After a relaxing first day in Los Roques (which you can read about here), we decided to do a bit more exploring on our second day in paradise. Amadeo, who was in charge of feeding us delicious meals at the posada El Paraiso Azul, suggested a tour around the park. So off we went on that morning to find our “lanchero” for the day, Fran, a.k.a. “El Chino” and his boat “Furioso”. It was lovely cruising those beautiful waters in the “peñero” with the sun and wind on our face.

The first stop was Boca de Cote, a popular snorkeling and diving spot located on the southern border of the park, about 15 km south of Gran Roque. There we jumped off the boat and enjoyed watching the marine life around the coral reefs thanks to the masks, snorkels and fins we rented at Oscar’s Shop (located near the airport in Gran Roque). The second stop was the Palafito, a collection of small stilt houses built right on the water. El Chino told us this particular dwelling was owned by a local family from Gran Roque and used for lobster fishing during the months of November and December, when the family sets-up camp there to make the most of the beginning of lobster season.

It was great to explore the area around the palafito, where El Chino pointed out schools of fish that we wouldn’t have noticed otherwise. We also spotted bright orange starfish here and there, and saw El Chino picking up several botutos (queen conch).

That’s when I understood the reason behind this massive conglomeration of conchs close to the palafito.

My dad used to love botutos. Everytime we went to the beach he would devour them fresh with lime juice and I never had the nerve to try them because they seemed like giant alien worms to me. This time, in honour of my dad, I was determined to try the botuto, especially after seeing that, really, you can’t get it any fresher than this!

After El Chino had collected and cleaned enough botutos and we all had a chance to wander around and explore, we were off to our next stop, where we were able to see many more starfish from the boat and snorkel some more around the roots of mangroves, home to so much wonderful sea life. Our final stop for the day was Noronquí, another one of the many islands in the Los Roques archipelago.

As we were slowly approaching the shore we were able to spot a turtle, apparently frequent visitors to this particular island. We walked around, swam and enjoyed a botuto ceviche prepared on the spot by El Chino. Once I took a bite I almost wanted to kick myself for not trying botuto before, it was absolutely delicious! No wonder my dad loved it so much, he was right, as always… 🙂

And then it was time to go, braving some choppy waters due to the winds, but happy to have seen a bit more of this magnificent park. This day of touring Los Roques made us realize there is so much more to see and do here that another visit may be necessary in the future…