Traveling around Margarita Island "The pearl of the caribbean"- Venezuela, on my 40th birthday

When I turned 40 years old I went to Margarita, it was a very well planned trip, at that time everything was like that, you could do things in my country; trips like this we did constantly, it was something I had wanted for a long time, within my plans was to know my country first and then go or go abroad. Of course all these plans were always with my children and my husband, all as a family.

I think that without them by my side the fun would not be the same, I could not enjoy 100% everything I do. When I turned 40 we went to Margarita, my son Israel had already been there twice because his godmother Andreina had taken him twice on vacation but the rest of the family had never set foot on the island.

Margarita is in the north of Venezuela, as I said it is a beautiful island, called "The pearl of the Caribbean", it is the only island state of Venezuela, it has many beaches to enjoy and one of the most visited is Playa El Agua. The main source of income of Margarita is tourism, there are hotels and guesthouses of all kinds to serve the tourist, also houses are rented for the season. Near Margarita are two small islands, Coche and Cubagua, which also have their own beauty.

Margarita is a free port, so that is another favorable point for those who want to go shopping and bring gifts and things back home. This state also lives from fishing, so if you like fish and seafood you will be able to eat them fresh out of the sea.

The island also has many tourist sites to visit, some of the most visited are the Basilica of the Virgin of the Valley, Nueva Cadiz museum, Laguna de la Restinga, colonial center of Pampatar, El Fortín de La Galera (Juan griego), El Fortín de La Caranta and many more.

To go to the island this year we bought an all-inclusive package, including plane tickets, so just on April 3, my birthday, we got up early and left for the airport. We arrived at Margarita at about 10 in the morning, our cab driver friend Oscar was already waiting for us there and we immediately went to walk through the center of Pampatar, we walked the streets, we took pictures and from there we went to the popular market Los Conejeros, because Margarita is a free port, no taxes are paid, that makes you save a good amount of money and with it you can buy more products.

I remember that day I bought linen for the house, i.e. sheets, towels, kitchen towels, I also bought sandals for the beach, glasses, and then we went to have a delicious fish and salad for lunch; as we did not know how big the fish was we ordered one for each of us, but it was huge, I think that one fish was enough for two people. But it doesn't matter, we still ate it all, with joy, happiness, we took pictures, we enjoyed every moment in the place. Later my husband and I went to the liquor stores that were very close to the avenue and bought a few bottles of whiskey. Time did not stand still, seeing the time it was time to leave for the hotel since check in was from 2:00 pm. So we called our cab driver and set off.

When we arrived at the place there were already many people, the Hotel is called Porto Fino, I can only tell you that the happiness I felt could not fit in my chest, seeing the happy faces of everyone was priceless. Luckily they gave us a room very close to the beach and it was on the first floor, that helped me a lot since I suffer from my knees. The room was for 5 people since we had a special guest, my niece Emily, she is like my daughter, she is always walking up and down with me.

We immediately made ourselves comfortable, everything was luxurious, the people at the hotel felt very nice from the beginning. The kids couldn't wait, they already wanted to see the sea, the pools, go all over the hotel. When we were on the beach they told us that there was a snack and we went to have coffee, but there was everything, bread, cake, hot dogs, soft drinks, it was incredible how much food there was and it was just a snack.

The kids ordered dogs and soda and my husband and I just had coffee, we were really full from all the food we had eaten at lunch. Seeing that made me feel happy, I knew that for food we were going to be just fine. That afternoon we all spent it in one of the pools near the room and that hotel had 3 pools, sports courts, restaurants, stores, gym, terrace, private beach, the Hotel Porto Fino is huge, you really do not need to leave there because there is everything to relax and distract you.

The evenings were an idyll, every afternoon that we were there we would leave at 5 o'clock from the beach and go to rest and get ready because at night it was something else. At 7:30 p.m. we would go to dinner, what I liked to eat the most at dinner were meats and desserts. It was full of at least three types of desserts, you will say why am I so amazed and talk about this with so much euphoria, but for a person like me who had never experienced anything like this, it is wonderful!

At night no one was bored, the same guys from the hotel who were in charge of cheering you up during the day at the beaches and pools also have their own entertainment space during the night. First you could share playing bingo, then they did shows and interacted with the guests, they really made me laugh a lot. One night they presented artists from all over the world, but be careful! they were not the real ones, they were the same guys who dressed the same and sang beautifully. My favorite of all was Chayanne, the steps he did were identical to the real thing and he really got the audience going.

Later in the evenings for the adults, at about 11 o'clock at night we would take the kids to the room and we would go to the bar, there was also an open bar, they had different types of drinks and Venezuelan beer, that was my favorite of all. There you would sit outdoors, listen to music and all of a sudden the artists would come and do their shows and make us laugh more than we could ever imagine.

It was really all fun, there was no room for boredom, no room to think about problems or bills to pay, or anything else. This was a wonderful, wonderful trip, where everything was joy, peace, harmony and much more.

Some afternoons we would leave the beach earlier and go to watch the sunset and take lots of pictures to remember. We would walk along those hillsides and feel the cool breeze on our faces, we would take a deep breath and sigh from seeing all that and just for a moment we felt like owners of the world.

The farewell of the hotel was the only bad thing, but we left super grateful, not only with the hotel but also with God because He gave us the opportunity to make that trip. Everything in this life can be done, if you plan and organize your finances, then set aside for recreation, which is a very important point in our lives.

I will never forget my 40th birthday, I will never forget Margarita, I only hope that Venezuela will rise again from the ashes and we can all have the life we had before.

The promise I made to my children is still valid, to someday return to Margarita, to continue traveling around Venezuela and to continue visiting wonderful places. Venezuela is a place where God put his hand and gave us all his love, that is why I feel proud to have been born here and if God gave me the joy of being born again I would ask him to allow me to be born again to this place.

If someday you come to my country do not miss this tropical paradise called Margarita "The pearl of the Caribbean".