VENEZUELA

I´d like to share a little about the country where I have been residing for the past seven and a half years, and it´s capital.

Venezuela is the sixth largest country in South America, and lies in the Northwestern corner of the continent. It is divided into 23 states and within it´s borders are huge areas of the Amazon Rain Forest and fine stretches of the Andes. Miles of the Carribean shoreline borders Venezuela and it sits on vast reserves of oil.

The capital of Venezuela is Caracas, located in the Northeastern part of the country, and is the largest city in Venezuela. It is an interesting Urban city nestled in a long, green valley surrounded by lushly forested mountains.



My family and I have had the pleasure of visiting Caracas during a few necessary business trips. It is a noisey city with millions of inhabitants, traffic jams and dangerous areas, but there are some worthy and notable places in this large and busy city.

Amoung some of the interesting offerings in Caracas is the cable car rides that travel up a 7800 ft. mountain. And, though it is a breathtakingly beautiful ride, it is a lonnng way up and is literally breath taking while looking at the distance up the mountain and hundreds of feet below the car to the ground. Once reaching the top there is a beautiful park with gorgeous views, shops and restaurants. There is also a large hotel and ice skating rink that are currently in rennovation. We enjoyed the trip and the views, but thought that once was enough!




(View going up the mountain)

(Coming down the mountain. View of Caracas)

The underground transit system is one of the most modern in the world and we always use it while in Caracas to get around quickly from one part of the city to another. It is the best mode of transportation in the city and does get quite busy, but still more functional and quick than driving.

(Metro)

One suburb of Caracas that we have enjoyed is the small colonial town of El Hatillo. Though it seems to be swallowed up by the city it has retained it´s small town feel and we´ve enjoyed an afternoon quietly strolling amoung restaurants, craft shops and the small park center. It is a place to escape the hustle and bustle of the city. Anyone who loves arts and crafts will love this little town, which is only a half an hour from Central Caracas. There is one large shop there called Hansi that has handcrafted items from all over Venezuela. We spent a good hour or more going through the shop, with much pleasure.

(Small Town of El Hatillo)

Though Caracas is a large, modern city, it has many contrasts. All around central Caracas, along the hillside you will see shantie towns, there are hundreds of these communities. These are dangerous areas and ones that we have never entered, but have seen from along the freeways.

(Looks like a mosaic, don´t you think?)

Then you have Miraflores, the Capitol Building and offices of President Hugo Chavez. The property sits atop a hill and overlooks Caracas. We have only seen it from afar, but beautiful, of course.

(The Capitol)

Caracas is a city full of many interesting places, we have been glad to have had the opportunity to visit and know some of them.

(Daytime view of Caracas)



(Evening view of Caracas)