Mountain climbing and hot springs: kicking back in Mérida

Mérida in Venezuela is surrounded by breath-taking mountains and amazing natural hot springs. Come with our TEFL interns for a weekend’s relaxation and exercise

It’s been three days since we returned from climbing to 4,400 metres above sea level and I’ve still not fully recovered. One tip I can offer after this trip is that if you have sensitive skin, lather yourself from head to toe in sunscreen because the intensity at such a high altitude is amazing. It’s incredible how strong the sun is at that altitude and how the temperatures can fluctuate. We hiked up at night and it was some experience. The path seemed to get steeper and steeper until we were literally rock climbing to the top. We made it though, and rewarded ourselves with a barbecue at the top in sub-zero temperatures. I honestly felt like I was back in Scotland and definitely didn’t pack for a trip like this in Venezuela.

After pitching our tents and finding some wood, we cooked dinner over a strong flame and all huddled around trying not to let any heat escape. The highlight of the night was definitely the giant spider we found relaxing next to the camp. It was the size of my hand and something I wouldn’t dare to mess with. One of the other interns had other ideas and started poking it with a stick. The spider remained motionless but suddenly, without warning, it reared back onto its hind legs and sprung with incredible speed onto the intern. It’s fair to say we all got the fright of our lives. After a bit of hysterical jumping around and shaking ourselves like rag dolls we saw our new friend back on the ground behind us. As you can probably imagine, we left it well alone after this experience and focused on enjoying our barbecue. After passing out in our tents dressed from head to toe in woolies we weren’t looking forward to the hike back down in freezing cold temperatures the next day, or so we thought.

How wrong we were. Opening the tent a few hours later at around 8am we were greeted by spectacular views over the rolling mountains with temperatures already beginning to soar.

We were also paid a visit by some unexpected guests in the form of wild horses and dogs trying to mooch any leftover scraps off of us. After having a delicious breakfast of oats, bread, cheese and cereal we were ready to head over to the reason we ascended the mountain – the natural hot springs. They were exactly what the name suggests, natural and very hot. It’s incredible how such a thing can be formed without any human intervention. It was a natural jacuzzi situated on the edge of this mountain with incredible scenery. I still couldn’t believe that we were sitting almost three times above the highest point in the UK.

The descent was much easier than anticipated and only took us about half an hour. The sun was relentless and the mountains offered no shade whatsoever. The only regret about this trip was the lack of sunscreen used but apart from that it was an incredible experience and was another sign of the sheer diversity Venezuela has to offer. I would honestly recommend taking advantage of these amazing trips to anyone planning on doing their TEFL internship in Venezuela. The crazy exchange rate means that every trip is ridiculously cheap and each excursion you go on offers a new experience you won’t get in the UK.