First, a bit of disclosure – I rarely felt safe in Venezuela. I arrived in Caracas by night bus from San Cristobal and the bus dumped me off in a ridiculous part of town which resulted in a dodgy walk for about 20 minutes to the Metro at La Bandera (the flag) where I took the Metro to Altamira (I had to change once). Better to take a cab. What I didn’t bargain for was that I had arrived in the middle of the black market crash. My US Dollars were turning to liquid water rather than gold and with ATMs rejecting my cash cards, I was forced to part with my US Dollars to pay for the hotel room.
Outside was a lunatic wannabe war zone where I saw guns swapped for cocaine in a downtown pawn shop, a guy brandishes a gun at a bank, I was almost mugged at knifepoint on the dodgy streets, but once I closed my hotel room door I could breathe a sigh of relief. Is Venezuela really a dangerous shithole? From my experience, Yes! Close your door and lock it tightly at night.
View from my hotel bedroom in Caracas, Venezuela
The ensuite
The bar at Hotel La Floresta
Despite the fact I was ripped off and almost mugged in Altamira, this remains one of the safest parts of Venezuela. I even found myself a local in the Little Rock Cafe when I was here. Altamira has a nice backdrop behind it with view of the mountains.
Altamira district, Caracas, Venezuela. Balcony view.
Breakfast was included of course but quite frankly, on the oh so average side.
Basic breakfast in Caracas
Lounge and bar
So if you do end up in Caracas, Altamira is a nice area (despite my attempted mugging) and is safer than most.
Jonny Blair is a self confessed traveling nomad who founded and blogs at Don’t Stop Living. He sees every day as an adventure. Since leaving behind his home town of Bangor in Northern Ireland ten years ago he has traveled to all seven continents, working his way through various jobs and funding it all with hard work and an appetite for travel. Don’t Stop Living, a lifestyle of travel’ contains over 1,000 stories and tips from his journeys round the globe. He wants to show others how easy it is to travel the world, give them some ideas and encourage them to do the same but most of all he aims to constantly live a lifestyle of travel. He is currently based in Hong Kong and on Twitter @jonnyblair.
