Venezuelan beauties are at it again. Miss Venezuela won Miss Universe, while the American representative fell in her dress, for the second year in a row.

Another video of the Venezuela series. This is a water fight we were having in the river.

In Los llanos we had the opportunity to experience a traditional folk night. People gather around a spot, put up some lights and a small beer stand and sing away for the rest of the night. The songs are improvised and are usually insulting to their opponent who has then to replicate with his own insult. The closest I can compare it to is a folk freestyle rap battle. Anyways, see the video and judge for yourself.

Los llanos is a wildlife paradise. This is the region of grasslands and plains in Venezuela. I traveled to Los llanos with the rest of the wedding troupe and we were about 16 people in all. We came here to spend our last 4 days of our trip to Venezuela to enjoy what's probably the best wildlife spot in the whole country. We where there in the dry season which is the best season to see the animals there because they all come closer to the water which is getting scarcer.

The first animal we saw was a caiman crocodile and if you're imagining that we saw it near a river or water you're wrong. We saw the caiman crossing the road at night from the bus before we arrived at the ranch we were staying at. It's a bit that they don't have "Crocodile crossing" signs here that would have made a nice souvenir photo. I might also add that the brave women who were with us in the bus went to relieve themselves in the exact same spot where we spotted the caiman. I wouldn't want to be the one who pisses on the caiman's head thank you.

We spent the whole 4 days chasing feathers, slimy reptiles and flying insects at night. There aren't many mammals here but the birds make up for this gap. The most spectacular birds are the scarlet ibis with their unmistakable scarlet (duh) colour. Vultures are all over the place as are herons, cormorants and anhingas. We also managed to catch a los llanos special, the anaconda. This deserved a whole morning chase but it was well worth it.

The extra curricular activities apart from running in the fields were limited to fighting on "horseback" swimming in the river, and attending a local folk music contest at night. This was an extremely powerfully cultural experience where locals gather to slag each other at the tune of traditional instruments. (Watch Video)

The best was reserved for the last part when I got to see the burrowing owl. This was the bird I targeted to see before I left, me being an owl fanatic and everything. Tony, the guide, managed to spot a family of owls in a field about 200m away from the road. Then he recommended that I'd go near to them as far as possible and enjoy myself. I approached them cautiously for half an hour until I managed to arrive at about 3 meters away from the burrow they were guarding.

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Catherine, the girl I met on a bus on my way to Donegal, invited me for her wedding with her now Venezuelan husband in Venezuela. This was the excuse I used to go to Venezuela, not that I needed one, but let's say it just tipped the balance in favour of this wonderful country. The wedding was held in Merida where Ricardo's parents live and where the couple got a huge (by Irish standards) house.

The celebrations started off with the civil wedding celebrated two days before the church wedding. The wedding had to start at around six but in pure Venezuelan fashion it only really got going at around 8, but that's ok, nobody was in a rush. The civil wedding was very civil (pun intended) and pleasantly informal, with the groom wearing shorts. Oh, how I'd love to do that myself – if ever I get brainwashed into marrying that is. All of Catherine's family flew over from Ireland for the wedding and in fact you can note an Irish touch to the décor of the chairs and tables.

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The wedding, which also started an hour and a half late, took place in one of the churches in Merida city centre. The only innovative thing in the celebration was that there were two weddings going on simultaneously. Ricardo's brother Reginald also got married during the same ceremony so it was like a 2-in-1 sort of wedding mass. As for the rest it was the same church wedding celebration as back home.

The reception took place in a hall somewhere in the city. Each group of people sat around a table and a bottle of vodka or whiskey was placed on the table for everybody to help himself. I was with the polish folk so naturally we had vodka. When we arrived the band had already started playing music, as you'd expect in this music adoring country. After the customary photos almost everybody was out dancing, myself included. In the words of my dance companion, I felt like being tortured.

At around 1am after having the umpteen vodka on an empty stomach I went out in the garden for a breath of fresh air because the hall was very hot and stuffy. Feeling mildly sick I sat down in a corner on the side and slept peacefully for an hour until Riccardo's uncle came over with some sort of miracle effervescent drug which got me back to the drinking table in no time. The reception ended at around 3am but then the after party started back in the room at the posada we were staying in.

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Venezuela is a land of sea and mountains. The village of Merida where my pal Catherine was getting married is in the middle of the Andes mountain range. Merida is the capital of the Merida state so apart there are loads of thing to do here. It's probably the best catered city from a tourist perspective because apart from being very safe here you can find lots of tour operators, restaurants and shops.

I spent 4 days in Merida in all and apart from the wedding and a whole day of shopping with the girls I went paragliding (in tandem not with that triangular thing). I thought it was going to be dangerous so I didn't take a camera with me and this was one of the biggest mistakes I made in the holiday. I asked the chatty Columbian who was with me on the tour to send me the photo but unfortunately they never arrived.

One of the highlights of Merida is the teleferico (cable car) that takes you up in the mountains. From here you can go on longer hiking trips to the different summits like Pico Bolivar and Pico Humboldt. Most of the pictures in the gallery where taken from the top of the cable car, and the scenic stops along the way, the rest where taken on the trip from Merida to Los Llanos.

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I'm an animal lover, but being in Venezuela in Carnival I thought it was foolish to miss a corrida. This was a once of experience, it's nice to experience it for a while but now that I've watched it I think it's quite cruel and unfair to the bull. Before the torero starts fighting with the bull, the bull is already heavily injured by the person on the horse inserting a spear in its neck thus making the bull a much easier target. I don't regret going but wouldn't go again.

Any excuse is good for dancing here in South America, even before the corrida there has to be some dance. So before the games being some Flamenco dances hit the dust and gave a brief colourful show.

Before each fight this man displays the bull details. Isn't he like one of those boxing chicks with the round number plaque?

The first step is to circle the bull and stick in these fancy sticks in his back.

Then the man on the guarded house comes out and hits the bull in the back with the long spear. The bull usually tries to attack the poor horse who's blindfolded and guarded by the heavy shield.

This is the result of the spear attack. No wonder the bull doesn't have a good chance to win after being injured like this.

After the whole charade the fight with the torero starts. This particular torero was the best from the other 3 that were fighting. One of them was an idiot and his even kicked off his shoe and it flew away. Then the same one got hit by the bull and then the bull stepped on him.

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The Warao tribe is the most authentic group of indigenous people I've ever visited in my travels. The images of some of the people here are still impressed in my memory, even so long after I returned back.

The people of this tribe are called the warao tribe because of the canoes they make. The name warao literally means "canoe people". The canoes serve two essential functions; transport and fishing. Fishing is the main food of these people and with total lack of roads the only useful means of transportation is the warao.

The standard of living of here is basic and rudimentary. There are no extra commodities apart from the bare necessities. The house is the hut and everything is contained in the hut. The kitchen is the big flaming pot and fridge, the bedroom is a couple of hammocks and the bathroom is the river. As for the rest of the space it's a big playground for kids who run around playing joyfully with each other.

The place is full of children and I must say that the children were one of the highlights of the whole trip. The large number of children is due to the large families and high mortality rate of the children especially the males who can be afflicted by a deadly disease.

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Ever since I visited the Danube delta in Romania I developed a certain fascination with deltas so when I learnt about the Orinoco Delta in Venezuela I knew I had to visit. There were two main reasons for the visit. The first as usual was wildlife, and the second was to pay a visit the native Warao Indian Tribe.

Parrots here are quite common and people keep them as pets running around with clipped wings. There was a family travelling on their canoe and they had a group of parrots tied on the front of the boat. We approached them carefully for a picture but the big macaw got scared and fell in the water. It was hilarious although you couldn't help not pity the poor bird who overcame his embarrassment and made it back up on the canoe all by himself.

I expected to see more water common birds in the delta, for instance there weren't many egrets or anhingas around. However what wasn't expressed in numbers was made up for in exotic species. I managed to see blue and yellow macaws, the big parrots you usually see in pet shops. The toucans, the one in the Guinness ad, and the scarlet ibis the only scarlet bird you'll ever see.

The delta is one of the most prestine places I've been too. The place doesn't really cater for tourists and the sole fact that there weren't any showers says it all. The only place where you can take a shower was the river. At night don't expect any beds either. The bed equivalent here is the hammock which takes a while getting used for a whole night's sleep. After two days it became as comfortable as any other bed.

Even in remote places like this one, people have the basic commodities like electricity and water. All this thanks to the president Chavez who ensures that everybody knows this. Political propaganda is huge in Venezuela. Apart from the usual billboards, graffiti and papers stuck on the wall you can find inflatable toys, toy soldiers, mugs and a whole list of things with Chavez on them. The president also has his daily TV show where he addresses the nation and gives an account of the proceedings of the day.

I'm going to let the pictures do most of the talking so make sure to visit the gallery here.

With the postponed boat tour to the Angel Falls I had a whole extra day in Canaima and quite frankly there isn’t much to do here but enjoy the scenery by the lagoon and relax. The lagoon is very close to the centre of the village and to give you an idea of the scenic quality of the lagoon I only need to say that it's the picture featured on the Lonely Planet front page.

Despite being so remote and inaccessible (you can only get here by plane) the 2000 or so inhabitants have all the basic facilities, water, electricity, school, church etc. It's strange how I always think that people living in these places seem to be always happy or smiling, especially the children who are just adorable.

Because I was here in the dry season the Sapo Falls were basically reduced to a trickle. The place in the picture on the right is usually a river which flows to the lagoon.

There are still some heavy waterfalls however, some of which you can walk behind. It's quite an unusual experience walking behind a gushing stream of water. There's no better way to really feel the force of the water flowing down, except maybe swimming underneath it.

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The only way to get to Canaima is by plane, an 5 seater Cessna plane fit only for a museum to be exact. An hour after the scheduled time a 55 year old grey haired man with sundried skin showed me the way to the plane and loaded my backpack behind the seats and asked me to sit in the co-pilot's seat. As soon as he started the engine the plane was going to collapse. Everything was shaking, the noise was deafening and the cracks on the dashboard opened a further centimetre. I'm not usually afraid of planes but I must admit that I wasn't feeling comfortable in this one. A minute after we took off the grand dad pilot took out his mobile phone and started texting, then opened a big newspaper and started reading. The situation was hilarious but I didn't get the courage to take a photo of him. After I while I relaxed and started enjoying the scenery.

When I arrived in the village of Canaima from where the boat trip to the Angel Falls was supposed to start I was greeted by an English guy and a Dutch couple who gave me the bad news. The river flowing from the falls dried up and we couldn't go to the falls by boat. Our group was the first group of this year who didn't manage to make it to the falls. I knew this was a possibility but still didn't like the news. Instead we flew over the falls and got some shots from the plane and then visited Kavac Cave and swam underneath a waterfall.

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Ciudad Bolivar was the stepping stone to the tours for Canaima and the Orinoco Delta. The capital of the Bolivar state was the poorest urban village I visited during the holiday. The place reminded me of Arusha, in Tanzania, with homeless people sheltering in dilapidated houses and scrounging though rubbish the city. Here in Venezuela 37.9% of the population lives below the poverty line (CIA World Factbook). This is a great pity and sad state considering the wealth in natural resources (oil, aluminium, steel) the country has.

I couldn't help not feeling a bit guilty of "leading a normal life" and affording to live comfortably. Wandering alone in these streets wasn't probably the safest thing I was doing but I tried to be as inconspicuous as possible removing the watch, hiding the cameras and dressing normally (read: scruffily).

The only guidebook attractions I photographed were the pastel coloured houses in the street, and the bridge crossing the Orinoco River. This is the only bridge that crosses the river in its entire 2140km length.

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