Margarita Island surrounds herself with over 50 beautiful beaches. With so many to choose from, even the most picky beachgoer should be able to find a paradise of their own. If you fancy the good old tourist experience of three kilometers of umbrella laden white sand lined with locals and gringos alike enjoying the many beach front restaurants, tour companies, and shops, head for the lively and beautiful Playa El Agua. If you prefer a little local charm without all of the tourism, Playa Guacuco may be the place for you. For a beautiful sunset head to Playa Galaria located just beside the town of Juan Griego. If a tiny cove lined with a few local restaurants and the opportunity to try your hand at some seadooing than Playa Zaragosa should be your choice. If tight crowds and a younger surfer vibe are what you’re looking for then Playa Parguito or Playa El Yaque are your best bets. Playa El Agua, Parguito, and Guacuco had excellent waves while the others were much calmer.

What’s Good:
Roads are in good condition, Gas is 4 cents a liter.

What’s Bad:
Local Driving Habits

While we elected to rely on taxis, buses, and our own two feet for getting around during our stay on Margarita Island, we did enough traveling around and talking to Gerardo, our taxi driver, to gather some information about driving on the Island. The roads on the eastern, more populated, side of the Island are in fairly decent condition. Many of the highways are certainly of North American quality and signage seems to be more than adequate. Although many secondary roads (especially those leading to beaches) suffer from potholes they are still quite driveable.

The less developed Western side of the island has a much less extensive road system but does have one fairly decent road which travels all along the coast.

What’s Good:
Scenic & Fascinating Boat Tour, Wildlife, Price

What’s Bad:
Beach and Swimming not great.

La Restinga is a gorgeous national park consisting of an amazing mangrove forest, water channels and lagoons. It is located in the small piece of land connecting the eastern and western sections of Margarita Island. Upon arrival to the park you will see a dock where many motorized boats await to take visitors on tours through the channels. Each boat can carry up to five people (although we did see one group of six) and costs 30,000 Bolivares (approx $13 per boat) for a half hour tour of the park. After this tour you can have the boat driver drop you at the beach and arrange a time to be picked up. The other option (and the one we recommend) is the hour long tour which costs 50,000 Bolivares per boat (approx $22). This tour offers a more extensive look into the park with a half an hour boat ride, a visit to the beach (once again, just arrange with the driver as to what time you would like to be picked up) and then another half hour journey before returning to the main entrance.

What’s Good:
Fantastic Food, Reasonable Price, Beach Front View, Owners

What’s Bad:
Closed Wednesdays, Neighborhood is not the best

Cocody Restaurant is a beautiful French restaurant located on Avenida Raul Leoni. This restaurant was a favorite of ours and, as it was right beside our apartment, we visited it on several occasions. Although from the front, facing onto Raul Leoni, the restaurant looks rather unimpressive, once you catch a glimpse of the spacious indoors and fabulous outdoor patio looking over the Bahia de Guaraguao, you will understand why we fell in love with this gem of a restaurant.

If the location and ambiance aren’t enough wait until you meet the wonderful owners. Cocody is owned and operated by a French couple and their son who have lived on Margarita Island for 6 years but are originally from France. Helene and her son Nicholas both speak English fairly well and the entire family is fluent in Spanish and French. The service is fabulous and professional and the food makes you wonder why you’d ever have to go to France at all!

What’s Good:
Unique view of local life, Good Deals, Good Spot for Lunch

What’s Bad:
Can be Crowded, Products are Mostly Imitation

The Conejeros Market is a local market located on the north-western outskirts of Porlamar. It is a huge market consisting of three different buildings: one selling local produce, one containing restaurants, and one containing hundreds upon hundreds of vendors selling different types of goods.

The clothing/goods market is frequently very busy and is filled to the brim with many locals selling everything from clothing, shoes, sunglasses and jewelery to art, souvenirs and hammocks. Prices seemed to be quite reasonable although bargaining certainly didn’t seen to be as popular as it was in Peru. Our one complaint was that most to the stalls seemed to be selling the exact same things. Although we found the occasional gem of original local hand painted art, most stores were close to identical. There is an abundance of cheap (albeit quite good) imitations of every brand imaginable (Channel, Guchi, Oscar de la Renta, Lacoste, Louis Vatton etc). The vendors that we came across were all very friendly an helpful, and although most did not speak any English a few surprised us.

It was Peter’s trip to France that sparked the idea: go somewhere and actually live there. Don’t pass through a place, live in it. Live in a community for an extended period of time. Instead of touring an entire country in five days, stay a few weeks in the same town and saunter around. Take time to: visit the local bakery, meet people, experience life outside of the North American way. This can be difficult as most travel infrastructure is simply an extension of our North America culture (Hiltons, All inclusives, etc). It takes a concentrated effort to not be tourists.

Having spent the last five weeks in one place, with over two more weeks left to go, we are now slow travel converts. It is relaxing to have a flexible schedule. It is nice to be able to let your mood, the weather, and the local environment affect what you do and when you do it. This mode of travel is in complete opposition to conventional vacations. In conventional vacations you project your schedule onto the place you are staying. In slow travel the place you are staying projects its schedule onto you.

What’s Good:
The view, Clean, Friendly Service, Food, Local emphasis

What’s Bad:
No Internet, chilly at night.

Hotel website: Mama Yacchi

If you are planning a trip to Peru the Colca Canyon is a must see. The Colca Canyon is the second deepest canyon in the world (the deepest is not too far away from it). It is twice as deep as the grand canyon. The canyon and the valley leading up to it are spectacular. The scale of the area is almost beyond comprehension.

Arequipa is the gateway to the Colca valley. Most people book a two day tour from Arequipa. You leave early in the morning and return the following afternoon. We did just that.

This small hotel strikes a wonderful balance with its spectacular surroundings.