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The Orinoco, Bandits, Emily, and Puerto La Cruz, Part 8
Our "plan" was to go up the Macareo, then the Orinoco, check into Venezuela 150 miles upriver at Puerto Ordaz, then continue as far as we could. At the furthest navigable point, Puerto Ayacucho, there are two sets of rapids blocking the way, but it is possible (and has been done once) to have a crusing boat trucked around the rapids. From there it is possible to follow the Orinoco to Cano Casiquiare (not a canal), then to the Rio Negro and on to Manaus, Brazil on the Amazon River. Although the route was discovered in the 1800s it is only rarely traveled by anyone. Our expectations were limited by a lack of information, but if all went well, then . . . . But, all did not go well.
Entering the Macareo and bucking 5 knots of current was exciting. Thankfully after only a couple of miles the current lessoned to 2 to 3 knots and some of that was often avoidable by working the river edges and the inside corners. After entering the river, we were stunned by the beauty of the red ibis. They are a brilliant scarlet and we're told they can be seen by the thousands in their rookery. During our trip, however, we only saw a few hundred. In the first twenty miles of the Macareo we passed several settlements of Warao Indians. Their shacks were mostly built on stilts, had only minimal privacy and protection from the elements and no protection from mosquitos. We saw only a little evidence that they cultivated crops but, in some areas, mangos and other fruits grew wild along the banks of the river. The river varied in width from 1/4 to 1/2 mile and varied from 20 to 150 feet in depth. Floating beds of grass and water hyacinth were ever present, easily avoidable and generally passed in the central current. We saw many river dolphin some pink, some gray and some pink and gray.
Roy was anxious to get upriver as soon as possible. His interests centered around fishing for peacock bass and other exotic fish. So, we continued upriver at a fairly rapid pace entering the 2 mile wide Orinoco River on the fourth day. After that it was an easy day-trip to Puerto Ordaz.
Approaching Ordaz a tugboat captain waved and repeatedly blew a welcoming whistle. A pilot boat also came by and give us a big thumbs up. Our expectations of a great trip soared. At Ordaz the Port Captain advised us by VHF radio where to anchor temporarily and to come to his office to begin the paperwork of check-in. At the office the officials were
