La Llovizna Park: waterfalls, river and jungle in the middle of the city

My first time in the Bolívar state, the largest in Venezuela with 242,801 square km, was to visit an uncle who was living there at the time. I took advantage of a few days off that I had at work to travel and get to know a little of this great and rich region.

I went by plane on a Thursday afternoon from the Maiquetía airport, near Caracas, to Puerto Ordaz, Bolívar state, in southern Venezuela. The flight lasted about an hour and I got there at around nine at night. Since my uncle could not come looking for me at that time because he lived in Ciudad Bolívar (one hour from Puerto Ordaz) and preferred not to drive at night, I stayed in an inn.

The next day, after having for breakfast some delicious "empanadas", I grabbed my small backpack, my only luggage, and tried to walk to Parque La Llovizna, which they told me was not far away, but I got lost hahaha and well I took a taxi, in that place I had agreed with my uncle that we were going to meet.

When I got to the park I called him, "I'm here," he said and I started looking for his car in the parking lot, an old LTD, a whole classic hehehe. I had time without seeing my uncle, my mother's brother, we started the walk immediately. My uncle knew this park well, also the Bolívar state and almost all of Venezuela, he has influenced me a lot in terms of my passion to visit new places, to travel, to browse.

La Llovizna is a natural space converted into an urban park with an area of 200 hectares. As soon as you arrive you feel the freshness because it has many trees, a lot of vegetation and as you walk through its wooded areas you discover the beautiful waterfalls and see wildlife like the monkeys that live free there.

The 20-meter-high fall, the protagonist of the place, is the most striking in the Caroní basin, the second largest river in Venezuela after the Orinoco. When you approach it, you feel as if someone were pouring water on you with a spray bottle, that's why it was called The Drizzle (La Llovizna).

When inquiring about the history of this park, I found that the responsible for its creation was Edelca (Electrificación del Caroní CA), an electricity generation company that was the largest in Venezuela and was part of the Venezuelan Corporation of Guayana, which is in charge of mining (bauxite, iron, aluminum, gold, diamonds, among others) and forestry for the industrial and hydroelectric development of the country.

After years of technical studies, the Venezuelan State decided to take advantage of the mighty waters of the Caroní River, where La Llovizna waterfall is located, building a dam there, work started in 1956 and completed in 1961, known as Macagua Dam - Antonio José de Sucre Hydroelectric Plant.

A short time later, in 1964, La Llovizna Park was opened to the public, currently the most visited tourist attraction in Puerto Ordaz. I don't doubt it, it's a spectacular place where the sound of the water surrounds you, the landscape of the waterfalls, the freshness that the vegetation gives while you walk the different trails and the birds and animals that make life there in freedom.

Although this place is intervened by the human hand due to the construction of the dam and the works that were done to make La Llovizna waterfall accessible to the public in the form of an urban park, its exuberant natural beauty was not overshadowed.

For example, many of the paths and bridges in the park were made with the fragmented stones that were left when the Macagua fall was blown up, on which the dam is located, thus taking advantage of this material by integrating it into the site's decoration.

After being welcomed by the monkeys that live in the trees of the park, with my uncle we went first to a part that has trails on the water. In that lagoon there are many fish and birds that go to cool off and eat.

The Bolívar state is hot and the humidity is always present, in the tour of this park as well, but when we entered the path that leads to La Llovizna waterfall, as it is a wooded area, we feel a lot of freshness.

It's very exciting to hear the sound of the water falling but you still don't see the waterfall and suddenly as you move forward you have before you that incredible flow of the Caroni river near its confluence with the Orinoco river.

La Llovizna Park has several islands that have been connected by paths, bridges and nature trails, when doing the tour we saw these places: small cascades, streams, waterfalls ... some calm but others with very abundant water that was scary to see them pass under the bridge where we were standing.

When you get to the viewpoint of La Llovizna fall, going down concrete stairs, you can feel the droplets and you can watch the water show in all its splendor from various angles.

Also from there you can see the Macagua II dam and the Cachamay soccer stadium. La Llovizna, together with the Loefling, Cachamay and Punta Vista parks make up a circuit of natural spaces that show visitors to the city of Puerto Ordaz the last kilometers of the waters of the Caroní river before they fall into the largest river in Venezuela, the Orinoco.

Photo: In the background the Cachamay stadium

Photo: With my dear uncle in the viewpoint of La Llovizna fall

Photo: At the viewpoint of La Llovizna fall

Other spaces and services that this park offers for recreation are: El Danto lagoon, where you can take a boat or kayak ride and feed the fish; the Teatro de Piedra (Stone Theater), for various cultural gatherings; churuatas, to celebrate birthdays or meetings; a cafe, to buy food and drinks; a little train, to take a tour of the whole place; and a craft market to purchase original items.

Many people go to La Llovizna to perform various activities such as jogging, yoga, dance therapy, acrobatics and many more.

Photo: Churuata, house of indigenous construction

Photo: Detail of the roof of the churuata

Other people simply go to relax among the energy of hundreds of trees such as samanes, ceibas, araguaneyes, oaks, mangoes, mahogany, and the naked Indian.

Photo: With the naked Indian, a tree with a bark that seems varnished, whose scientific name is Bursera simaruba

Just as we started the walk through La Llovizna, with the reception of the funny monkeys, so we ended it, with them saying goodbye. They are very used to human presence and many people give them little things to eat. I took the opportunity to take some close-up photos.