Los Roques - now this is paradise

So the time came to get on a very small propellor plane and fly to these magical islands off the coast of Venezuela. Destination Los Roques: it is an archipelago of islands, mostly uninhabited - no cars and each island accessible only by boat. It is too expensive for most Venezuelans so the pollution is fairly limited. Anyway, after an incredibly stressful morning at the Mexicana Airlines desk at the Caracas airport (they are thieving bandit bastards) and getting ripped off for an extra USD $1000 just so we could fly to Mexico to catch our flight back to London, we were fairly wound up and upset. Not the way to start what was meant to be a romantic splash out for the last few days of our 6 month South American journey.

So the plane was small. And old. And we could see the cockpit and everything which Lee found very exciting. I on the other hand, thanks to my recent development of fear of flying, wasnt too happy. Anyway a fairly smooth 30mins later - we landed by the most exquisitely blue ocean I have ever seen. White sand, the most turquoise blue ocean and water so clear you can see your feet from chin level!

Gran Roque was the main island - and the only inhabited one with a population of about 800 people. Filled with colourful one storey posadas and boutique styled bars, it was such a haven away from the chaotic Caracas suburbs. Our posada, Dona Carmen, was right on the beach front close to the airport runway and the pier where all the boats would depart to the other islands.

I could feel us slowly unwinding from the days stresses as we whiled away time at the pier waiting for our boat to arrive to take us to the island of Francisqui, about 10 mins away so that we could relax and snorkel. And thats exactly what we did - the water was so clear and the marine life we saw was incredible. Puffer fish, pink and green eels, squid, brightly coloured fish of all shapes and sizes, rainbow coloured barracuda... absolute paradise.

Little did I know what was about to happen.