Colonia Tovar

Finally getting around to posting these pictures. Kris' post about Tovar is below the pictures.

This is where we got a flat tire in the barrio. This was the most exciting part of the whole trip. The video is very shaky. I don't even know why I'm posting it other than right after I took the video we got a flat and Braedon announced that he had to "pee". If you look at these barrios from below, these buildings look like they are barely hanging onto the side of the hill. When you drive through them they look so different and aren't as haphazardly organized as they appear from afar. It was really hard for me to see all of the dogs roaming around. It would have been worse had there been lots of cats. I did note that I didn't see a single skinny dog, they all looked well fed so I wasn't as sad. When we passed a few puppies Kris finally gave me a dirty look that said "absolutely not, don't even think about it!"

We went to Tovar on a day that there were very few people and not much was open. Mondays are typically the days businesses recover from the weekend. Lucky us, we pretty much had the place to ourselves...well, not so fast...

What is everyone looking at? Right as I took this picture, Ambassador Duddy had just called Kris' name. He was also in Tovar giving the grand tour to his son who is visiting from college. The Ambassador is not my favorite person, in fact I don't really care for him at all, but of course Kris is cordial to him and I bite my tongue when he is around like a good little wife. He stood there and talked about himself for a while, and finally left once we had enough of a chance to bask in his glory. Once he was gone, I was able to take some cute pictures of the kids and we continued our exploration of Tovar.

Selva Negra (Black Forest) was where we ate lunch. It is also a hotel. The food was ok, but because not many places were open, there wasn't a huge selection of places to eat. The interior of the hotel and restaurant was pretty unique. Lots of woodwork and antiques. We ran into the Ambassador again, he commented that "The food here is expensive, there are some decent restaurants that are a little cheaper if you'd prefer them" What Kris wanted to say and didn't was "With all due respect sir, this is no more expensive than the restaurants in Caracas, but thanks for your concern".

If you look closely at Weston you will see that he has learned how to cross his eyes.

Looking down on Colonia Tovar from Victoria, a small village above Tovar. With the low clouds it is really hard to see much of Tovar. The houses in the foreground are on the outskirts. The hillside on the right and that one it rolls into towards the center of the picture is part of Tovar. Too bad it wasn't a clearer day.

And after it all, the boys were goners. We didn't hear a peep out of them the whole drive back which was about 2 hours. They slept like this just about the whole way home until Weston woke up and told Braedon to "get off!"



Kris' Post on Colonia Tovar:

Well, Garity and I REALLY wanted to get OUT of Caracas. This place is maddening. I have been in developing cities (PC for dirty crowded cities) in foreign countries in Latin America and Asia, but Caracas truly has a way of making someone go stir crazy. We took advantage of Memorial Day, explained to our boys why we celebrate the day and why they were getting the day off from school, then hired a driver to take us to Colonia Tovar.

Tovar (and a close by town called el Jarillo) are German settlements that were established in the 1850's. They remained isolated for decades and even retained their language, dress, and customs from Bavaria. In the mid 1900's they finally opened their doors and began to integrate themselves into the Venezuelan culture. The town bears some resemblance to traditional Germany, but it looks more like a tourist trap now. The timber framing used for the older homes has been replaced by concrete block structures that are painted to look like German buildings. It was okay, but hardly the peaceful hamlet we were told it would be. There were still the narrow roads, dirty streets and crazy drivers, but not as bad as Caracas. Fortunately, we went on a day when very few people would be there.

The trip there was the most interesting part for me. We had to drive through one of the "barrios" to get on the road to Tovar. Keep in mind that these are very dangerous and the Regional Security Officer has told all embassy staff to stay out of them unless we have to go through one to go to a place like Tovar - and even then hiring a driver is recommended. So half way through the barrio, the car we were in got a flat and Braedon had to pee. Bad news. Fortunately, the tire went flat right in front of a tire repair shop that also had a bathroom (We have no doubt Heavenly Father was watching out for us there). We got a lot of strange looks from the locals and we felt a bit apprehensive, but the van was repaired and we were on our way.

Aside from the gaunt poverty and ugly appearance of the barrios, it was actually very interesting to see them. They reminded me a lot of the shanty towns I served in in Panama, but these were much nicer. The homes in Panama were made of 4 posts in the ground with 50 gal oil drums that had been split down the sides and rolled out. They also had dirt floors. These are made from concrete block. Both have open sewers and have been built on the hillsides haphazardly. We also took note that they all had direct TV dishes, and our driver said that most had plasma TV's in their homes. Panama was the same way - dire poverty, but all the latest electronics, go figure.

We stopped at a panaderia (bread store) on the way and had fresh squeezed orange juice, sweet rolls, and pastries filled with ham for breakfast. It was all pretty good, and the boys even liked it. It reminded me a lot of the panaderias on my mission in Costa Rica. We arrived in Tovar after about 90 minutes (even though it is only 40 miles from Caracas - traffic was light, but the road is in poor condition and we averaged about 25 mph getting there). I have to be honest, I was not impressed. I liked that there were fewer people there, and it was kind of pretty (and I say that loosely), but the commercialization of Tovar has obviously destroyed the charm the place probably once had.

Anyway, we walked around, bumped into the Ambassador, and ate at a restaurant that served German food. I have had better German food, but it was not too bad. We drove back, went through the barrio again, and were glad to get back to our crummy little apartment to rest. Altogether it was nice to get out with the family. I continue to enjoy being with them more than I was in DC. Garity has some photos she took of our little trip today that she will be posting.