A lot'a Cata.

After a 13 hour bus ride, what's the first thing you want to do? Get on another bus for 2 hours, right? I thought so. Thus, with more than 15 hours on a bus we began the weekend. The beauty of the beach in Bahia de Cata made up for the strenuous bus rides from Merida, but it was a hell of a trip nonetheless.

Being on a bus and traveling across the country made me think of my Grandma Fox riding a bus with her friends to someplace like Branson, Missouri. In my opinion, I had more fun at the beach than I would have in Missouri, but it reminded me of her just the same.

I made sure to take plenty of pictures, so if you'll check my flickr you should be able to see how gorgeous the beaches were. White sand, crystal clear water, the usual stuff. The nicest part was that the beach was surrounded by mountains, which made a sizeable cove. There were pelicans, terns, and pigeons galore, as well as a decent sized ferrel dog population. There were also plenty of shops and restaurants on the beach which were (surprise, surprise) closed more often then not. Asi es Venezuela.

Add some children who couldn't swim playing with a log in water that was too deep (or "profound" as the spanish speakers say) for them to swim in, and you got yourself a weekend of saving the lives of kids that aren't yours, wondering why they chose to pester you. Not that I personally watched them for all that long or anything, most of that fell on one of the ladies I was with who had worked at a daycare back in the States.

We went to the pueblo de Cata (town of Cata) for the festival of Patron Saint Franscisco, for whom (I'm just guessing here) San Fransisco, CA was named. Anywho... it was hard to get a taxi in to the pueblo, and even harder to get a cab ride home. We ended up catching a ride home with a fellow we'd met earlier that night, because of the impassible walk through the jungle at night and because of our severe lack of other options.

Apart from the hectic trips into and out of the neighborhood, the trip went well and the beach was great. A little body surfing, talking with some strangers on the beach (who were often in various states of intoxication), and a bit of coconut milk can really help a person remember what it is to relax.