Trekking South America: Part 2 of 5

Abducted at 18 years old in a faraway land.

Photo by Kat Jayne from Pexels

Abduction

I had just landed in Caracas, Venesula, escorted to the Domestic airport by a businessman who bought me a ticket to Margarita Island just off the coast.

Misconceptions

I landed and was safely escorted by the businessman and his family to Villa Del Sol. Amiable French Canadian art gallery owners running their business out of Toronto owned the Villa. They mostly spoke French and Spanish, but for less than $20.00 CAN, I could stay a week in their accommodations. I had a private pool and balcony with an air conditioner. Everything smelled like ocean and sunscreen. For the first few days, the couple was kind enough to invite me to join them for a meal here or there. I ended up apprehensive about money and where to travel next and began to wager I was running out of money and options. It was very inexpensive to get by on rice and fish with mango drinks and beer, but $300.00 CAN doesn’t go far.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caracas

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margarita_Island

I regularly walked to the ocean, chatted with street folk, and enjoyed the sunshine. The ocean was better than I imagined. My first taste of coconut, my first flight…