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Caracas
Hash House Harriers |
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Hash #548 & #549: Chirimena Beach Weekend - "Noggie Pommie" Hash Friday, November 5th to Sunday, November 7th This Hash was held about two hours away from Caracas, at a beach area called Chiremena. The location allowed us to have our first co-hash with the folks from the Anoco HHH. Cheryl & Tormod were the hosts and hared the 1st hash; Anaco took charge of the 2nd hash. Comments or questions to Jay "Hash Flash" ==> jayzuela@yahoo.com (click any picture to get an enlargement) |
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Chirimena is one of the closest beach areas to Caracas; about 2.5 hours away... load up the car! |
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Casa de Playa was the host Posada & Cesar, the owner, greeted us with open arms when we arrived on Friday afternoon... he almost seemed too happy! |
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| The ocean was not far away; you could hear the waves crashing! | A lagoon separated the Posada property from the beach area. | A view of the Posada from the beach area; quite quaint. |
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| Hmmm... this marketing picture showed the beach to be much wider that is actually was... | ... and this marketing picture shows a nice bridge across the cute little lagoon. | In reality, the lagoon was big & green and the bridge was quite rickety; don't fall in! |
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small things that turned out to be different than we expected didn't cause us much concern. We had more concern, though, over the reports that most people had no running water in their rooms. We reported the problems and assumed the Owner would take care of them... we needed to work on actions related to the hash & activities. In hindsight, this was a big 'whoops' that we wish we could re-do... in Venezuela we are learning that you cannot assume anything! |
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| The cars were unloaded ... over 20 cases of beer and lots of sangria, water, soda and snacks. | We did a quick check of the beach area and found the water to be clean, the waves to be big, the locals to be friendly, and the scenery to be quite pleasant. The swimming was rated: GREAT! | |
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| We then met with the posada owner, who was more intent on selling us ice & renting beach chairs than talking about the water supply problems. We came to agreements with him & settled in for a nice dinner; we all stayed up late talking amongst our friends. (End of Friday's report) | ||
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On
Saturday morning, the hares set the hash route and others staked out our beach
area.
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| The hashers then started to pour in from all directions... luckily no one got lost too, too badly! | ||
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| Some hashers arrived already full of energy & excitement. | Others needed to catch up on a few zzzz's before getting active. | Most everyone else perked up after a few much-needed drinks. |
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| Some needed a little innocent 'goose' to get them excited. | Only one group brought their own portable living quarters. | The overall mood was joyous & many friendships were renewed. |
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| It looked like it may rain, so the guys engineered a cover. | From above, you can get an idea of our hash camp. We needed to rent all the shade/chairs in the section in order to keep it 'private'. | |
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| It rained hard... but after awhile, the group got out & played in the ocean ... then the rain went away! | ||
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| In the middle of the afternoon, the bugle sounded ... | ...it's time to 'Circle Up', as the hash run/walk is about to begin! | The hares were introduced & they described the hash... on-on! |
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| The hash started in town ... luckily we didn't need this sign! | The run proceeded up hills and then out of town. | Half way though... is looks like ... ... a beer stop! |
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| The stop also provided a good photo opportunity... | ... and a chance to discuss the first part of the hash. | After the beer stop, people were happier & smiles were abundant. |
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| Upon the return, the RA got everybody circled up. | Thanks to the hosts for all the effort to organize this trip! | Also, welcome to the newcomers; 'virgins' drink up! |
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| The kids even got in on the down-downs... with soft stuff! | Anaco: "What are these Caracas people doing to our kids!" | The Anaco folks then led us into an energetic 'swing low' song. |
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After
the down-downs, the group headed back to the beach camp. After
frolicking in the waves, everyone headed back to the rooms to freshen up...
only to find that they still didn't have any water. It seemed that we gave the Owner, who was nowhere to be found, way too much lee-way and he took advantage. One lesson we learned is to hold back partial payment in case there are problems! |
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| The somewhat smelly group slowly re-assembled in the eating area for dinner & waited... | .. and waited... for a slowly served fish dinner which ended up being served somewhat cold. | Luckily the group maintained a classy attitude; being able to tap our own drinks helped a lot! |
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| All of a sudden, a local band came in ... and started to play some nice African-sounding music. | ||
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The
quality of the music was suburb, and it took our minds off any troubles we
were having. |
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On
Sunday morning the Anaco folks were in charge of haring the 'Hangover Hash'. Those who awoke early were welcomed by a nice banner
...where was it yesterday? |
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Unfortunately
there was a steady rain and ... with the thought of not being able to
shower... many folks decided not to join the run.
Luckily, the group that did gather and head out, were treated to a nice hash... on a different route from the hash on Saturday. |
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| After a painful, slowly served breakfast, the weather began to clear ... "to the beach" was hailed! | ||
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 Over the bridge to 'hash camp 2'. |
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| We shared the beach area today, which turned out OK. | Some brought their own shade & chairs... heck with the vendors! | This 'little one' went against local custom by going topless. |
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| The beach area in front of town was quite narrow and crowded with locals. We had no hassles besides the various merchants. | Our area was large enough for swimming & games of frisbee. | |
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| There was time for short walks on the beach... | ... time for boogey boarding in the nice waves... | ... and, of course, time for some cold beer on such a hot day. |
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<==There was time for reading...
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& time for chatting ... ==> |
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... and plenty of time for friends and families to have some relaxing quality time together...
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| These group shots are all from different sources & contain different people... so cheers to all! | ||
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| The last groups to leave were notified that the water was working again & that there now was enough food for a grand lunch... yeah! | Thanks again to the Anaco folks for hanging in there! | |
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| It was unfortunate that Cesar, the owner of Casa de Playa, was unable to meet the needs of our group... and thus we cannot recommend his Posada. If he could have performed better, we would have planned yearly events at his place, as Chirimena was nice and very accessible.. |
Thanks
to all those who |
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CHHH Web Page CHHH Yahoo Group Ex-Pat Village |
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