Trips to Venezuela

TRIPS TO VENEZUELA: YOU WALK VENEZUELAN & MERIDA & NATIONAL PARK
SIERRA NEVADA

THE $ANDES

The $andes constitute a mountainous system that, in Venezuela, crosses the states of Merida, Táchira and Trujillo. The Andeans are hospitable and amiable people who can delight to us with their delicious gastronomy.

Activities to realize:

- Excursions or strolls to horse or on foot, always accompanied by local guides (experienced), following the old “dirt roads” of the colonial time to explore its extensive deserts, valleys of glacial origin, lagoons and crystalline water obstacles, majestic mountain forests and plantations of coffee in forests.

- Montañismo: Their summits are accessible and the route chooses based on the time available and the degree of difficulty.




MERIDA

Bolivar of 5.007m can be said that Merida is the tourist state par excellence of Venezuela and the ceiling of the country, with their Tip. Here is the longest and high cableway of the world that, in the Tip Mirror, surpasses the 4,000 ms of height.


General performances

State or dependancy: Merida.

Temperature average: It oscillates between 12° C and 26° C.

Geographic situation: It is located to the north of the Andean Mountain range.

Surface: 11,300 km2s.

Population: 744,986 inhabitants, approximately.

Merida is synonymous of high mountains peaky of perpetual snow, delicious gastronomy and traditional customs, turbulent rivers, dimmed forests, land of deserts, stopped diversity of birds, colonial towns in the time, lagoons and glaciers, the crafts and, most important, warm and amiable people.
The City of Santiago of the Horsemen of Merida is a place where they are based skillfully the past, the present and the future. It has a university community with intense intellectual and nocturnal life.

Recommended visits:

- The urban center with the Place Bolivar presided over by the Cathedral, constructed between 1803 and 1958.

- The Main Market: Pride of all the community, is a sample book costumary and products. Famous by the crafts sale. In him it is possible to delight of a typical Andean breakfast.
Address: Sector the Llanito, Av. The Americas.
Schedule: 6:00 to 17:00 of Tuesday to Sundays.

- Coromoto Ice-cream shop: Famous and possessing of the Guinness record like ice-cream shop with greater number of flavors in the world. It includes tastes of Beans, Prawns and Beer, among others many.
Address: Av. 3 in front of the Place the Level one. Telephone: 0274-2523525

- Cableway: Without a doubt the main attraction of the city. Constructed in 1957, in its 12.5 km of route Sierra Nevada moves on the National Park.

Account with a system of four cableways that divide the passage in four sections with five stations, in series being able to appreciate the changes between the different ecosystems from the mountain range.

The first and second station has services, tourist stores of crafts, informers and a viewpoint that allows to enjoy a panoramic view on the tube of the Chama river and the National Park Mountain range of the Butt. The third station, the Watered down one, besides services offers long walks in the desert.

The fourth station is Round Hill: Their main attractiveness is the long walk in the desert, the stroll to the lagoon the Spectacles and the Stop de la Cruz, and panoramic of flanks the west and north of the Tip Bolivar. Excursions to the town the Snowed ones.

The last station, Tip Mirror, are highest and the one than it offers major amount of services. Of April to October it unfolds a beautiful landscape of the Tip crowned snow Bolivar. Also the Crown presents/displays a panoramic view of the Tip (Humboldt and Bonpland) and of the level Venezuelans. The statue can be taken a walk by the environs and be known the Virgin of Snows.
Address: Street 24 and 25, in front of the Park the Heroins.
Telephones: +58 (274) 252-5080, Ext. 113 and 114.

Excursions from the Cableway

• Excussio to the Town the Snowed ones, on foot or to mule
• Excursion to routes of the National Park of Sierra Nevada
• Trekking - encamped

Montanismo and Aventura in Merida
High the summit merideñas and its villages offer to the matchless montañistas scenes for the hiking and the scaling. The height average of the tips goes up to around the 4000 ms representing a true challenge for the climbers of high mountain. Between its classic routes is the scaling to the tip Bolivar or glaciers of the tips Humbolt and Bonplant. Other routes of hiking, rather less more demanding, go towards the lagoons of heights, like the lagoon of Santo Christ, accessible from Gavidia and to the deserts like the Butt.

The freedom that inspires the place merideño is propitious for the extreme sports, like flights in Ícaro and Parapente, very frequent in the towns of the south. The highways and ways are frequent scenes of the mountain cycling. Also the trout has introduced itself in the lagoons of the deserts arcoiris that has adapted to these atmospheres and it has extended until streams and rivers. This has allowed the development of the fishing of the trout. The Lagoons of Mucubaji, Black and the Ducks offer a good option of fishing. The season of fishing begins 15 March and finishes the 30 of September, with previous permission.

The traveller exposes itself to heights between the 1,000 and 5.000m that can produce lack of oxygen. This requires, besides a good physical form, to realize the long walks slowly to avoid famous “Badly of Desert” or altitude sickness.

NATIONAL PARK SIERRA NEVADA

It lodges the principles heights: the Tip Bolivar with 5,007 White ms and the four Eagles: The Shell, the Toro, the Mirror and the Leon, whose heights exceed the 4,700 M.s También are the snow-covered Tips Bonpland and Humboldt (4.952m). The relief is steep, with deep valleys. Here they have been the unique glaciers of the country, surpluses of the last freezing, for more than 10,000 years.

By the Park the famous Cableway of Merida passes.

The seasons are divided in:
- “dry” or summer, of December to May.
- “rainy” or winter, of April to November. Julio and August are the months of fullness of the rainy period and the ice-snow in the high mountain. At the end of July and principles of August a locally well-known phenomenon like “veranito of coincident moon” with the increasing moon takes place.

It is a brief dry period during the “winter” in which one rises the mountain range to climb in ice. And also it is the season of rafting and kayak in the Sierra Nevada of Merida. The climate is of low tempering to cold and an average of 0,5º each 100 gained meters of altitude.

Besides scaling the practice of the eco-tourism with strolls by some of the most beautiful towns of the region like Gavidia is possible, the Reedbed, the Snowed ones, the Nose and Cinchona; and by emblematic lagoons like the Lagoon of the Ducks and the one of Santo Christ.

The trasandina highway, between Barinas and Merida, borders the North limit of the Park, crossing a variety of towns that conform an architectonic landscape of great beauty: Santo Domingo, Shunting lines, San Rafael, Mucuchies, Mucuruba, Cacute and Tabay, among others. Between Santo Domingo and Apartaderos is the recreational area “Lagoon of Mucubají”, framed by the majestic Mountain range of Santo Domingo, where there are facilities to on foot encamp and to make strolls or in mules until near lagoons like Victory and the Black.

Access routes: From the place the Heroins in the city of Merida can be raised in the cableway to Tip Mirror or be descended in the previous station, Round Hill to 4000 meters.

To 15 minutes of Merida by the highway to Barinas, in Tabay and to 5 minutes of the town, it is soothes of Inparques (National Institute of Parks) call “the Mocuy”. From it leaves to a footpath for the lagoons of Coromoto, Green and Serum there, on the foot of the Tip Humboldt.

Another entrance is the one of Mucunután by the stop of the Pigs. There if it is continued raising arrives at the station from the cableway Round Hill and the tips Bolivar, Mirror, Toro and Leon, as well as to the colonial town of the Snowed ones.

Soon they are the footpaths of Victoria and the Gavidia that give to access to the desert lagoon Santo Christ, greatest of the country.
By the town of Shunting lines, in the Merida-Barinas route, it is possible to be acceded to the lagoon of Mucubají and the Mucuñuque Tip. In the same route, but leaving from San Rafael de Mucuchíes, it is the way towards the beautiful zone of the Tisure.


National park Mountain range of the Butt
One is in the Andean zone of north of Merida and occupies a surface of 200 to 400 hectares. It lodges from very humid forest and tropical plantations in the low regions to desert deserts with tops to 4800 meters. He is one of the best scenes to contemplate frailejones, Andean typical plants, with endemic species of this earth. It is subdivided in five units: The Deserts, Drum, Bell tower, White Stones, Mucuchíes and the Table of Escuque. Its altitude goes of to the 4,737 the 400 M.s Hay established routes that lead to the highest parts of the Park, where it is possible to be encamped. Following the route of the Valley it is possible to be ascended by a beautiful mountain landscape like that penetrates the ship of a natural temple.
Activities: Hiking and fishing of trouts in season.

Routes - Andean Towns and Lagoons

The Snowed ones:
It is a colorful and typical town of the high Andean mountain, located to 2.700m. Its temperature oscillates between 8º and 10º C predominantly. Zone agriculturist, conserves traditions, customs and architecture of remote times. The place is surrounded of beautiful places with multiplicity of lagoons and mountains for the practice of the fishing and the hiking.
It is acceded by means of excursion that leaves from the station Round Hill the cableway Merida and lasts 6 hours on foot or 4 hours in mule by intrincate ways surrounded by a beautiful landscape. Also it is arrived by penetration ways that begin in the nose, offering 66 km of wagon serpentine and difficult access with an average of 4 hours of trip. Another option is in 4x4.

Town the Mucuy:
Artisan village of the State and front door to the National Park Sierra Nevada.
In the Recreational Park the Mucuy begins the way to arrive at the glacial lagoons of the Coromoto, the Serum and the Spectacles, as well as to snow-covered summits of the tips Bolivar, Humboldt and Bompland. The Park offers facilities of lodging, caminerías, barbecues and services.

Route of the North Desert
Tabay- Mucuchiés- San Rafael de Level Mucuchiés-Shunting line of the Cattle ranch - Santo Domingo - Timotes

Tabay town:
It is a small agricultural locality and of artisan production, to 12 km of Merida, in the route towards Mucuchies. Its altitude is of 1708m. Tabay was heroic scene of the federal wars.

Mucuchiés town:
traditional town of the Andean desert. In the indigenous dialect it means “place of waters”. It has an altitude of 2,983 ms, 45 an average temperature of 11ºC and is min. of Merida. From the town they divide routes that go to Gavidia and Misintá.

Desert of Gavidia:
It is formed by two great valleys lateral glaciers and several hanging valleys. In order to arrive at this small village one rises by a lofty highway immersed in a beautiful landscape with formation rocky, small gorges and much green. The height oscillates between 3200 and 4300 ms. The climate is characteristic of the high tropical mountain. During the dry time the nocturnal frosts are frequent.

Town San Rafael de Mucuchiés:
It is the second higher town of the country, to 3,140 M.s Tiene a temperature average of 9ºC and has 583 inhabitants. It heads the towns of sublime beauty of the mountain range of Santo Domingo. It is land of summits, deserts and lagoons of sober landscape. To the mighty it crosses it longitudinally Chama.

Thematic park Eaves:
Typical Andean pueblito. It is located to 2,150 meters on the level of the sea, has 80 inhabitants, it occupies an extension of 8 hectares and enjoys an average temperature of 15° C.
Address: Kilometer 25 Trasandina highway, via the desert, Merida.
Schedule of ticket office: 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 Hour p.m. of visit: 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Telephone: +58 (274) 263-9757/262-1557 p Web www.losaleros.com.ve

Town Shunting lines
To 3.342m, in the valley that forms the river basin of the Chama river, it is located beautiful San Isidro de Apartaderos. When descending from the Tisure we were with the route leads that us to the traditional town of Shunting lines with an average temperature of 6º C. can Here be observed the stone walls, old catafos of the natives who protected the Camino Real of the Spaniards.

Lagoon of Mucubaji:
It is an ample natural lagoon of origin glacier and crystalline waters, located to 3700 M.s Is one of greatest of the State of Merida is possible to be fished trout between the months of March and September, to encamp if the permission of Odd numbers must and make trips to horse or mule until the Black Lagoon or the Ducks, one of deepest and beautiful of the Andean region.
Access: trasandina highway via Barinas, from Shunting lines. Schedule L-V of 8:00 to 17:00 hours.

Level of the Cattle ranch and its National Astronomical observatory:
To 40 km of the city of Merida and to 3600 ms on the level of the sea, turns which it into one of highest of the world.
The travellers can accede to these cupolas and until admiring star rains.
Schedule: For the public generally, Saturdays of 15:00 to 19:00. And in vacacionales seasons of Monday to Sunday. Telephones: +58 (274) 271-2780 and (274) 271-3883.

Tip the Eagle:
In the bulk of the Mountain range of the Butt and to 4118m, it constitutes the highest point of the trasandina highway. It gives the sensation from which it has been arrived at the ceiling of the world. The landscape is imposing, and the silence surrounds that it moving.



Route towards Jají - Thematic Park Venezuela de Antier.

Jají town: From the dense forests dimmed to the calm deserts, Jají is a colonial stamp that recalls the 1610 fates. To an altitude of 1781m, Jají is the paradise of the fishing in the torrential truchícolas rivers and the adventure is present in the small villages of San Eusebio. One is 40 minutes of the City.

Thematic park Venezuela de Antier
This tourist complex allows the visitor to travel in the time until the beginning of century XX, when Juan Vicente Go'mez was the president of Venezuela and the most fierce dictator than for that then had had the country. Having like scene Andean mountains, the travellers can undergo and know the hand of typical personages the customs, architecture, gastronomy, music and folklore of the regions of Venezuela.
Address: Kilometer 5 Pan-American highway, Via a Jají. Merida.
Schedule of ticket office: 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 Hour p.m. of visit: 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Telephone: +58 (274) 263-9757 and (274) 262-1557


EXCURSIONS

• Colonial city of Merida, and the Cableway
• Trekking National Park Sierra Nevada and Mountain range of the Butt
• Routes to Andean towns (lodgings, lagoons glaciers, Andean culture, coffee properties, routes of trekking.
• Excursions of multi-adventure: Trekking; hang-glider, scalings; tandem jumps; rafting and puenting; excursions to horse, in mule or bicycle of mountain, routes in 4 xs 4; encamped.
• Thematic excursions to Park
• Routes of Rural Tourism (lodging in mucoposadas of Andean)