Los Chorros Park, Miranda State, Venezuela

It may not technically be part of the city of Caracas, but it is located within Venezuela’s Capital District. It’s a bit of a trek for those of us who live downtown, but it’s nonetheless a gem and a breath of fresh air within the city. Today I want to share my experience at one of the parks farthest from my home: Los Chorros Park, located in the Sucre Municipality of Miranda State, in the area that gives the park its name. This beauty lies at the foot of the imposing northern mountain, “El Ávila,” the place that has given me so many special moments while hiking, and strangely enough, I had never visited it in the 12 years I’ve lived in the capital.

A good friend told me about this place almost nine years ago now, right when we joined the choir—the main reason we moved to a new city. He told me there was a park way out east of Caracas, near where he was renting at the time, where he could work out and jog every day in the shade of the trees, listening to the sound of water flowing through small streams. Just hearing about it amazed me, but boy, is it a long way for me, it’s practically a little trip, especially for those of us without a car. But now that I’ve been able to go, I can tell you it’s very easy to get there by public transportation, since you can catch it right in front of the popular Millennium Shopping Center, right at the “Los Dos Caminos” Metro station. From there, depending on traffic, it takes about 10 minutes.

First impressions? Well, it was love at first sight ❤️ It’s worth noting that we arrived very early—at 9 a.m. on a Sunday—and the park is open Tuesday through Sunday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., so there were few people there when we arrived, which was perfect for exploring and taking photos. That said, there were a few people who arrived before us, and later we found them settled by the rivers. Los Chorros Park is essentially a very long path you can walk along in the shade of the trees, with streams running alongside you from the moment you enter. One of the first things we noticed were some small concrete tables along the riverbank, which seemed ideal for sitting down to chat or share a snack in good company.

To our surprise, there really were a lot of streams, and I hadn't imagined there would be so many. I had heard there were pools, but practically the whole park is a river. This place isn’t free, but it might as well be, since we only paid about 220 bolivars each, which is roughly half a dollar and the only thing they did at the entrance was check our bags, mainly to make sure we weren’t bringing shampoo with us 😅 Yeah, it was weird, but I can imagine the people who made this a general rule in the park. As we went in, and while I was taking photos, lots of people started arriving, and they all had the same goal: to get in the water...

Like any park, in addition to the concrete tables where people can play chess or have a snack, there are attractions for children to enjoy outside the water, such as slides and swings. There are several shops where people can buy food, though I didn’t check the prices since my wife and I had brought coffee and cookies to enjoy while we were there, I owe you that information. There’s no shortage of restrooms at Los Chorros Park, so there’s no excuse for people to litter the green spaces. We were really surprised to see people getting into the pools—we didn’t think that was allowed in a park like this, but everyone was having a great time with their families.

I don't know if my wife and I are a boring couple or not, but I don't think we'd go swimming here—after all, it's a park where people just go to work out or take a family stroll. I'm not criticizing those who do, but it seems to me that the experience is very different from going to a river. That Sunday was a very hot day; even though we were surrounded by all this nature, the midday heat started to kick in, so we took a break, sitting right on the riverbank. Of course, we looked for a table away from the noise of the people who, since they were with kids, were shouting a lot, but there was no annoying music anywhere in the park, the background sound was literally just the flowing water ❤️

Just when we thought nothing could surprise us anymore at Los Chorros Park, we noticed a massive waterfall rising majestically in the distance. Although this was a spontaneous trip I decided on when I woke up that morning, the waterfall wasn’t something we expected to see on this hike. For safety reasons, you can only go so far in and appreciate its beauty from a distance. This waterfall marks the end of the hike, though it also means we’re halfway back, since we have to return to the entrance. I was particularly happy standing in front of it, the truth is, anything related to nature quickly captures my soul 🙏

Ever since I saw the waterfall, I’ve wondered how we hadn’t visited this place—right here in the Capital District—in the 12 years we’ve lived here, but I suppose it’s normal. With so much work, I sometimes still feel like a tourist in the very city where I live. That said, this place is quite far from our home and in a part of the capital I don’t usually visit. All that’s left is to say goodbye, hoping you enjoyed this pleasant story, a little glimpse of what we experienced on this Sunday trip. I might share more photos of us later, since there are more stories from that day, as we spent the whole time exploring the Los Chorros area. See you next time, Worldmappin!...