Avila mountain and cableway «Warairarepano» (Caracas)
Verena Demenina, photos by Rem Sapozhnikov (2008)
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The city of Caracas — capital of Venezuela — is separated from the sea by a mountain ridge Avila that protects it from environmental surprises of the Caribbean sea. You can simultaneously enjoy the beauty of Caracas valley and the blue of the Caribbean sea from the Avila mountain top (about two kilometers above the sea level). Over there, almost under the skies, you can have rest from heat and breathe fresh cool air. You can get to the attractive top by numerous well equipped tourists paths of the National park Avila or in a comfortable car of «teleferico» - suspended cableway.
This cableway was built, as many other things in Caracas, during the rule of general Marcos Perez Jimenez and opened for general public on 19 April 1956. Since then it has become one of the city attractions.
For 15-20 minutes that cosy car for 8 persons covers the distance of 3.5 kilometers and takes the passengers to the height of 1100 meters above Caracas. Over there, tourists are awaited by a walk along the top, numerous small telescopes directed to the sea and Caracas, shops with souvenirs, flowers and local sweets brought from a mountain village Galipan, which is situated on steep slopes facing the sea. Naturally an indoor skating rink of 470 square meters is especially exotic for residents of tropic area. There are always a lot of those, who wish to learn skating. The temperature inside the skating rink is 20 degrees. When the cloud covers the top it gets rather cold, and therefore it is recommended to take some warm clothes with you.
Those, who are not in a hurry to go to the rink, can be advised to reach Avilla by midday. By that time coffee shops and small restaurants, trips to the Humboldt hotel, which for dozen years does not get guests, become active, and it turns that in a cold morning it is a problem to have a cup of hot coffee with toast.
The number of those wishing to use cableway is permanently growing. No wonder — it is still one of the most modern and safe cableways on the continent. Caraqueños are proud of it and it is a must to show it to guests. Very few remember that on 25 January 1959 Fidel Castro used that cableway to reach the mountain top. It was his first official tour abroad and he came tot friendly Venezuela that one year before overthrew the dictatorship of general Perez Jimenez. Avila reminded Fidel his native Sierra Maestra mountains. «Well, if La Habana were surrounded by such mountains, we would not have to fight for so long!» - he exclaimed.
For more than one decade local authorities plan to restore the cableway from the Avila top in direction of the coast and to resume proper operation of the Humboldt hotel.
Since not long ago the cableway is called by a difficult to pronounce name «Warairarepano», after the tribe that used to live at the foot of the mountain. The starting point of Teleferico Warairarepano is located at the end of avenida Mariperez near the exit to avenida Boyaca. There are traffic signs for the road from avenida turn Libertador (between the areas La Florida and San Bernardino)
Teleferico is open the whole week except Mondays from 10.00 to 20.00.
Tickets on sale till 18:00
The skating rink is open from 11.00 to 19.30, only on Fridays it is open in the afternoon from 13.00 till 19.30.
You have to pay for the cableway — foreigners 100 BsF,
adult tickets cost 75 BsF;
students, kids 4-12 yrs old and adults over 60 years will pay 40 BsF; little kids go free.
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