill and was so enormous that we had to send a third of it back as we had no more room on our table! All staff were dressed in traditional Bavarian style clothes. Wow, this place gets top marks, especially being so close to the slums of Caracas.. it really was hard to leave!
We move west along the coast to a recommended beach village called Choroni with an amazing scenic road then Chichiriviche.
We would have continued west to be border with Colombia but have heard that the crossing is not safe and that the road to and around the town of Merida to the south were very scenic. Local Venezuelans had told us the border crossing an San Antonio was less conjested and much safer than the coast.
Luckily we filled the bike with fuel, just after Merida as we were to find out that any fuel station in the state of Tachira neede local ID to fill up. We tried many times and were refused everytime! This is a move by the Govt to stop the Colombians coming over the border to fill up as their price is US$1.25/ litre.
Within 2km of the border the traffic is very conjested. Locals travel freely through the border with no paperwork, but forigners must find the SENIAT (customs) and SAIME (immigration) offices about 5 blocks apart! The SAIME office is in the centre of town and difficult to find with no parking GPS co-ord N 07'48'46.1 W 072'26'34.7
You must pay a departure tax across the street in a little, unsigned shop at the cost of 130B or just over $1 each. Luckily there was a currency exchange down the street as US or Euros were not accepted. Once you have the exit stamp in your passport, you need to find the SENIAT office. There are many signs but all offices have moved or are closed. The police dont even know where it is. Luckily we spotted a guy wearing a SENIAT shirt, so he called the office to get someone to open it for us and we had a motor taxi escort us there and had the TIP cancelled. Anyone entering Venezuela will need to find the Mapfe Seguros office for third party insurance for their vehicle.
There is no cost to enter Colombia other than the $58 for 3 months insurance for the bike at the SOAT office in the long, white building across the bridge with customs, immigration, insurance and money changing ALL in one place! Customs on both sides of the border close Sat at 12noon, all day Sunday and public holidays.

We were quite concerned about safety travelling in Venezuela, but we found the locals very friendly and happy to help. Venezuela was 1/4 the cost of neighbouring countries due to the black market situation. Every one was willing to change money on the black market rate as they are all keen to have US dollars. We never drove in the afternoons or evenings, especially Fri, Sat and Sunday as there were many drunk drivers on the road. We played it very carefully, not going out of our Hotel after dark and didnt have any trouble. In fact we felt very safe and really loved Venezuela and is lovely warm, loving people. Venezuela has some issues which have stopped many international flights coming into the country and the border crossings were difficult and frustrating, but its a beautiful country and we loved every minute of our time there. People with money and education are leaving the country leaving many desperately poor people and slum areas, hence the element of desperation..... would we go again???... absolutely and you should go too!!.. especially with your own transport!