Henri Pittier NP, Venezuela

PN Henri Pittier: between the Caribbean Sea and the Cordillera da Costa


massive tree
Nature guide and clients next to one of the huge trees of PN Henri Pittier.
towards Uricao
Boatman at the bow of a boat that has just left Puerto Colombia, heading for Uricao.
coconut tree seeks the sea
A long coconut tree almost sinking into the Caribbean Sea.
The great Playa Grande
The lush mountain of the Cordillera de la Costa, a coconut forest and the golden sands of Playa Grande de Puerto Colombia.
Playa Grande Bay
Bathers share the long sandy beach of Playa Grande de Puerto Colombia.
Valley to the Sea
View of one of the valleys because it extends the PN Henri Pittier.
pink caribbean
Sunset rose the Caribbean Sea off Puerto Colombia.
Bamboo Tunnel
Large bamboo tunnel over the Choroni river, at PN Henri Pittier.
shadow trio
Three friends walk along a street in the colonial village of Choroni.
Crest of the wave
Surfer surfs a newly formed wave off Puerto Colombia.
rocky caribbean
Rocky coastline of Valle Seco beach, east of Puerto Colombia.
A hammock, lots of rest
Rest guaranteed by two providential coconut trees on Uricao beach.
Waterfall sisters
Two waterfalls flow through the lush tropical rainforest of PN Henri Pittier.
Valle nothing Dry
Bathers share the gentle Caribbean Sea that bathes the beach at Valle Seco.
In 1917, botanist Henri Pittier became fond of the jungle of Venezuela's sea mountains. Visitors to the national park that this Swiss created there are, today, more than they ever wanted

A bus journey takes us from the busy Caracas to the main road interface to the final destination.

Maracay has little to discover. Even with some time before the next call, shortly after we leave, we return to the terminal in search of some refreshing break.

We find him in the small juice house of Senhor Manuel who, nostalgic for the Madeiran origins, displays in his business several posters of the Pearl of the Atlantic.

We drink fearless mixtures of tropical fruits. Conversation leads to conversation, we delve into the origin of the owner:

“since I come from Porto Moniz, on the tip of the north coast of Madeira, I don't know if you know? If we look at things well, the scenarios over there, it's not even that different from where you're going now. It's the same kind of steep mountain covered with vegetation and the sea just below. I mean… around Puerto Colombia, the beaches are real beaches. Large sands, coconut trees, crystal clear sea. It's a little bit different. They'll love it. Soon they are in the water.”

From One Side to the Other of the Cordillera da Costa

We say goodbye. We got on the next bus that would take us to the historic towns inside the Henri Pittier Park.

Since a previous visit to Guatemala that we didn't see, in the Americas, a bus as colorful and folkloric as this one, painted on the outside in various shades of blue and yellow and decorated on the inside with decorative items, knickknacks and a colorful assortment of windshield hangers.

A weekend is approaching. The vehicle is filled with vacationing families from Caracas de Maracay, up to the Margarita Island.

As soon as the crowd is exhausted, the driver sets off up the mountain, with a ferocious drive that, despite entering a sanctuary of nature, sees deafening horns at every turn of the narrow route.

PN Henri Pittier, Venezuela

View of one of the valleys of the Cordillera da Costa because the PN Henri Pittier extends.

It was certainly not what Swiss scientist Henri Pittier imagined, in 1916, for the jungle he fell in love with. Already in his years of life – mainly from the 30s of the XNUMXth century onwards – he felt uncomfortable with the growing human disrespect for place.

The Struggle for the Ecosystem of the Cordillera da Costa by Henri Pittier

Henri Pittier decided to stay and fight for the cause. He made an old dwelling on a coffee farm his home.

After great resistance to the offenders and diplomatic persistence, he obtained from the president at the time, General Eleazar López Contreras, the official creation of the first national park in Venezuela, then called Rancho Grande.

Today, the Henri Pittier National Park occupies a vast area of ​​the state of Aragua and the Venezuelan coast, along the steep mountains of the Cordillera de la Costa.

This mountain range was raised by intense tectonic movements.

They stand out from the seabed at 1800 meters of altitude from Pico Paraíso and at 1900 from Guacamaya. At these heights, despite the almost equatorial latitude, the temperature drops to 6º and some of the most diluvial rains in the country fall.

Waterfalls, PN Henri Pittier, Venezuela

Two waterfalls flow through the lush tropical rainforest of PN Henri Pittier.

As in most of the Cordillera, the resident precipitation and mist keep the native flora lush and diverse, dominated by majestic trees, with leafy crowns that rob the ground of sunlight.

The fauna is not far behind.

The park has, in El Portachuelo, the main pass for about 520 species of migratory birds and many more insects (including dozens of types of moths) on the flight path that takes them from North to South America.

It is something that attracts, every year, to the local biological stations, thousands of ornithologists eager for study the birds rarer or simply more beautiful, like the anthill or the black japu.

Choroni, Puerto Colombia: Between the Cordillera and the Caribbean Sea

Choroní and Puerto Colombia appear sheltered in the marine foothills of the mountain range. These are the most important towns in the park. We leave the bus at the last one and look for accommodation there.

Trio, Choroni Street, Venezuela

Three friends walk along a street in the colonial village of Choroni.

Of colonial origin, half lost in time, they separate the two people a mere 25 minutes on foot, always going up or 15 going down. Distance continues to play a crucial role in their different identities.

Choroni preserves intact the colorful Castilian colonial houses, built in 1616, soon after its foundation by the Spanish occupants.

The settlers hastened to subdue the local Indians with the same name and made the village expand below. Later, they endowed it with slaves brought from Africa.

Virgílio Espinal, in Pittier's Mode of Disciple

We dare not consider Virgilio Espinal a disciple of Pittier, far from it.

And yet, the guide presents himself as a serious fan of the region's nature and confesses that he felt at ease in the middle of that steep jungle. We contract your services without hesitation. We followed him for hours on end.

Kilometer after kilometer, always with machete in hand, this Aragueño forty makes its way through dense vegetation with incredible fluidity.

Virgílio had already lived and worked at the Brazil. He insists on us practicing his Hispanic-Abrasucado Portuguese: “Boys, these roots can reach ten meters and only on the surface.

Giant Tree, PN Henri Pittier, Venezuela

Nature guide and clients next to one of the huge trees of PN Henri Pittier.

Can you understand why the trees here easily grow to 50, 60 meters in height, even when growing on a sloping surface? It's wet isn't it? Go, don't complain.

In the end I'll take you to eat the best empanadas here in the area.

However, we return to the lowlands and towards the party that spread like a virus among the natives, the Caracas and some expatriates from Puerto Colombia.

The Coastline rumbero of Puerto Colombia

Latin music to rumble and beer they are everything any Venezuelan craves after a day of cards or chatting in cozy Playa Grande.

Playa Grande, Puerto Colombia, PN Henri Pittier, Venezuela

The lush mountain of the Cordillera de la Costa, a coconut forest and the golden sands of Playa Grande de Puerto Colombia.

The outsiders, these, adjust to the wave and explore its unknown Caribbean-reggae facet. After a few days, many already behave like any indigenous people and dance along the malecon to the rhythm of drums and maracas.

Before we join the celebration. We still have time to climb the hill of Mirador del Cristo de Choroni.

From there, we admire the Caribbean Sea, intersected by the most advanced headlands of the mountain range, where pirates once sheltered.

We admire the rosy and purplish sky above, traversed by fast frigates and lined flocks of pelicans.

Surfer, Caribbean Sea, Venezuela

Surfer surfs a newly formed wave off Puerto Colombia.

On the way down, a saleswoman tropicalian of drinks suggests a deserved reward for the effort of the climb, in the tender ways typical of Venezuelan women: “yes my love? I serve you a refreshment? "

The next morning, the first hours belong to the parents and children who, laden with glaciers, head for the white sands of the park until then, delivered to the coconut forest.

The laziest stay at this Playa Grande.

Other clans of holiday explorers find their starting point at the jetty located next to the malecon, from where they leave permanently peñeros towards Chuao, Valle Seco and Uricao, small villages and beaches accessible only by sea. We join the latter.

Hammock in Palmeiras, Praia de Uricao-Mar des caraibas, Venezuela

Rest guaranteed by two providential coconut trees on Uricao beach.

Chuao, Valle Seco, Uricao: Dream Coves at the Base of the Cordillera

Dock, fish market and pier share the inlet, which proves to be too tight and provides chaotic embarkation.

There, while fishermen unload and trade the newly caught fish, the opportunistic pelicans try to apprehend them.

In a distinct business area, vessel owners shout their destinations, haggle over prices and rush groups of passengers foisting on each other to optimize outflows and profits.

Boat, Puerto Colombia, Caribbean Sea, Venezuela

Boatman at the bow of a boat that has just left Puerto Colombia, heading for Uricao.

Despite being coastal, the routes taken by the peñeros they are beaten by great waves and fertile in emotions.

To compensate, Valle Seco and Uricao treat us to exotic and relaxing bathing retreats, lost among cactuses and sparsely populated.

Pebbles from Valle Seco Beach, Caribbean Sea, Venezuela

Rocky coastline of Valle Seco beach, east of Puerto Colombia.

In Chuao, we go back in time. We walk among the historic cocoa plantations brought there by Hispanic settlers.

On the way back, we socialize with the descendants of their slaves as they sift the last of the crops in the courtyard of the church that the village uses as a threshing floor.

Santa Marta and PN Tayrona, Colombia

The Paradise from which Simon Bolivar departed

At the gates of PN Tayrona, Santa Marta is the oldest continuously inhabited Hispanic city in Colombia. In it, Simón Bolívar began to become the only figure on the continent almost as revered as Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary.

Gran Sabana, Venezuela

A Real Jurassic Park

Only the lonely EN-10 road ventures into Venezuela's wild southern tip. From there, we unveil otherworldly scenarios, such as the savanna full of dinosaurs in the Spielberg saga.

Pueblos del Sur, Venezuela

Behind the Venezuela Andes. Fiesta Time.

In 1619, the authorities of Mérida dictated the settlement of the surrounding territory. The order resulted in 19 remote villages that we found dedicated to commemorations with caretos and local pauliteiros.
Cahuita, Costa Rica

Dreadlocked Costa Rica

Traveling through Central America, we explore a Costa Rican coastline as much as the Caribbean. In Cahuita, Pura Vida is inspired by an eccentric faith in Jah and a maddening devotion to cannabis.
Mount Roraima, Venezuela

Time Travel to the Lost World of Mount Roraima

At the top of Mount Roraima, there are extraterrestrial scenarios that have resisted millions of years of erosion. Conan Doyle created, in "The Lost World", a fiction inspired by the place but never got to step on it.
Mérida, Venezuela

Merida to Los Nevados: in the Andean Ends of Venezuela

In the 40s and 50s, Venezuela attracted 400 Portuguese but only half stayed in Caracas. In Mérida, we find places more similar to the origins and the eccentric ice cream parlor of an immigrant portista.
PN Canaima, Venezuela

Kerepakupai, Salto Angel: The River that Falls from Heaven

In 1937, Jimmy Angel landed a light aircraft on a plateau lost in the Venezuelan jungle. The American adventurer did not find gold but he conquered the baptism of the longest waterfall on the face of the Earth
Margarita Island ao Mochima NP, Venezuela

Margarita Island to Mochima National Park: a very Caribbean Caribe

The exploration of the Venezuelan coast justifies a wild nautical party. But, these stops also reveal life in cactus forests and waters as green as the tropical jungle of Mochima.
Corn Islands - Islas del Maíz , Nicaragua

pure caribbean

Perfect tropical settings and genuine local life are the only luxuries available in the so-called Corn Islands or Corn Islands, an archipelago lost in the Central American confines of the Caribbean Sea.
Pueblos del Sur, Venezuela

The Pueblos del Sur Locainas, Their Dances and Co.

From the beginning of the XNUMXth century, with Hispanic settlers and, more recently, with Portuguese emigrants, customs and traditions well known in the Iberian Peninsula and, in particular, in northern Portugal, were consolidated in the Pueblos del Sur.
Mérida, Venezuela

The Vertiginous Renovation of the World's Highest Cable Car

Underway from 2010, the rebuilding of the Mérida cable car was carried out in the Sierra Nevada by intrepid workers who suffered firsthand the magnitude of the work.
Believers greet each other in the Bukhara region.
City
Bukhara, Uzbequistan

Among the Minarets of Old Turkestan

Situated on the ancient Silk Road, Bukhara has developed for at least two thousand years as an essential commercial, cultural and religious hub in Central Asia. It was Buddhist and then Muslim. It was part of the great Arab empire and that of Genghis Khan, the Turko-Mongol kingdoms and the Soviet Union, until it settled in the still young and peculiar Uzbekistan.
Host Wezi points out something in the distance
Beach
Cobue; Nkwichi Lodge, Mozambique

The Hidden Mozambique of the Creaking Sands

During a tour from the bottom to the top of Lake Malawi, we find ourselves on the island of Likoma, an hour by boat from Nkwichi Lodge, the solitary base of this inland coast of Mozambique. On the Mozambican side, the lake is known as Niassa. Whatever its name, there we discover some of the most stunning and unspoilt scenery in south-east Africa.
Okavango Delta, Not all rivers reach the sea, Mokoros
safari
Okavango Delta, Botswana

Not all rivers reach the sea

Third longest river in southern Africa, the Okavango rises in the Angolan Bié plateau and runs 1600km to the southeast. It gets lost in the Kalahari Desert where it irrigates a dazzling wetland teeming with wildlife.
Thorong Pedi to High Camp, Annapurna Circuit, Nepal, Lone Walker
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit: 12th - Thorong Phedi a High camp

The Prelude to the Supreme Crossing

This section of the Annapurna Circuit is only 1km away, but in less than two hours it takes you from 4450m to 4850m and to the entrance to the great canyon. Sleeping in High Camp is a test of resistance to Mountain Evil that not everyone passes.
The Little-Big Senglea II
Architecture & Design
Senglea, Malta

An Overcrowded Malta

At the turn of the 8.000th century, Senglea housed 0.2 inhabitants in 2 km3.000, a European record, today, it has “only” XNUMX neighborhood Christians. It is the smallest, most overcrowded and genuine of the Maltese cities.
Aventura
Boat Trips

For Those Becoming Internet Sick

Hop on and let yourself go on unmissable boat trips like the Philippine archipelago of Bacuit and the frozen sea of ​​the Finnish Gulf of Bothnia.
Military Religious, Wailing Wall, IDF Flag Oath, Jerusalem, Israel
Ceremonies and Festivities
Jerusalem, Israel

A Festive Wailing Wall

The holiest place in Judaism is not only attended by prayers and prayers. Its ancient stones have witnessed the oath of new IDF recruits for decades and echo the euphoric screams that follow.
Fremantle port and city in Western Australia, female friends in pose
Cities
Fremantle, Australia

The Bohemian Harbor of Western Australia

Once the main destination for British convicts banished to Australia, Fremantle evolved into the great port of the Big Island West. And at the same time, into a haven for artists aussies and expatriates in search of lives outside the box.
Cocoa, Chocolate, Sao Tome Principe, Agua Izé farm
Lunch time
São Tomé and Principe

Cocoa Roças, Corallo and the Chocolate Factory

At the beginning of the century. In the XNUMXth century, São Tomé and Príncipe generated more cocoa than any other territory. Thanks to the dedication of some entrepreneurs, production survives and the two islands taste like the best chocolate.
One against all, Sera Monastery, Sacred Debate, Tibet
Culture
Lhasa, Tibet

Sera, the Monastery of the Sacred Debate

In few places in the world a dialect is used as vehemently as in the monastery of Sera. There, hundreds of monks, in Tibetan, engage in intense and raucous debates about the teachings of the Buddha.
combat arbiter, cockfighting, philippines
Sport
Philippines

When Only Cock Fights Wake Up the Philippines

Banned in much of the First World, cockfighting thrives in the Philippines where they move millions of people and pesos. Despite its eternal problems, it is the sabong that most stimulates the nation.
Gyantse, Kumbum temple
Traveling
Lhasa a Gyantse, Tibet

Gyantse, through the Heights of Tibet

The final target is the Tibetan Everest Base Camp. On this first route, starting from Lhasa, we pass by the sacred lake of Yamdrok (4.441m) and the glacier of the Karo gorge (5.020m). In Gyantse, we surrender to the Tibetan-Buddhist splendor of the old citadel.
Fort São Filipe, Cidade Velha, Santiago Island, Cape Verde
Ethnic
Cidade Velha, Cape Verde

Cidade Velha: the Ancient of the Tropico-Colonial Cities

It was the first settlement founded by Europeans below the Tropic of Cancer. In crucial times for Portuguese expansion to Africa and South America and for the slave trade that accompanied it, Cidade Velha became a poignant but unavoidable legacy of Cape Verdean origins.

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Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Got2Globe Portfolio

Sensations vs Impressions

Bathers in the middle of the End of the World-Cenote de Cuzamá, Mérida, Mexico
History
Yucatan, Mexico

The End of the End of the World

The announced day passed but the End of the World insisted on not arriving. In Central America, today's Mayans watched and put up with incredulity all the hysteria surrounding their calendar.
Jean Marie Tjibaou Cultural Center, New Caledonia, Greater Calhau, South Pacific
Islands
Grande Terre, New Caledonia

South Pacific Great Boulder

James Cook thus named distant New Caledonia because it reminded him of his father's Scotland, whereas the French settlers were less romantic. Endowed with one of the largest nickel reserves in the world, they named Le Caillou the mother island of the archipelago. Not even its mining prevents it from being one of the most dazzling patches of Earth in Oceania.
Boats on ice, Hailuoto Island, Finland.
Winter White
Hailuoto, Finland

A Refuge in the Gulf of Bothnia

During winter, the island of Hailuoto is connected to the rest of Finland by the country's longest ice road. Most of its 986 inhabitants esteem, above all, the distance that the island grants them.
Baie d'Oro, Île des Pins, New Caledonia
Literature
Île-des-Pins, New Caledonia

The Island that Leaned against Paradise

In 1964, Katsura Morimura delighted the Japan with a turquoise novel set in Ouvéa. But the neighboring Île-des-Pins has taken over the title "The Nearest Island to Paradise" and thrills its visitors.
Argentinean flag on the Perito Moreno-Argentina lake-glacier
Nature
Perito Moreno Glacier, Argentina

The Resisting Glacier

Warming is supposedly global, but not everywhere. In Patagonia, some rivers of ice resist. From time to time, the advance of the Perito Moreno causes landslides that bring Argentina to a halt.
Girl plays with leaves on the shore of the Great Lake at Catherine Palace
Autumn
Saint Petersburg, Russia

Golden Days Before the Storm

Aside from the political and military events precipitated by Russia, from mid-September onwards, autumn takes over the country. In previous years, when visiting Saint Petersburg, we witnessed how the cultural and northern capital was covered in a resplendent yellow-orange. A dazzling light that hardly matches the political and military gloom that had spread in the meantime.
Hikers below Zabriskie Point, Death Valley, California, United States of America
Natural Parks
Death Valley, USA

The Hottest Place Resurrection

Since 1921, Al Aziziyah, in Libya, was considered the hottest place on the planet. But the controversy surrounding the 58th measured there meant that, 99 years later, the title was returned to Death Valley.
Bertie in jalopy, Napier, New Zealand
UNESCO World Heritage
Napier, New Zealand

Back to the 30s

Devastated by an earthquake, Napier was rebuilt in an almost ground-floor Art Deco and lives pretending to stop in the Thirties. Its visitors surrender to the Great Gatsby atmosphere that the city enacts.
female and cub, grizzly footsteps, katmai national park, alaska
Characters
PN Katmai, Alaska

In the Footsteps of the Grizzly Man

Timothy Treadwell spent summers on end with the bears of Katmai. Traveling through Alaska, we followed some of its trails, but unlike the species' crazy protector, we never went too far.
Swimming, Western Australia, Aussie Style, Sun rising in the eyes
Beaches
Busselton, Australia

2000 meters in Aussie Style

In 1853, Busselton was equipped with one of the longest pontoons in the world. World. When the structure collapsed, the residents decided to turn the problem around. Since 1996 they have been doing it every year. Swimming.
Police intervention, ultra-Orthodox Jews, Jaffa, Tel Aviv, Israel
Religion
Jaffa, Israel

Unorthodox protests

A building in Jaffa, Tel Aviv, threatened to desecrate what ultra-Orthodox Jews thought were remnants of their ancestors. And even the revelation that they were pagan tombs did not deter them from the contestation.
Serra do Mar train, Paraná, airy view
On Rails
Curitiba a Morretes, Paraná, Brazil

Down Paraná, on Board the Train Serra do Mar

For more than two centuries, only a winding and narrow road connected Curitiba to the coast. Until, in 1885, a French company opened a 110 km railway. We walked along it to Morretes, the final station for passengers today. 40km from the original coastal terminus of Paranaguá.
Kente Festival Agotime, Ghana, gold
Society
Kumasi to Kpetoe, Ghana

A Celebration-Trip of the Ghanian Fashion

After some time in the great Ghanaian capital ashanti we crossed the country to the border with Togo. The reasons for this long journey were the kente, a fabric so revered in Ghana that several tribal chiefs dedicate a sumptuous festival to it every year.
herd, foot-and-mouth disease, weak meat, colonia pellegrini, argentina
Daily life
Colónia Pellegrini, Argentina

When the Meat is Weak

The unmistakable flavor of Argentine beef is well known. But this wealth is more vulnerable than you think. The threat of foot-and-mouth disease, in particular, keeps authorities and growers afloat.
Cape cross seal colony, cape cross seals, Namibia
Wildlife
Cape Cross, Namíbia

The Most Turbulent of the African Colonies

Diogo Cão landed in this cape of Africa in 1486, installed a pattern and turned around. The immediate coastline to the north and south was German, South African, and finally Namibian. Indifferent to successive transfers of nationality, one of the largest seal colonies in the world has maintained its hold there and animates it with deafening marine barks and endless tantrums.
The Sounds, Fiordland National Park, New Zealand
Scenic Flights
Fiordland, New Zealand

The Fjords of the Antipodes

A geological quirk made the Fiordland region the rawest and most imposing in New Zealand. Year after year, many thousands of visitors worship the sub-domain slashed between Te Anau and Milford Sound.