When moving countries with a family in tow, most people focus their research on healthcare, safety, and education most thoroughly. However, it is equally important to ensure that your new country can also provide some entertainment and places to visit that your family can enjoy.
Apart from its gorgeous weather, Venezuela offers you a very wide variety of ways to spend your leisure time.The country has a very varied geography – from the balmy beaches to the cold mountains, there are a number of options for you to explore. Urban centres in Venezuela, such as the capital city Caracas, also provide many fun activities for the whole family to share.
Here is a selection of fun things to do with your family in Venezuela.
Enjoy the outdoors
The tropical Venezuelan weather means you can be outdoors for a lot of the time. One of the best places to do this is in Caracas itself, in Parque del Este. This 200-acre city park, also known officially as Generalissimo Francisco de Miranda Park, is one of the most important in the city, and is made up of three distinct areas. One area is a wide open field with a rising and falling structure; another section is a thickly wooded area; and the third is a series of paved gardens adorned with murals and water bodies. This is the perfect place to go out with the family and let the kids run about. The park is also home to a planetarium, which you can visit on weekends. Other attractions in the park include a snake house and a cactus garden.
Angel Falls
Arguably Venezuela’s most visited and most popular tourist attraction, the Angel Falls is the world’s highest uninterrupted waterfall. The Paradise Falls in the animated film Up were inspired by the Angel Falls. The Falls are best seen when it has been raining – June to December is the best time of year. Getting to the Falls is a somewhat complicated task, and hence this is not a trip you should make with very young children, but preferably with children over the age of twelve. In the full season, the boat ride upriver followed by a four-hour trek is the best way to get to the falls.
Canaima National Park
This park measures about 30,000 square kilometres of protected land and is home to some of the most unique flora and fauna in the world. A very large section of the park consists of plateaus of rock called tepuis. These plateaus are millions of years old and give rise to a very unique ecological environment. In 1994, the Canaima National Park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its relief, the tepuis, which is distinctive to this region alone. The park is also the native lands of the Pemon Indians. The main attractions include: Kukenan Sunset, Mount Roraima, Kamá Falls, Angel Falls and Jaspe Creek.
Museo de los Niños
Caracas is also home to the very interesting Children’s Museum. This museum was built with the aim of teaching children between the ages of about 6 and 14 about science, technology, and the arts in a fun, interactive way, without being bookish or didactic. Instead, the exhibits have been designed in such a way that they supplement what children already know and provide additional insights into what they may be learning at school. While visiting the museum, you should call ahead to check on what limited period exhibits they have on that point. Additionally, the museum also houses a planetarium.
Zoos
Located on the outskirts of the city, the Parque Zoologico de Caricua, or the Caracas Zoo, is built on a former coffee plantation. Not only will you get to see many birds and animals that are native to Venezuela, you will also be able to see a variety of creatures native different parts of the world including African elephants in the African Plains section of the zoo. A large proportion of the animals have a degree of freedom within their enclosures. If you want to get truly up close to the animals, you may want to take your family to the El Pinar Zoo, which has a full-fledged petting zoo. You can also go to the butterfly sanctuary in this zoo or attend one of their monthly ecological festivals.
