I either misunderstood what she told me, or she changed plans and forgot to update me. We ended up driving through Barquisimeto (in the opposite direction) then onwards for another hour or more! I was driving the second car in our caravan, swerving right and left, trying to keep the lead car in my sights as we traversed the mountainsides approaching Cubiro.
The lovely, rural area of Cubiro almost had me in tears with it's confusing ups, downs, curves and potholes! I had been prepared to drive the 3 hours to Caracas, but this extra hour or more of back and forth business was wearing on my nerves, not to mention the fact that no one really knew the way! We had to backtrack at least twice as we stumbling forward, trying to find the elusive back roads to Cubiro.
Our first views of Cubiro began to assuage my pained nerves. The rolling hills of the mountains and the deep shifting shadows began to tantalize my mind and muscles. I was ready to explore!
The shreds of fabric on the wires below are the signs of trapped kites. Families were flying kites on the hill. Kites are one of the many things sold in the handful of trinket and craft stands on this hillside.
I became mesmerized by the large goats grazing on the hillside below. I took many pictures, but wasn't able to capture the playful moment of watching the goats scooting their heads here and there for a tasty clump of grass. Perhaps a video clip would have done the trick!
After we had taken a look at the mountains surrounding us, we quickly turned out attention to the horses! We had parked our cars right by this horse track, and it was only 50 Bs for a ride around the track (50 Bs is how much a gourmet donut costs down here)! The horses were "caballos automaticos," a phrase I learned in Mexico, jokingly meaning, "automatic horses." This means that the horse knew where to go so I didn't have to learn how to master her or rely on a guide to ride the track ;-) I was relieved to see that my horse did respond very quickly to the little bit of direction I did giver her though, which was only to give ourselves a little more distance from the horses traveling next to us.
After we went horseback riding, we looked at some of the trinkets and crafts of the vendors there. I didn't think to take any pictures of that, since it resembled so many other little market areas I've been too. I realize now that I've never photographed any of the market places down here, so I'll have to do that in the future!
Trinket shopping got old eventually, so we all hopped onto a very rickety truck, probably originally built for cattle, and road down to a ravine. We held on tight as the tipsy truck grunted and swayed dangerously over deep ditches and broken areas of the steeply slanted pavement. We were all grateful when we reached the bottom, though we had laughed with each other about the sloppy ride rather than dwell on the potential danger.
The truck stopped in an open dirt area where one or two other such trucks were parked. We got out and looked to one side, then to the other. We could see that the ravine started on the right and flowed in front of us, continuing to the left. Mutually, we started wandering down the pathway to the right.
We had to climb over a rocky, somewhat steep path, but soon reached the bottom of the ravine. Most of us took off our chalky shoes and let our warm feet cool off in the cold mountain stream.
While we were cooling our feet off, the young guys in our group started to head down the stream, exploring. The two younger ladies and I soon followed along. After scrabbling over many slippery rocks, we turned a corner and saw that the guys had discovered a pool under a small cave. The water was far too cold for our liking, but we chuckled as we saw them enjoying the water. I enjoyed watching the reflection of the rushing stream twinkle on the surface of the wet cave above.
There were a few cavernous areas along the part of the stream that we explored, but unfortunately none of us caught a good photo of them. Suffice it to say, we were glad we had made our careful way over the rocks in order to see them!
When we were done clambering over rocks and looking at the caves, we made our way back to the path and put our shoes back on. Time to head back to the top of the mountainside!
I can't remember if we ate before or after our trek along the river, but I have to mention the delicious food! What a tasty lunch it was!
We had gone looking for lunch along the street we took to get to the horse area. There were many street vendors there, selling food, desserts or arts and crafts. Some of the food places had huge pots of boiling corn cobs or a homemade soup. Almost all of the small open restaurants had arrepas or cachapas (check out my other blogs for more info on these local foods).
The scent that my nose followed came from one of the larger open restaurants. A woman was grilling some sumptuous-smelling chicken. I never find chicken in my local grocery store, and I'm not very good at cooking it when I do, so when I see it in restaurants it always catches my attention.
When I sat down to lunch with everyone, the only food I had a taste for at the time was this chicken. I was determined to get a good portion of it, so I ordered it alone! It isn't normal to do such a thing, so I ended up with a medium sized plate of rice, chicken, and the ever present coleslaw salad, which turned out to be decent side dishes. The chicken was simply wonderful! I've never had such juicy, yet crispy fried chicken! I think even my southern friends would have agreed that this chicken rivaled Popeyes. I would gladly pay three times what I paid for that meal in order to taste it again!
When the sun was still warm on our backs, we were told it was time to go. The long ride home was already looming in our minds, and most of us had work the next day. Thankfully, we only had one back-tracking incident at the beginning or our return journey, and the rest was a long but safe ride home.
As I look again at these pictures and remember our adventures there, I am reminded for the thousandth time that Venezuela is a beautiful country, full of natural and cultural delights. I am always being introduced to new and exciting places and experiences!
