Advertisement
Published: July 15th 2012
Edit Blog Post
Hola, ¿que tal?
This is my second blog from Venezuela!
In Caracas I took a bus towards Maracay, capital of Aragua state where I met with my friends Richard and Zuleyka.
Maracay is a city with just over a million people, the 4th largest in Venezuela behind Caracas, Maracaibo and Valencia. It isn't a tourist destination at all, most tourists use it as a hub when going towards the coast of Aragua (places like Choroní, Ocumare etc). The city is quite industrial, many things are manufactured here. I didn't find it a nice city in general, I actually went because I know people there.
When I arrived, Richard picked me up at the busstation and we went home. The kids, Mei-Ling and Sebastian, came home from the neighbour, we had lunch and I rest a little bit. Later Zuleyka came from work. Then we went for a little ride in the early evening in the city and had dinner at Las Americas Mall. The next day was independence day, a day off for most people! We drove in the morning towards the north, through Henri Pittier National Park to
Ocumare de la Costa. It is a small, pictoresque town.
There are many coloured people living there. We bought some local "coconut sweets" here, some softdrinks, ice etc. and continued to a house Richard's father has in El Playón. It's a bit touristy area, mainly for Venezuelans. The area is ok, but very deteriorated. Roads are in very bad condition, the place is not so nice. Here Richard bought "chicharrón de cerdo" (pork skin) which I tried but I had just a small piece....it's not very healthy but I guess locals love it. We continued to Bahia de Cata, a beautiful beach in a bay. When descending towards the beach, there is a spectacular view of the bay. At the beach you pay entrance and also for a table with its big umbrella and chairs. The water is clear and clean and has a lot of waves....not like the quiet waters we have at the beaches in Curaçao. I enjoyed this a lot! After the beach we went shortly to a small fishermen village called "La Boca". It was funny to see many of the houses in bad condition while most of them had a DirecTV satellite-dish on the roof! Then we continued towards the tiny village of "Cumboto"...there's not
much going on here. At the end of the road of the village there is a nice river and a small waterfall where you can swim. It is also part of Henri Pittier National Park. At first I didn't want to swim because the water felt cold, but then I did! After this we drove back direction Maracay and stopped at a spot with a nice view over Maracay, Valencia Lake and you could even see further till the hills of San Juan de los Morros in Guarico state. Then we had dinner in the city...and I finally had Arturo's for the first time! It's a Venezuelan fastfood chain which I always knew due to the commercials on the Venezuelan TV. I was to meet with a cousin, Jean Luis, in Maracay that evening but it didn't work out so I didn't meet him anymore and I'm probably not meeting him either....that'd when/if he goes to Curacao or when I come back to Venezuela for a second time.
The next day I got to know the city of Maracay. We drove to the outskirts of the city where we visited "Ingenio de Bolivar", a house that used to belong
to the Bolivar family and it's now a museum. There was also a museum "Caña de Azucar" (Sugar cane) there but it was closed for renovations. We also stopped at the trunk of what used to be a huge tree, Samán de Guere, where Simon Bolivar used to rest. Here president Hugo Chavez promised to work hard for the progress of Venezuela. In the city we walked around the city area, visited the the anthropological museum, Plaza Girardot, Plaza de Toros etc.
Richard brought me by car all the way to
Coro, capital of the Falcón state. Zuleyka's parents live in Coro. The drive was long but nice, passing along coastal places such as Puerto Cabello, Chichiriviche, Tucacas, Puerto Cumarebo and La Vela. This is the Venezuelan state south of Curacao. When reaching the part that is near to Curacao, different radio stations can be heard on mainland. The ones I heard where MAS-99, Direct 107.1, Hoyer and the strongest was Z-86 AM which had coverage as far as La Vela. It was exciting to actually hear Papiamentu while driving in another country. The landscape in this area of Falcon is also similar to Curacao: semi-arid, cactus and goats
walking around...which is not a surprise because it has the same climate too! I also saw the hill you usually see all the way from Curacao when the weather is clear with high visibility. Ferry's used to travel between Curacao and La Vela but they stopped a long time ago; I wish they could start again!
Coro, officially called
Santa Ana de Coro, is a much bigger city than I thought it would be. It has more than 200.000 people and is Venezuela's first site to be listed on UNESCO's World Heritage List since 1993 (earlier than Willemstad, Curacao...on the list since 1997). It's one of South America's oldest colonial towns and is well-preserved with many of its buildings still in the original shape and layout. Its colonial town is beautiful and colourful, definitely worth to stroll along the streets at a slow pace. There are strong indigenous, Spanish, Antillean and Dutch influences to be seen here....Coro always had ties and relations with Curacao, therefore also the Dutch. A visit to the Medanos de Coro can't be missed either. It's a desert area, covering the while area between Coro and Punto Fijo and consists mostly of sand dunes with little
vegetation. Definitely worth a visit!
Richard and Zuleyka were also very kind and I appreciate their time spent with me during those couple of days! Next will be a loooong nightbus towards Merida, in the south-west of Venezuela.
Hugs!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.107s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 10; qc: 35; dbt: 0.0487s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Muguette
non-member comment
Ferry to Coro
I agree, too bad the ferry service between Coro and Curacao doesn't exist anymore. I really enjoyed reading about your trip, wish I was with you on the bus going to Merida ( Was there a few years ago )