Some time back Martin Odell contacted me regarding Puerto Miranda, a camp I
had neglected to include in this website. Puerto Miranda was a Shell oil
facility located on the east coast of Lake Maracaibo near the entrance to the
Carribean. Here is what Martin wrote:
"I was pleased to discover your website, but surprised to find no mention of
Puerto Miranda where my Shell father worked for about 3-4 years before returning
to the UK in 1966. This was after a long career in Venezuela starting in 1948 in
Caracas before moving to Maracaibo in 1959. I have read the postings in the
guest book with interest and remember many of the places mentioned in both
Caracas and Maracaibo. I was at boarding school in England from 1959 followed by
my brother in 1963, although obviously we were in Venezuela for the holidays!
The accommodation for staff working in Puerto Miranda was near Altagracia then a
small village, although some crossed the bridge each day as they lived in
Maracaibo. My parents used to say that the number of houses on the estate where
we lived was only 240 or so, less that the 250 for it to be a fully fledged camp
with commissary, club, schools etc on the basis that such facilities were
available locally – which actually they weren’t. So we had to shop in Maracaibo,
Lagunillas or Cabimas.
We used to go to the Shell beach, and the Caribbean Yacht Club (since renamed
Los Andes Yacht Club) where my father was treasurer. I do not recall any other
oil companies being involved at Puerto Miranda; however I do remember fishing
off the tanker jetties! We tried to catch fish called merrow (or similar
sounding) which we could see in the water and were 6 feet long! It is still the
largest oil terminal in South America. My father used to say that 3 million
barrels a day went out through Puerto Miranda alone, much more than today’s
500,000 barrels for the whole of Venezuela.
My renewed interest in Venezuela came about by chance during a Zoom meeting with
some fellow members of a City of London Livery, one of whom mentioned growing up
in Maracaibo and Lagunillas. I could not remember the name of the accommodation
we had near Altagracia (going through my parents diaries reveals no mention of
any name) and he had not heard Puerto Miranda.
I wonder whether it is time to put Puerto Miranda on the map?
I see you also have missed out Cabimas and Cardon. I cannot remember anything
about Cabimas. Cardon was very windy and apparently you could fly a kite every
day all year. Everybody had windows lined with silver paper to keep out the sand
from being blown in – people had breakdowns from the continual noise of the
wind…"
Here are a some interesting Puerto Miranda associated links:
Puerto
Miranda
