My itinerary

Below is the day-by-day rundown of my trip to Venezuela, planned with the help of the Brandt and Lonely Planet guides to Venezuela. I'd originally planned to spend the night somewhere between Ciudad Bolivar and Caracas to split my bus ride up over two days. I decided instead to spend another night in Ciudad Bolivar, a nice place, and get the bus trip over with all at once the following day.

Fri., Dec. 15, 2000

• Take US Airways flight 2614 from BWI (depart 8:10 a.m.) to MIA (arrive 10:54 a.m.).
• Take American Airlines flight 937 from MIA (depart 1:25 p.m.) to CCS (arrive 5:38 p.m.).
• Take taxi/van/bus into Caracas... City buses run to Gato Negro metro station; take metro to Plaza Venezuela station.
• Spend the night in Hotel Tampa, (from U.S.: 001-58-2-762 37 71), Av Francisco Solano near Avenida Los Jabillos. Metro Plaza Venezuela..."Sabana Grande" area. US$74/night. Arrive at 6 or 7 p.m.

Sat., Dec. 16

• See Caracas by metro. Plaza Bolivar, museums, etc. Buy bus ticket to Ciudad Bolivar during daytime.
• Spend the night in Hotel Tampa, Caracas (see above).

Sun., Dec. 17

• Take bus from Caracas to Ciudad Bolivar. 9 hrs.
• Taxi from bus terminal to Hotel Union (01 + 58 + 085 23 374), Calle Urica, near Paseo Orinoco.

Mon., Dec. 18

• TOUR DAY 1: Buy a three-day Angel Falls tour from one of the tour offices at the Ciudad Bolivar airport between 7 and 8 a.m. Fly to Canaima.

Tues., Dec. 19

• TOUR DAY 2: See Angel Falls and surrounding area by boat.

Wed., Dec. 20

• TOUR DAY 3: Tour ends, fly back to Ciudad Bolivar for another night in Hotel Union (see above).

Thurs., Dec. 21

• Spend the day seeing Ciudad Bolivar.
• Spend the night, once again, in the Hotel Union (see above).

Fri., Dec. 22

• Take bus from Ciudad Bolivar back to Caracas (9 hours).
• Spend night in Hotel Tampa (see above).

Sat., Dec. 23

• Another day to tour Caracas, shop.
• Spend night in Hotel Tampa (see above).

Sun., Dec. 24

• Bus from hotel to airport.
• Take American Airlines flight 2140 from CCS (depart 2:52 p.m.) to MIA (arrive 5:21 p.m.).
• Take American Airlines flight 1482 from MIA (depart 7:40 p.m.) to BWI (arrive 10:12 p.m.).

If you're considering a similar trip, here are some points to consider about this itinerary:

POSITIVES Flexible Built-in safe days, ie: in case a bus is booked Easy to get around, staying in populated areas Cheap, mostly Hits some of the most fascinating parts of Venezuela

NEGATIVES Relied too heavily on bus travel, a terrible way to see the country Four nights in Caracas was expensive and not entirely pleasant Could have included visits to more places in Venezuela