Llovizna Falls is a waterfall on the

Caroní River The Caroní River is the second most important river of Venezuela, the second in flow, and one of the longest, from the Kukenan tepui through to its confluence with the Orinoco River. The name "Caroní" is applied starting from the confluenc ...

, close to its confluence with the

Orinoco The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers approximately 1 million km2, with 65% of it in Venezuela and 35% in Colombia. It is the List of rivers by discharge, f ...

, located in the Llovizna Park, Puerto Ordaz,

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

. The nearby

Macagua Dam The Macagua Dam, officially known as Antonio José de Sucre, is an embankment dam with concrete gravity sections on the Caroní River in Ciudad Guayana, Bolívar State, Venezuela. It is upstream from the confluence of the Caroni and Orinoco Rive ...

has reduced the flow over the waterfall in recent years, but the cascade continues to be spectacular and returns to its former glory several times a year when the floodgates of the dam are opened. ''(Llovizna - "yoviz-nah", is Spanish for mist, drizzle, spray).''

Activities

The Llovizna Park is very big, and it has many green areas and benches where family and friends can spend a good time. In the stone theater, located close to the entrance of the park, visitors can enjoy the different shows and plays that locals do to entertain the community and raise the visits of the park. Family and friends can also do a picnic. The park has one restaurant that sells the typical plates from the state such as, Arepas,

Empanada An empanada is a type of baked or fried turnover (food), turnover consisting of pastry and stuffing, filling, common in Culture of Spain, Spain, other Southern European countries, North African countries, South Asian countries, Latin American c ...

, Tequeño, and many other things. Exercise and training are other activities you can do in the park. The park offers very wide and safe walkaways used by people to ride bicycles, run, jog, or just walk. There are also training machines that are free for visitors. For the tourists, the park offers a bus tour that takes the visitors to the most special spots of the park such as the Stone Theater, the waterfall, the iron bridge, and many other places.

Recommendations for Visitors

It is recommended to wear sports shoes and clothes that would make you feel comfortable in the hot temperature and humidity of the park. There are many rocks and bridges so go prepared for this. Beware of the snakes, do not leave children alone, and check out the places where you stop by. Venezuela is a country with no seasons other than wet and dry, so visitors can go to the park any time of the year.

Biodiversity of the Park

With Venezuela being one of the top most

biodiverse Biodiversity is the variability of life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distributed evenly on Earth ...

nations on earth, the park is naturally full of flora and fauna, with many

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

species being found there. One of the most common animals in the park is the tufted capuchin; although these monkeys may appear curious and display a mischievous interest in park visitors, humans are not authorized to touch or feed the monkeys (or any wild animals), as they carry disease and have large, sharp canine teeth, which they are liable to use. Monkeys are notoriously ill-tempered and can become possessive of the most benign of objects (such as food, hats, sunglasses, etc), and will retaliate quickly if they feel offended or manipulated. Feeding them makes the monkeys lose their fear of humans, leading to future potential conflicts and even monkey deaths. The park is also home to a wide variety of

invertebrates Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordate subphylum ...

, including large

spiders Spiders (order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species di ...

, such as the

tarantula Tarantulas comprise a group of large and often hairy spiders of the family Theraphosidae. , 1,100 species have been identified, with 166 genera. The term "tarantula" is usually used to describe members of the family Theraphosidae, although ...

s '' Psalmopoeus irminia'' and '' Epicadus''. The park also has a wide variety of

reptiles Reptiles, as commonly defined, are a group of tetrapods with an ectothermic metabolism and Amniotic egg, amniotic development. Living traditional reptiles comprise four Order (biology), orders: Testudines, Crocodilia, Squamata, and Rhynchocepha ...

and

amphibia Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniotic, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all tetrapods, but excluding the amniotes (tetrapods with an amniotic ...

ns, including several species of the diminutive poison arrow frogs, considered to be the ‘jewels’ of the forest. These tiny amphibians are so small they must eat tiny insects, notably

ants Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of ...

and certain

beetles Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...

, which produce elements such as

formic acid Formic acid (), systematically named methanoic acid, is the simplest carboxylic acid. It has the chemical formula HCOOH and structure . This acid is an important intermediate in chemical synthesis and occurs naturally, most notably in some an ...

; the frogs are able to retain these compounds in their bodies, effectively rendering them deadly if consumed by a potential predator (captive poison arrow frogs lose this capability due to an altered diet of crickets and fruit flies). Their vivid coloration is a warning signal, in nature, that translates as “poisonous”. The largest and most recognized reptile is likely the

green anaconda The green anaconda (''Eunectes murinus''), also known as the giant anaconda, emerald anaconda, common anaconda, common water boa, or southern green anaconda, is a semi-aquatic boa species found in South America and the Caribbean island of Trin ...

. The natural biodiversity of the park is largely due to two the rivers flowing through the area, one of them being the second-longest on the continent (the Orinoco). The park is located in the Guayana natural region.

Stories and folklore of the Park

The Tragedy of the Teachers

In August 1964, a tragedy happened in the park. The iron chain bridge used to be a wood chain bridge. A group of about 300 teachers from different states of the country met to celebrate the Teachers Convention and they were all excited to see the bridge that has a view to the waterfalls and the

. When the teachers started to cross the bridge, the bridge could not resist it and it broke. The teachers fell down the rocky river and many of them died because of the many rocks that the river has. Around 50 people died and some of the bodies have not been found yet.

The Girl Eaten by an Anaconda

This is the folklore of the park. The people from the city of

Ciudad Guayana Ciudad Guayana () (English: Guayana City) is a city in Bolívar State (Venezuela), Bolívar State, Venezuela. It stretches 40 kilometers along the south bank of the Orinoco, Orinoco river, at the point where it is joined by its main tributary ...

tell a story of a little girl who was sitting under a tree and an

Anaconda Anacondas or water boas are a group of large boas of the genus ''Eunectes''. They are a semiaquatic group of snakes found in tropical South America. Three to five extant and one extinct species are currently recognized, including one of the l ...

that was hanging in the tree ate her. Even though this story is fake, it has made people be more careful with their children. However, there have been Anaconda attacks in the park, and animal control works to keep these snakes out of the park.

References

External links

Venelogia, Llovizna Park
-Park information
MiNube, Llovizna Park
-Visitor's opinion

-Pictures of Llovizna Falls

-Advises for visitors {{coord, 8, 18, 57, N, 62, 40, 27, W, type:waterbody_source:kolossus-eswiki, display=title Waterfalls of Venezuela Orinoco basin Geography of Bolívar (state)