Last Sunday, I took a tour to go on an excursion to Galipán in El Ávila. I went with a friend as the husband did not want to join because the first part of the excursion and what I'm going to tell you in this post was to do the hiking route from the Boca de Tigre sector to Picacho de Galipán.
Picacho is the fifth highest point of the Cordillera de la Costa, the mountain range that borders Caracas to the north and separates it from the coast of the Caribbean Sea. It is located at an altitude of 1978 meters above sea level. I had been wanting to do this route for several weeks, so at the first opportunity, my friend and I signed up for an excursion organized by Cima Venezuela.
We went in a 4x4 jeep to Boca de Tigre climbing up to the mountain from a sector in the city called Cotiza. Once there, we started the hike up to Picacho.
The first part of the route, although it has some slopes, is very pleasant to walk. It goes through a small forest. The vegetation at this point is humid tropical rainforest.
So although the day was hot, this part of the hike was cool thanks to the vegetation.
At one point we suddenly left the wooded area and the vegetation began to change. As we passed by one of the electric towers placed on the mountain, we could see our destination in the distance.
There were a couple of groups of hikers ahead of us, and we could see them in the distance approaching the rocky summit.
The vegetation on this section of the route was more arid.
From this point, as we were closer to the Picacho, we could already see an amazing view of the coast.
As we were getting closer, there were some steep slopes, and the terrain here was very eroded with lots of rocks.
But also, in a good part of this section of the trail, we could see these beautiful pink flowers.
We were getting closer and closer.
And after a few more stretches of rough terrain, we reached the summit.
Already at the top, some telecommunication antennas can be seen very close.
The view of the coast from the Picacho is breathtaking. Luckily, when we arrived the sky towards the coast was very clear.
This is a panoramic view from the Picacho, and I took it while sipping a freshly brewed coffee. It was a great moment to have a coffee so near the clouds.
The view towards Galipan. You can barely see a bit of the Hotel Humbolt, a 5-star hotel on the top of the mountain built in the 50s that after many years of closure is now back in operation. But this time, the clouds were faster than me and blocked the view.
The Picacho is a rocky peak, and this is what the highest point looks like. And the view of the antennas from there.
And here I am at the top.
These pictures were taken by Fernanda, one of the guides of Cima Venezuela.
At first, I was a little reluctant to stand at the top of the Picacho. At that point, the wind blows a lot, and the currents change in a second.
But the feeling of being there was wonderful, and I'm glad I finally dared to stand on the top of the Picacho.
Satisfied, we began our return trip along the same route. And very close to the base of the big rock, I saw these beautiful flowers.
Some downhill sections where the terrain was very eroded were a bit difficult, and we had to walk close to the edge of the mountain.
Also, at some point, we had to move aside to make way for some people coming on horseback.
But in much less time than it took us to go to the Picacho, we were back to the point where we started the route where this little white and green house was.
From there, we walked to the Boca de Tigre sector where the jeep was waiting to take us to the next stage of the adventure. But I'll tell you about that another day.
If you are in Caracas and want to do this hike or any other in El Avila, I recommend Cima Venezuela. We had a great time with them, and we are planning to do other routes soon.
This is also my post for this week's #wednesdaywalk challenge hosted by @tattoodjay in collaboration with #makemesmile hosted by @elizacheng.
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