The Avila - Papelón
On one of the Northwestern points of the city, at the level of San Bernardino, you find the route to the national park rangers place “Loma del Viento”. To get there, you can park in the Avila Hotel and start your way up in the mountain, precisely in the entry of the park.
The raise is paved, because it is used by the rustic vehicles used for the maintenance of the numerous antennas placed in the Avila.
After 20 o 30 minutes you arrive to the cortafuegos (fire-cutter) that starts here and ends at the level of Chacaíto.Just as we explained here, this is one of the best places of the city to jog, due to its majestic view of the city; it is relatively plain and very varied: In some places it is shaded, in other you can watch the city, in other places you are in the middle of the jungle. We don’t doubt recommending this place. (Watch slides from the excursion). If you don’t want to continue rising, you can cross it and return using the same route. Nevertheless, if you like to exercise yourself and also beautiful views from the city from above, keep on going and cross the fire-cutter on your way back. Just a few meters from the fire-cutter you’ll find the national park ranger’s place, where you can drink some water.
Afterwards, the path is no longer paved and it is pretty hard. The sight is very nice (although you’ll appreciate it better on your way down). Behind the trees you will see the center of Caracas and particularly Parque Central(Central Park) with its two huge towers, the highest in Caracas. There are also very nice views from the mountain like the one down at the right, where you can watch the area of Los Venados and La Zamurera.
We are approaching our goal: The “Avila Cross”, which is lightened every year for Christmas and can be seen from almost all the parts of the city. It is the symbol of Christmas in Caracas. Although it is difficult to relieve, there are some cyclist that reach the cross on their bikes, demonstrating a admirable strength and aerobic capacity.
Like in all the excursions in the Avila, you should always keep an eye on the exceptional nature of this natural park.
Once in Papelon, you can watch the cabins of the cable-car very close to you and greet the passengers. Probably, you envy them because of how easy it is to them to get up, but surely they also envy you because of where you are.
In Papelon there is a nice place to rest or camp, as we see in the picture in the right side of the screen. But the most spectacular and rewarding of the trip is the nice view you have of the city.
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