[pe2-image src=”http://lh4.ggpht.com/-_39pZudMKzI/UjUYMPAO3hI/AAAAAAAAW8g/SEif36iZS1Y/s144-c-o/P9090015.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/112133179186774955122/SouthAmericaSection2Stage15VenezuelaBoarderColombiaToCaracas#5923667483340758546″ caption=”Stairway to Heaven – the local fisher men church of Aguide” type=”image” alt=”P9090015.JPG” ]

Late start into the same old slog

Pos: here
Loc: Aguide
Acc: tent
Dist: 20,1 km
Start: 7:50 End: 14:30

All afternoon and night the wind stayed strong,and I wanted to check the sea first before I decided whether to give it a go or not today,  on my 500th day anniversary. When the sunlight came, it was no different to yesterday afternoon, never mind how long I was standing at the beach staring at the rough sea and surf. And there was also some lightning over the sea… I decided to wait and to jump back into my tent, still watching the sea and the sky which darkened rapidly into a relatively strong rain squall. As usual, the strong rain flattened the sea out, and the wind calmed down.

[pe2-image src=”http://lh5.ggpht.com/-zXmk1-aRogs/UjUaoQx-P0I/AAAAAAAAW8g/1hR_1N4UxAs/s144-c-o/P9090021.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/112133179186774955122/SouthAmericaSection2Stage15VenezuelaBoarderColombiaToCaracas#5923670163877412674″ caption=”My secure camp on the bottom of the church stairs in the calm bay of Aguide” type=”image” alt=”P9090021.JPG” ]

Still I didn’t trust the peace…  how long would this last? I’d have to reach at least the next sheltered headland today, a mere 20 km, but against 15-20 knots wind it is a distance which is just about ok for me. I crawled again back into my little prison tent, but as soon as the wind calmed almost fully down and my prison became a sauna, I needed to go. Two hours later than usual. Still there was the heavy surf…

[pe2-image src=”http://lh6.ggpht.com/-lj_hgSZkbBg/UjUZjrR-UiI/AAAAAAAAW8g/clsXUtoYge4/s144-c-o/P9090016.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/112133179186774955122/SouthAmericaSection2Stage15VenezuelaBoarderColombiaToCaracas#5923668985579983394″ caption=”They made pretty braided baskets for flowers out of the big long palm tree leaves” type=”image” alt=”P9090016.JPG” ]

I jumped into my boat without catching too much water, and waited in the shallow breakers for a gap in the high ones. Amazing how HUGE they can be once you are in your kayak and in waiting position. Fortunately I managed to stay straight and afloat until I slowly forced my way through the lower foam of the last high broken waves. Still I was jumping over the steep crests of two or three just not breaking ones, and I was out.

[pe2-image src=”http://lh4.ggpht.com/-HDx4sRfpDwM/UjUZ2a45bNI/AAAAAAAAW8g/U5Gu_XZXsuQ/s144-c-o/P9090019.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/112133179186774955122/SouthAmericaSection2Stage15VenezuelaBoarderColombiaToCaracas#5923669307597352146″ caption=”Inside the fisher men church of Aguide” type=”image” alt=”P9090019.JPG” ]

Of course, the wind didn’t stay low, only about an hour of reasonable paddling, then it was back to the crawling pace. But I would like to reach the sheltered bay at Aguide! About when I thought the breakers went already a bit down and where the long beach of the bay started after a line of cliffs with only a narrow strip of beach and no camping possibility, I decided to go in and camp rather  without people, how I liked it best.

The beach was perfect, the surf lower than this morning, and nobody anywhere, but I saw a shadow disappearing in the bush to my right in the big river mouth after I unloaded the first bags. The shadow appeared again out of another bush gap, it was a single guy in a pink shirt. He greeted me friendly, asked if I’d like company, said he saw me on TV, helped to drag up my boat and was pleased to receive a card with my signature and kissed my hand. He then asked me for money “for milk for his baby” and I said I have no money. He started to tell me something, pointing to the river mouth to my right, like this would be the landing or launching place of the cocaine mafia serving the Dutch ABC islands and if I’d be paddling over to those? I didn’t take much notice (forehand), shrugged my shoulders, laughed and said I don’t understand much, but have no problem being here by myself. He said he’d be back later looking after me…

Whatever the truth and reason of his story was, if any, he made me feel uncomfortable appearing so quickly on a seemingly empty beach. Did he keep a watch out for that boat he mentioned, or was his hut just in the bushes behind this beach? I rather decided to launch again after he left, and to seek the “shelter” of the nearby village. I only had to launch once more through some stupid surf and to fight the wind  another hour until I safely landed at the fishermen’s side of the public beach.

No way I could make an unnoticed landing… the whole pleasure side of the beach, maybe 500 m to my right, was running up to me to greet me, maybe 50 people or more! Nice somehow, I did my “putting up my house/ tent” show, but unloaded just a few bags, joked with the kids and talked my ever basic Spanish sentences to make the crowd understand who I was and what I did. I also got a house offered to stay, asked for enough food and water, but the houses were all high up the cliffs and I pointed rather at the shady site of a few trees just close to the staircase of the fishermen’s church. When the tent was up, the show was over as usual by me making clear I needed to change now with doing somehow some stripping movements. The crowd understood, the spectators left the theater and I had my private shower.

Cwertainly a bit later a bunch of motorcycle guys came to have another look at my boat and tent, but I preferred to have no more chat this night. A bunch of fishermen parked their truck next me, unloading stuff for their boats. Then two guys on their horses riding up and down the beach did some more turns around my tent, I didn’t know if the horses here are running like the specialty of the Iceland horses in “Tölt”? I may be the talk of the village, but hopefully I get no noisy and curious “visitors” during the night!