The southern
part of Caracas, set on the rolling hills, is the most heterogeneous.
Here are some of Caracas’ wealthiest suburbs and also numerous
pockets of ramshackle barrios, sometimes neighboring each other.
Please
note that additional info (prices, activities, etc) are found
to the right of this pages. 
Parque Zoológico
de Caricuao
 This
is Caracas’ main zoo, located in the far southwestern suburb
of Caricuao, about 10km from the center, but easily accessible
by metro. Get off at Zoológico station (terminus of the
line), from where it’s a seven minute walk to the zoo’s
entrance.
The zoo has a selection of
native birds, reptiles and mammals, plus some imported big cats
and elephants. Most animals seem to enjoy a fair degree of freedom
in their enclosures, and some, including monkeys, peacocks, ibis,
flamingos and macaws, are virtually free. The zoo is open 9 am
to 4 pm Tuesday to Sunday. There’s also the small Parque
Zoológico El Pinar, 4km southwest of the center, but it’s
poorer and not as convenient to get to.
Fundación de
Etnomusicología y Folklore
 Commonly
referred to as FUNDEF, this foundation aims at preserving traditional
popular Latin American culture, carrying out research programs
and collecting artifacts. The museum on the premises features
changing exhibitions of popular arts and crafts, including pottery,
basketry, woodcarving and textiles. It’s open 8:30 am to
noon and 2 to 4:30 pm weekdays, 10 am to 3 pm weekends. The foundation
( Ph. No. 693 9508, 6939845) is in a fine old house known as ‘Mansíon
Zuloaga’ and is in Quinta Micomicona, Avenida Zuloaga, Los
Rosales. It is two blocks east from La Bandera metro station.
El Hatillo
A
small old town 15km southeast of the city center, El Hatillo is
today a distant suburb of Caracas. Like Petare, it lived its own
life for centuries until becoming a part of Caracas’ metropolitan
area. Centered on Plaza Bolívar, the town still retains
some of its colonial architecture. The parish church on the plaza
has preserved its exterior pretty well, but its interior was radically
(and rather controversially) modernized. Many central houses have
been restored and painted in bright colors, which gives the town
an attractive and lively look.
 El
Hatillo has become a trendy weekend getaway for caraqueños
and is packed with cars and people on Saturday and Sunday. Every
house is a restaurant, café, boutique, art gallery or handicraft
shop. The biggest craft shop, the Hannsi, is half a block north
of the church. The recent explosion of eating outlets has been
extraordinary, and today you can find most major foreign cuisines,
from French and Italian to Japanese and Thai.
Frequent
carritos
(small buses) run to El Hatillo from Avenida Humboldt, just off
Boulevard de Sabana Grande, near the Chacaito metro station. |
