Pan-American Highway (South America) among these countries. It is crossed by three large rivers, but an international system of ferries helps cross these natural obstacles. The highway begins its path through South America in Colombia. However, a branch called the Simon Bolivar Highway runs through Venezuela. This stretch of the highway is an important link between Caracas and Bogotá. The road begins as Venezuela Highway 9 in Güiria, a small town in the state of Sucre just west of Trinidad along the Gulf of Paria coastline. From Güiria, the highway winds west towards the town of Yaguaraparo. Once the highway reaches Yaguaraparo, on the
USS Simon Bolivar (SSBN-641) late December 1965 and most of January 1966, "Simon Bolivar" underwent demonstration and shakedown operations. The Gold Crew successfully fired a Polaris A-3 ballistic missile off the coast of Cape Kennedy, Florida, on 17 January 1966, and the Blue Crew completed a successful Polaris missile firing on 31 January. The Gold Crew continued shakedown operations in the Caribbean Sea in February. The following month, "Simon Bolivar"s home port was changed to Charleston, South Carolina, where she was assigned to Submarine Squadron 18, and minor deficiencies were corrected during a shipyard availability period. In April 1966 "Simon Bolivar" got underway and