With a few days left, we had time for one more location after Merida,
and picked La Azulita. La Azulita is a small town with a very safe
feel about it. Our guide (below) also indicated the town is totally
safe. It is at a much lower altitude than Merida, but high enough to
look over the 'llanos' or flatlands around Lake Maracaibo. At night,
on a clear night, you can even see the famous Catatumbo lightning.
There seems to be quite a bit of deforestation in the area, but there
are enough trees to support many species of toucans and parrots, which
can easily be seen, especially by the river.

Jurgen Beckers, a Belgian birding expert who frequently spends time in
Venezuela and Colombia, maintains an excellent page about birding
locations in these countries. I would contact him to see if his has
any tours when you are visiting. We decided to visit a 'finca' or
farm in the town of La Azulita we found on his site. We made
arrangements by phone to visit a farm run by Miguel, a local doctor
and conservationist. The finca preserves a large piece of primary
cloud forest, where many of the birds of this region and altitude can
be found, including the Black-mandibled Toucan, Sooty-capped Hermit
and probably hundreds more. Miguel's finca is highly recommended, but
be prepared to pay more than third world prices, and be sure to get a
total price for lodging, meals, and any tours or transportation in
advance.

A bus leaves La Azulita to Caracas, and goes to the West terminal in
the bad part of town. Then we have to take our bags quite a ways from
the terminal on the road to the subway (where technically you can not
enter with luggage) and make our way to the Gran Sabana area in
Caracas where we found a hotel for 100 Bsf. In the last week of our
trip in Merida I heard so many stories about random crimes even in
broad daylight from different tourists that part of me was relieved to
be going home. On our last day my wife and I separated while she went
to a free movie and I was nabbed for a random police search. It was
all done is plain sight be several officers, and after searching me
and my possessions very very thoroughly, I was allowed to leave. Not
a big deal really, and nothing unexpected or unusual. We lugged our
luggage the next day to the airport shuttle, and left without further
incident. On my previous trip to Venezuela I was thoroughly searched at
the airport (which can happen in the USA as well), and was met by drug-
sniffing dogs upon arrival in Miami. This time both airports let us pass
uneventfully.

I hope one day to return and visit the Grand Savannah, Los Llanos in the dry season, and Catatumbo, en route to Colombia. Colombia is now advertising tourism, and we met a number of Europeans in Merida who had come from Colombia.