As we suspected all the flights into Europe were cancelled. I re organised hotel rooms at the Eurobuilding hotel and have put together various options for the group. Lufthansa re booked us all on flights a week later and I am not one for hanging around if there is nothing I can do. There was no point in going north to the US as we would just be stuck somewhere else and at much more expense. Therefore the options were either to remain at the Eurobuilding for the duration, go to a larger hotel in Caracas such as the Gran Melia, go back to Los Roques, or I hatched a cunning plan to head south to the Rio Chico lagoon system to look for tarpon and snook. Tim Aldiss headed back to Los Roques the following morning, the business class passengers were flying earlier anyway so they remained, a couple decided to remain in the hotel, and four of us, myself, Phil, Geoff and Ian opted to head south and explore a little of Venezuela. Having been to Los Roques seven times I have never been further that Caracas into the interior of Venezuela, and that explorer in me was keen to have a look. The prospect of catching some tarpon was also better than sitting in a hotel all week.
The Rio Chico lagoon system is approximately 3 hours south of Caracas and used to be an established fishery that has somewhat been forgotten. The lagoon is vast, 40km long and 15km wide with huge mangrove islands, channels and bays. The right up says the lagoon has a huge concentration of juvenile tarpon and snook, so it looked like a good idea. We were going to stay at the La Tortuga beach resort in the middle of the National Park.