Saturday 17th May- Inspection Trip Isla Margarita

Writen 06.20 am Sunday 18^th May 2009

Again an other early morning due to the time difference, although lack of a decent amount of sleep after sampling the local night life and the great Cuba Libre’s on offer here on the Isla margarita.

Yesterday (Saturday 17th May 200 I spent my day viewing the local area to the Caracola beach and spa resort Isla Margarita Venezuela. The day started with a trip to the site of the 80,000 sq m plot where Caracola Beach and Spa resort will be built. Although currently the plot is still scrub land I could see the potential the development has, currently the beach is not ideal, but once the developer gets in there and adds the break waters to stop the extra sand he is going to add to the site washing away, there is no reason why this beach can’t look as spectacular as any other in the Caribbean (unfortunately the photos I took today aren’t showing the site and the area to it’s best as the weather was overcast even though I still managed to burn my shoulders). Located on the beach Caracola beach & Spa resort is the only new development on in the area which can be beach front, as it is the only available plot within 3 km. There is also a triangle shaped plot next to the development site which the developer has first option on, he is looking to have this plot developed as a casino, although the developer is not into running a casino so he will bring in a specialised Casino operator to run it.

I spent about 10minutes at the site, to be honest there is not that much too see at the moment as construction hasn’t started yet. At the front of the plot is the beach area and sea and where the landscaped gardens, pools etc will be, at the rear of the site is a road and the other side of the road id a supermarket, to the right of the development is a hotel/apartments and to the left is Caracola beach and opposite the Caracola beach is a lagoon which is protected. The road that runs between Caracola beach and the lagoon is closed at night to allow joggers, horses & their riders and cyclists to use the road exclusively. When we drove along this road during the day it was very empty with a good number of joggers making use of it.

We drove along the coast road for about 5/10 minutes and came across, Fishermans cove, which is a delightful (as the name suggests) Fishermans haunt, currently the area is a little scruffy but charming and there are plans to make a Fishermans museum. Our next stop was Concorde beach, where we stopped for a paddle and a drink, this beach was busy with locals (always a good sign), there are currently a few beach bars/ restaurants, a really relaxing place. Polarmar’s Marina Concorde is the place where locals go for windsurfing, waterskiing and sailing. The calm waters make this beach popular with young families. Its location offers the convenience of being close to town.

We then headed through Pampater a vibrant town, with plenty of shops including some designer brands such as Tommy Hilfiger and also high street brands that we would recognise in the UK and of course a wide variety of local shops as well (I don’t know why but looking at the shops in differently countries always fascinates me, something to do with being a female I suppose).

Pampatar is one of the most ancient settings on Isla Margarita. Pampatar has been a fishing village since its foundation around 1530. Spaniards settled here because of it’s strategic location, a deep water-calm port and wealth produced by the existence of a natural salt flat mine.

Our next stop was the Lighthouse Faro Punta Ballena just along the coast, this involved a drive through what seemed like an older more traditional part of town with a small white church (Iglesia del Cristo del buen Viaje), a castle (El Castillo de San Carlos Borromeo), and brightly painted houses. I climbed the stairs of the light house to take advantage of the fantastic views along the coast, to the right salt flats and back to the left view of the Hilton and the Caracola site and the rest of the coast line, definitely worth the climb to the top. The Fara Punta Ballena Lighthouse is located high on a promontary at the easternmost point of the Isla Margarita.

Next stop lunch and a quick look at another beach again which was busy with locals. The rest of the day was left for a long relaxing long lunch and back to the hotel for a relax in the pool.

In the evening we sampled the local night life, in the area there are a couple of nightclubs/bars, in the close vicinity to where Caracola Beach and Spa resort is going to be built. Although the clubs are the sort you can find in other tourist areas around the world, they were full of what seemed to be locals or Venezuelans here on there holidays not the usually British crowd. The atmosphere in the club was friendly and everyone was getting on have fun, the music was a mixture of 80’s cheesy classics, up to date stuff we have in the UK and Marengue the local music, which is great and everyone loved.