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Driving
in Venezuela - The maximum velocity in most Venezuelan roads is 80 kmph (55mph),
but speed limits are not widely enforced. Although most highways are in good condition,
roads in the countryside may have potholes which can be dangerous at high speeds.
Also, farm animals and wildlife cross roads frequently in these parts-- drive
with caution. Venezuelans are known to make their own rules when they get behind
the wheel. Most drivers consider the symbolic references of traffic lights as
mere suggestions-- so be careful when crossing an intersection, even when your
light is green! Always use taxis belonging to a legitimate Taxi company. PLEASE
>>> Do not accept rides from people in unmarked vehicles using their
cars for a taxi just to be on the safe side. Please use your seat belts, and remember
to drive on the right-hand side of the road. The rule of thumb is that the right-of-way
belongs to whoever gets their vehicle's 'nose' out in the intersection first.
Don't be
afraid to rent a car while you are on vacation on Margarita.
The roads are clean and clear and there are gas station everywhere
all over the island. They have BP, PDV and Texco gas stations.
All you have to do show them the grade of gas you want and point
to the one you want and say full. Or you can try saying sin
plomo to the attendants it means unleaded and say full por favor.
It's easy to pay since you can see it on the pump and give the
attendant the correct amount of bolivars.
Renting a car is not essential, but it does make it easier around Margarita. Budget
(tel. 0800/283-4381 or 0295/269-1047; www.budget.com.ve),
Hertz ( www.hertz.com),
and Margarita Rentals (tel. 0295/263-2711) all have offices at the airport. Also
Losan Motors is a car dealership here on the island but also has car rentals.
At the moment they are offering a small car for about bs 83,000 per day with insurance
included. The more days you have the car rental for, the cheaper the total fee
will be. Budget as of this month 04/2005 for a smaller Chevorlet is about bs 102,000
per day. Rental pick up can be as early as 7:00 am. Returns have to be at the
same time the next day or on the day you decide to finish using the car. It
costs $30 to $70 per day to rent a car.
Losan
Motors- Isla de
Margarita - Main Office Porlamar (0295) 263.9420 / 8:00 a.m.til 12:00 p.m. then
from 2:00 p.m. til 6:00 p.m.
Aeropuerto
Internac. Stgo. Mariño (0295) 269.1075 - 269.1175/ 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Here
is a photo of the building at the Airport where you can check with any of the
locals for the best rates. The picture will open in a new window.
Several outfits
around the island rent scooters and mopeds for between $20 to $35 per day. Excellency
Rent a Car offers Scooters and Motorcycles. Scooters are about 45,000 bs per
day, that's about $21.00 US. Porlamar: Hotel Dynasty Best Western - PB Costa Azul
Tel: (0295) 262 6503 or 262 2955. Also they offer Car leases for 6 months up to
a year.
Por puesto
buses service most of the island. They are a very inexpensive and reliable way
to get around, although the going can be slow, as they often stop to pick up and
discharge passengers at maddeningly short intervals. Typical service hours are
daily from 6 am to 8 pm. Fares range from 250Bs to 1000Bs (15¢-63¢). Taxis are
also readily available. It will cost you around 10,000Bs ($6.25) to travel between
the airport and Porlamar; 3,000Bs ($1.90) between Porlamar and Pampatar; 12,000Bs
($7.50) between Playa El Agua and either Porlamar or Pampatar; and 18,000Bs ($11)
between Playa El Agua and the airport.
National
Holidays -Besides the patriotic holidays, like Independence Day (July 5th), the
most popular holidays which most Venezuelans observe include: Christmas day, New
Year's day, Carnival, and Holy week.
One
of the worst times to try to book on the island is during the month of Aug. if
you need to come during that time please book your reservations at least 2-3 months
in advance. Most Venezuelans come to Margarita Island on Vacation and they pre-book
one to two months ahead leaving almost no hotel or condo's available to anyone
else during the whole month. I book condos myself on the island and kid you not....most
of the American's that emailed me during Aug. to book a condo I had to turn away
because I was already booked. Also consider Dec. as well....most Venezuelan's
pre-book well in advance.
Fixed
Holidays:
1 January
New Year's Day
19
April Mov. Precursor de la Independencia
1
May Labor Day
24
June Battle of Carabobo
5
July Firma Acta de Independencia
24 July Birth of the Libertador (Bolivar Day)
12
October Dia de la Raza/Columbus Day
25
December Christmas Day
31
December New Year's Eve (unofficial but general)
Many
businesses and commercial establishments close from the December 24 to January
1, inclusive. Some for even longer periods of times well past the 10th of Jan.
for a few offices.
Moveable
Holidays:
Feast's
for 2006
Carnival
Feb 24-28
Saints
Week (Semana Santa) April 8 - 15 2007
Palm
Sunday Apr. 9th
Holy
Thursday Apr. 13th
Good
Friday Apr 14th
Easter
Apr. 16th
Ascension
(banks only) May 9, May 29, May 20
Carnival
(Mardi Gras) is celebrated on Tuesdays. With the preceding Monday being granted
a holiday, most Venezuelans vacate the city and head for the beach for this extra
long weekend.
As
a predominately Catholic country, Venezuela observes Holy Week (between Palm Sunday
and Easter). Many Venezuelans spend this week away at beaches and other popular
destinations.
Major
Fiestas: The following fiestas are folkloric celebrations which can offer as much
enjoyment to spectators as they do to those that participate in these colorful
events.
January
6, La Paradura del Nino (The Parade of Baby Jesus)- Andes states
of Tachira, Merida, and Trujillo. March Los Tambores de Barlovento
(The Drums of Barlovento)- Barlovento, Miranda state at the
beginning of the rainy season. May 3 La Cruz de Mayo (The cross
of May) - provincial towns.
Moveable
Fiestas: Feast 2007 Corpus Christi Los Diablos de Yare -the main cities of the
Federal District, Aragua state, Miranda state, and Cojedes state May 30, Jun 19,
Jun 10.
.................................................................................................
Venezuela
cuisine - The food in Venezuela is generally easy and flavorful. Caracas claims
to have a greater variety of restaurants than any other South American city, and
it would certainly be a pleasure to try and prove it, even if you failed. Venezuelan
cooking has European, indigenous, and African roots - a heterodox cuisine formed
over the centuries by immigrants.
Some
native dishes:
Pabellon
- stewed and shredded meat accompanied by rice, black beans, and banana
Hallaca
- a traditional Christmas dish. Cachapa - a type of sweet corn pancake served
with cheese.
Arepas
- a type of round cornmeal biscuit.
Local
products are very favorable. So that you can imagine it better:
An
Empanada (typical breakfast) : 1000 Bs.
A
Coca Cola (from a street business): 1500 Bs:
A local beer (in the supermarket): 900 Bs.
A Pizza Margarita (medium level restaurant) :12.000 Bs.
A Pizza Hawaii (pizza home service): 19.000 Bs.
A
cocktail directly at the beach: 8.000 Bs.
Entry
in a discothèque: up to 20.000 Bs.
Swimming
trunks (on the market): approximately 24.000 Bs.
A
Big Mac: 9.500 Bs. on
special usually a combo meal will now cost about 12,900 Bs.
these days. There are two McDonald's on the Island. One is in
the Rattan Plaza Mall, and the other one is around a returno
around this very pretty water fountain. The McDonald's in the
photo to your left is in the one in Los Robles at La Redoma
Shopping Center and also has an indoor playground.
Dominos
Pizza: 32.000 Bs. when converted to US $ is about $14.88 for
a large, every Tuesday you can get in on their two pizza's for one price special.
Wendy's:
Av.4 de Mayo, Prolongacion Aeropuerto Viejo, Next to the Fire
Station, Margarita.
Meals
about 9.500 Bs. They also have an outdoor playground and offer Drive Thru window
service.
For more
info on food
and shopping
click on the links.
Digital Camera Tip
We
also thought we'd mention this as well. When your on vacation I'm sure most of
you are bringing your digital cameras to Margarita Island . In the Sambil Mall
and in the Sigo Shopping complex (not the one right next to the mall) Unifot offers
services for digital cameras. You can simply remove your memory card and have
your images put on a CD or print your photos out in Margarita. You choose which
pictures you want by touch screen and then let the desk clerk know and she will
prepare printing or the CD for you. Then you simply pay at the counter. This is
just an option to consider, this way you can reuse your memory cards and make
room for more photos of your trip. I will double check on the prices and put them
up on this page soon. Last time I had my photos printed out it was 830 bs per
photo.
| Here is the location
in the Sambil Mall: |
| Address:
Av. Jóvito Villalba, Centro Sambil Margarita, local T-87,Nivel
Planta Baja, Pampatar, Edo. Nueva Esparta |
| Manager:
FIGUEROA FUENTES CARIM DEL VALLE |
| E-mail:
unisamar@cantv.net |
| Telephone:
0295-260-2331 0295-2602332 |
| Here is an EXCELLENT
site to visit with many, many pictures of Margarita. Go on an Island Tour of the
Island at Margarita
Sun.com's website. |
| 
|
Would
you like to learn more a little more about Margarita Island in regards to the
possibility of moving here?
Here
is an Article written by Christopher Hyland that may interest you:
Living
In Venezuela
Margarita
Island is the largest tourist attraction in the country. People refer it to as
"La Isla", almost a separate entity from Venezuela. Margarita probably has the
most foreigners per capita of any other place in Venezuela. It is considered more
of a place to visit than to live, but many foreigners live there year-round. Some
Venezuelans jokingly suggest that Italians own half of the island and Germans
the other half. The most famous beach in Margarita is Playa El Agua. It has great
restaurants, vendors selling crafts and white sand. Picture yourself on a beautiful
white sand beach sipping on your favorite beverage and then jumping into the ocean.
Later, you can take a ride in a mini-plane looking over the island from a few
hundred meters above. While at Playa El Agua, look for the "buhoneros", walking
vendors who sell everything from necklaces to beautiful stone carvings which make
great souvenirs.
An
important note for Margarita Island is please, please, please don't patronize
the strip clubs as you will give your countrymen a bad reputation. Instead, you
can go shopping. Margarita has the cheapest manufactured goods in the country
and a lot of nice crafts, and it's Sambil mall offers world-class shopping. If
you would like to take an organized excursion while in Margarita, contact Dominique
at Holiday Tours. She is a Venezuelan-born Swiss woman who speaks Spanish, French
and English. Her office at the beautiful Porlamar Hilton in Margarita is replete
with posters of various destinations around Margarita and Venezuela. She can organize
boat tours to the island of Coche, snorkeling at Los Frailes and Jeep Safaris,
as well as longer excursions to the Orinoco Delta, the Amazon and Los Roques.
I
haven't mentioned other worthwhile parts of Venezuela due to a lack of familiarity.
However, I have been told dozens of times to visit Barquisimeto, Los Roques (an
elite version of Margarita Island), Valencia, the Amazon and of course the huge
national park known as "La Gran Sabana". La Gran Sabana is known mostly for Angel
Waterfall, the tallest waterfall in the world, but the park is very expansive
and would take at least a week to explore. I don't really recommend Maracaibo
as a tourist destination. It is hot, muggy and not particularly attractive, apart
from its beautiful women. Maracaibo reminds me of Houston. Getting around Venezuela
is fairly easy. Most cities have an airport and one-way flights can be purchased
the same day for around $100 or less in most cases. In some cases you might have
to make a connection in Caracas, but in many cases there are direct flights. A
cheaper way to travel is by bus which costs less than $20 between most cities.
There are dozens of bus lines, but I recommend Flamingo or Pelicano if you are
traveling to or leaving from Caracas because it has its own private bus station
in Parque del Este which will save you a lot of stress and hassle by avoiding
the larger bus terminals in Caracas.
When
traveling by bus make sure to ask if the bus has a bathroom, because otherwise
you might be very uncomfortable until the next stop which could be several hours
away. The other thing to note is to be sure to take a blanket or at least a heavy
jacket. For some reason, the busses turn the air conditioning up very high and
if you don't have a jacket or blanket you will be very cold. In extreme cases,
you can take taxis between cities. This option is more expensive than taking a
bus but might make sense if you need to get somewhere in less time than a bus
ride but don't want to pay for airplane tickets for three people. A taxi between
Merida and Caracas costs around $150 and travel time is about nine hours.
There
is also ferry service called Conferry
between Margarita and the mainland. This is pretty cheap and can take anywhere
from two to four hours. You can get to Margarita by ferry from the cities of Puerto
La Cruz and Cumana. Within some cities such as Merida you can get around by walking.
Otherwise you can take a local bus within the city which the locals call "camioneticas"
or "carritos". These buses cost around $0.25 a ride or less and tend to get crowded.
Remember to offer your seat to seniors or women with small children if they board
when there are no seats left. Taxis are also an option. Since taxis don't have
meters, be sure to negotiate a price before getting in. Taxi drivers here are
happy to stop for a few minutes and let you run errands. In other words, you can
treat a taxi as your personal automobile, as the drivers are very flexible.
Visa And
Residency
You can stay for 90 days without a special visa from most countries. At the airport,
they give you a white piece of paper which is your tourist visa. Don't lose it!
You can write up to 3 months on it at which time you have to exit the country
for a few days. If you are here for only a week or so, it is a good idea to pad
your tourist visa with a few extra days, since the Venezuelan police will be very
bothered if your visa has expired. The next step toward Permanent Residency is
the "Pase de Transeunte" which is sort of a temporary residency. You have to have
two Venezuelan witnesses sign for you and a letter from your employer or show
proof of income. In other words, you should get a job before you apply for a Pase
de Transeunte or again show just how you have continual income from the states
i.e. Retirement, Pentions and so on. There is a version of this visa for business-owners
as well.
I
have a whole section in more details in the e-book
and in print. Once you get your Pase you will be able to reside
here for one year at which time you can apply for residency which lasts four additional
years before citizenship. For more information about residency, visit your local
Oni-Dex office, but don't expect them to be very helpful. You have to be persistent
and know some spanish. If you decide to move here, you won't be alone. Thousands
of immigrants from Europe, China, the Arab world, and South America have all made
Venezuela their home.
Finding
An Apartment Of course in order to stay, you will need to rent
an apartment or a house. Most apartments are unfurnished, but
you can find furnished ("amoblado") apartments. Unfurnished
apartments here may not even have a refrigerator or oven so
keep that in mind. Apartments can range from $500 a month for
something basic to $1200 a month if you want to live in absolute
luxury in a beautiful furnished apartment. You certainly couldn't
get a luxury apartment in the States or Western Europe at that
price!
Apartments
usually require two months deposit, plus the first month paid-up front. If you
go through an agent, you will also have to pay one month of commission. In other
words, you might have to pay four months rent to move in to an apartment. Contracts
must be, by law, for six months at a minimum. If you'd rather purchase a home,
check out tuinmueble.com or margaritadreamhomes.com to get an idea of what is
available. If you want to bring goods from abroad into the country such as a computer
or a television, there is little problem bringing them through customs. I have
brought a computer, a television and other goods and have never had to pay import
taxes.
Mailing
goods into the country is a bit stickier though, as customs are likely to force
you to pay a 15-17% tax on each item. Since customs determines the value of the
item themselves, you might get a high tax bill. Another thought or way to receive
mail here from the US is to open an account with PakMail at Global.com
. When you open an account with Margarita's
PakMail you will have your mail or packages forwarded from a Miami address that
you are given with your own private box # and then it is shipped here to the Island.
You can pick up your packages or mail at your convenience and still make purchases
on the internet and receive them on the Island.
In
Margarita there is no import tax because it is a free trade zone. Everything that
has been imported to Margarita is cheaper as a result. Cultural Differences Once
you're on track to stay here for a while you will start noticing certain cultural
differences. If you are from North America one of the things you will notice very
soon is that people are not afraid to say what they think of you to your face.
You might not know the person, but it is possible that they will make a comment
to you that you can hear. This is unusual for us North Americans because we are
used to people only making comments about us outside of earshot. People are just
bolder here, saying things to you that you would never hear in the United States
or Canada.
Perhaps New Yorkers or some Europeans will not be as shocked by this as much as
Americans. After a while you will start to notice a lack of authority. There are
police and divisions between the rich and poor, but after a while you will start
to think, who is in charge here? For many, that lack of organization is refreshing.
Basically, in Venezuela there is a greater degree of liberty than is found in
most first-world nations, accompanied by a greater amount of danger. For example,
traffic laws can be bent, you can smoke almost anywhere, there are no paternity
laws and there are no income and almost no property taxes. In Margarita, there
isn't any kind of tax at all apart from a few nominal taxes!
All
of this adds up to more freedom than you might be accustomed to. Since the country
tends more towards anarchy there are also more hazards, but if you are careful
there is nothing to worry about. I've lived in Venezuela for almost two years
and have never had a single incident. I can't say the same for New York! Venezuelan
life is quite different from American and European life.
Venezuelans
base their lives around the family. It is very common for three generations to
live under the same roof. People tend to eat at home with their family, rather
than in restaurants. Abortion is illegal and contraception use is lower so there
are a lot of young children running around. Venezuelans view children as a blessing
rather than a burden and therefore aren't afraid to reproduce! I won't go into
other cultural differences such as the importance of time (which is lesser here)
or relationships or politics. I
will leave those differences for you to discover.
A little about
Margarita's hospitals.
Clinica
El Valle - Margarita's newest hospital is 2 years old. Very
affordable hospital care is available here on the Island. A
close American friend of mine also received care and surgery
here. He went in for a hip replacement. It had already been
quoted to him in the States for approximately about $80,000.00
and here on the island it was only 1/3 of that cost and they
provided excellent health care. Margarita's doctors are the
best on the island and the nurses are very friendly and caring.
Dentist care such as a dental cleaning is about $35.00 and many
other medical procedures can be done here on the Island. Education
here in Venezuela is held in very high regards, a high level
of schooling is a must for Venezuelans.
I
also checked into health insurance a little and found out that you *can* get insurance
here in Margarita for about $400.00 for one year with *no* deductible. This is
just for one company ...there is an older lady living here that's an american
and about 70 years old or so. She has full health insurance and I can check with
her about more details if you think you need more details.
Surgical
Services International - www.surgicalservicesinternational.com
I
also wanted to add info about SSI International for you to read about. I was very
impressed with their services offered here on Margarita Island. I'm not sure if
any of you have found this site on your own. I wrote to them and Mr. Strong was
kind enough to reply and let me know a little more about what SSI offers.
"Hi
Marsha,
Thanks for your very nice letter. It is always great when someone notices your
hard work! Ruben forwarded your letter on to as he works for us. Ruben is our
rep who meets all clients at the airport gets them checked into their hotels and
is attached to them for their entire trip. The clients are issued cell phones
when they land with numbers we gave them weeks prior. They generally get calls
in the van on the way out of the airport. This is always preprogrammed with all
important numbers, ours, their doctors, and their assistants. We are available
24/7 to our clients.
The
client is issued a bi lingual assistant who goes to all medical apts with them,
and all medical transportation is covered. We are with them when they wake up
from their surgeries In the event we fly a surgeon in island we provide a private
nurse to insure their safe recovery. We are very dedicated to providing the best
surgeons and medical tourism experience possible for each and every one of our
clients. Most end up becoming like extended family and we are sad to see them
leave! Well you get the picture. We really love what we do. To answer your question,
yes we are doing great we are growing by word of mouth, which is really rewarding.
We would
love a link on your website and if we can be of any help to you please let us
know.
Have
a great day and best regards Robert Strong cell 416 695 3672"
