VENEZUELA - When the catamaran becomes the pelican's control tower...

It’s finally noon and I can go outside and forget about my homeschooling work for the afternoon. I admire the new landscape that surrounds us. At first sight there is nothing new: turquoise water, a beach, small bushes surrounded by samphire - typical of the Venezuelan islands. Don’t worry, that’s not a negative comment, just a statement of fact! The setting has a little something extra though; like on a duck pond, dozens of pelicans are wading around the boat. Let’s face it, these birds are pretty clumsy. They come close to the catamaran and quietly settle on the sugarscoops to dry ...