The PARAMO REAL inn is located on the trans-Andean highway, 1o minutes away from the MUCUBAJI lagoon, via BARINAS. This inn or “posada” was built by architect Alejandro Alcega Herrera in 1989 , with the help of his wife, Laly Ascanio de Alcega. Today it is run by their daughter,Silvia Margarita Alcega Ascanio.
In our inn you and your family will find the ideal place to rest and relax in a totally natural environment far away from the noise and stress of the city. We have 20 comfortable rooms, with typical mountain decoration, heating, hot water, carpeted floors and the warmest setting that will take you out of your daily routine. We have a restaurant where you will enjoy the typical foods of the Andean region: the delicious “pizca andina” a soup you will never forget, the most tasty “arepas” or typical corn bread, together with fresh cream and a array of typical dishes that will delight your palate. You can also plan horseback0 field trips for you and your family to the most amazing sites of the nearby lagoons. For the children there is a playground and if you want to fish, we have a pond where you can catch your own trout and have it prepared to your liking in the restaurant.
The most important attraction we can offer you are the vast green areas, since our inn is located in the heart of the MUCUBAJI farm and this is an ideal place for hiking, trekking and any other mountaineering activity.
For the devout, there is a small chapel, where you may see religious images that have come down from one generation to another in our family; this is an excellent place to medidate and be filled with positive energy.
If you like animals, we have a herd of sheep that answers to our call and there is a small Guinea fowl that has been their shepherd for years, performing his work in an impeccable manner....
Historical Data:
The name of this inn , “PARAMO REAL”, is born from a noted historical event marked by General Simon Bolivar, who started his long journey of battles by taking the most difficult route to Nueva Granada (today Colombia) and take the Spaniards by surprise by traversing the “PASO DE LOS ANDES” , which would later be named “Camino Real” or “Paso Real”. This road is very close to where our inn is located today.
As a curious fact we may add that during the construction of the inn and also that of Hotel Los Frailes, which was also built by Alejandro Alcega Herrera, there were found remains of weapons from the time of that admirable crossing of the Andes, which will soon be exhibited in a hall that we are restoring, together with the collection of photographs taken when the Hotel Los Frailes and our Paramo Real inn were built, as a homage to Alejandro Alcega, who devoted his life to the preservation of the typical architecture of the Andean towns and to promoting the beauty of the natural landscapes of the Andes.
FLORA :
The flora and fauna of the Venezuelan “paramos” is a fascinating topic for many: some of the endemic species of “frailejones” that you may find here are:
Espeletia brassica
Espeletia neriifolia or “frailejón de palito”
Espeletia atropurpurea or “frailejón oscuro”
Espeletia widelii or “frailejón de plata”
Tamania chardonii
These are the scientific names of the beautiful “frailejones”, with their yellow flowers that cover the landscape in October, the purple daisies of the TABACOTE, the fuchsia and yellow flowers of the CHISPEADOR, the blue and white of the CHOCHO, the bright yellow of the SANÍ or MUSTARD, the purple SAGE and the reddish DARNEL make up the colorful kaleidoscope of the Páramo.
FAUNA:
The varied number of species of birds in the Andean zone is mainly due to the broad offer of food. A total of 172 species of birds have been recorded, belonging to 12 orders and 32 families, among which the sparrow hawk, the owl, the mountain toucan, the woodpecker, the spixs guam or “pava de monte”, the two-colored owl, the humming bird, also known as the “chivito del páramo”, and the Venezuelan variety of Thrush, also known as SIOTE in this zone and which can be easily seen in the surroundings of our inn. We also have now the pleasure of seeing again in our mountains the majestic flight of the condor, whose extended wings may reach 2,80 mts. and may be visited in the breeding center of Bioandina that is a few minutes away from the inn, on the road to El Aguila peak.
at Paramo Real we wish to stress the need to maintain and protect our ecosystem and urge our visitors to care and protect nature!!
