Los Llanos (Venezuela)

Venezuela's Llanos is sparsely populated, mostly by tough farmers and cowboys living off the region's main activity, extensive cattle-ranching.

• Amazing wildlife including anacondas, the ubiquitous capybaras and caimans, hundreds of bird species, and the much rarer jaguars and anteaters. This is also the last stronghold of the Orinoco Crocodile.
• Stunning flat landscapes.

• Go on a plains safari from at one of the ranches in the region.
• Dance to joropo - the traditional Llanos music.

• Chiguire, or capybara, meat.
• Venezuela's best beef

Budget

Mid-range

• Hato La Fe

  phone: +58 414 3254188, +58 414 468874
  address: At km 51 of the Calabozo-San Fernando de Apure national highway, right at the entrance to the town of Corozopando, Guarico state

• Posada Doña Bárbara

  phone: +58 251 269-2304 (Reservations), +58 273 552-3208 (Posada)
  address: On the San Silvestre-San Rafael de Canaguá road in Barinas state, 60 minutes from the state capital.

• Hato el Frío

  phone: +58 240 8083662, +58 416 5409420
  An excellent ranch and biological station

• Hato El Cedral

  phone: +58 212 7818995
  address: Near Mantecal, in the lower Llanos of Apure

• Hato Piñero

  phone: +58 212 991-8935,+58 212 9910079
  address: In the central Llanos, southwestern Cojedes

• Hato Araguaquén

  address: in Cunaviche

Splurge