隆Hello dear friends of Hive!
As always, I hope to find you well and happy 馃槏
You know, I've been flirting with the idea of posting something on this community, since I've read so much interesting posts with amazing views to say the least. But I didn't knew what to write about, I mean, I have traveled but it has been too long since the last time and I don't have any pictures., at least any good ones. Snif Snif!
Then I thought,
Hey Dummy! You have an interesting topic to write about and it's right there in your city!
I'm talking about Aristides Rojas Natural Monument, or as we townsfolk know it, Los Morros de San Juan.
San juan de los Morros is a small town located in Guarico State in Venezuela, my hometown. As a small town we tend to overlook the gifts we have even living in a place where to be honest, not much happens.
We don't have a movie teather, or a mall, and the entertaiment business is almost non existent. But, every morning, one of the first things we get to see when we go to work, or to jog, or when we open our window is the mountain, Los Morros.
They are a system of hills or peaks formed of limestone rocks and also has a series of caverns as a result of the erosive action of the water; Its interior has a seasonal climate, which is divided between six months of rain and the same average period of drought, with a temperature of 29 掳 C.
They are almost 80 million years old! Source
I went up there many years ago, I believe I was 18 at the time. Sadly no pictures, but many memories. When we did it there was no park ranger around, even being a Natural National Monument, there was nobody around to guide us or anything. Gladly, one of the group has gone up several times and knew his way in and out.
After we finished climbing the first mountain, a normal kind of mountain, we got to the feet of the Morro, the tricky part. There are steel ladders to climb the mountain; these ladders are pretty wide so you have to have strength in your knees and legs to go up carefully.
It's scary though, you look to your right and all you see is the abyss that waits you if you fall, so, don't look down!
When you reach the top there is a sort of lighthouse or beacon and you can climb that also. You see everything, all of the town and far. I recognized Villa de Cura toll box and a post on a local homestead where they sell pork skin cracklings. The breeze is so strong that the lighthouse moves from one side to another., I got down quickly.
The caves are awesome, you can rest peacefully and grab a bite to eat while doing it. There are some that say that there are some thermal water ponds, but I didn't get to see them.
My college graduation with the Monument at my back
Its a hard climb, because it has two stages, the plain mountains and hill and then the rocky Morro, but it's worth it, the view is amazing, the air is clean, the memories you get from the trip are awesome, and if you live here is cheap, it wont cost you much, just the snaks you want to take with you!
My friends and I are thinking of do it soon, I know I can't, I'll be a liability for them if I join the group, but I can see myself back in the day, exploring it, feeling it.
Now I have the contemplative life, and everytime I see it I just feel warm and whole, it's my town, my home. That Monument has seen all of us townsfolk been born, the first crawl, the first walk, the first word, school, high school, college graduations with it as a picture enhancer, weddings, celebrations, you name it, so its natural to feel it like part of us, and me personally will always treasure it within my heart 馃挄馃挄