To Venezuela...: Caracas, Caracas...

Santiego de Leon de Caracas, commonly know just as Caracas, is the capital city of Venezuela. It is located in the central-north of the country and is the most populated city. As most of the big cities in my country, it exhibits a high contrast between poor and rich people. It was founded on July 25th in the year 1567 by the spanish conqueror Diego de Losada. At the very beginning it consisted of only a few houses, a central square and a governmental institution. By the year 1812 a huge earthquake destroyed almost all the city just in the middle of the independence war.

Right know the city looks like this...

(Picture taken from http://www.culturizando.com/2012/07/la-historia-de-caracas.html)

Also known as the "concrete jungle", Caracas is in the middle of a huge valley around 900 mt (2952 ft) above the sea level. It is the center of all financial, cultural and governmental activities. The main universities and professional institutes of Venezuela are also in this city. It's divided in 5 municipalities (Libertador, Sucre, Chacao, Baruta and El Hatillo) and the main international airport that serves the city is Simon Bolivar International Airport, which is not actually located inside Caracas. There is a common saying that translated to English would be something like "Caracas is Caracas, everything else is weeds and snakes" meaning that the capital is the most important and biggest city of the country. For those interested in Spanish language the saying is "Caracas es Caracas, todo lo demás es monte y culebra"

What to do?

I think my country is a very good place to visit especially if you are interested in natural wonders, but I don't actually recommend Caracas as a tourist destination basically because it is not very safe, it is polluted, the traffic is terrible and the beaches near it are not the most beautiful beaches in Venezuela. People is not very educated and might try to take advantage from tourists. But it would be your launch platform to other places in Venezuela since most of the transport companies and main highways to other cities are located here.

Still, as every place in the world, it has good and charming places to go. If you are interested in History you might visit the "Center" of Caracas. Notice that I used quotation marks since it is not the geographical center of the city right now but it was some decades ago, still people call this area the Center. You can find museums, cathedrals and churches, coffees, theaters and the Simon Bolivar's birth house which is now a museum.

Other things to do are take a walk in Los Proceres avenue, which is very beautiful and it has a strong presence of security forces. If you would like to have more contact with nature you can go to Miranda park or to Guaraira Repano national park (more commonly known as "el Avila") which is safe and consists in a chain of mountains located in the north of the city. The higher point is 2.765 mt (9071 ft) above the sea level and it will provide you with a splendid view of the entire city for one side and maybe a even better view of the coast on the other side as long as it's not cloudy. You can take the cable car if you are lazy like me or you can go walking. It is also allowed to camp but make sure you have the authorities written permission and respect the national park's rules.

Los proceres avenue...