Hotel in Caraballeda, a photo from Vargas, West

Photographer's Note

I found this one while I was digging the scans archives. I am aware that it's nothing special, but it serves as a pretext to put another orange spot on the map of my intro page.

The place looked like a seaside tourist resort, with at least two big hotels (this one and a Sheraton just beside it) near a marina, a golf course and some wealthy villas blocks. I got the impression that the area had seen better days, perhaps in the 1970's and early 1980's, as it was quite deserted and many parts were in a decaying state, namely an heliport and some demolished quarters. The area was very scenic, with tall green mountains just near the sea. While I was looking for its location in Google Earth I discovered that there are many peaks surpassing 2000/2400 meters (6500/8000 ft) less than 8 Km (5 mi) away from the sea. We could appreciate that from the airplane that brought us from Portugal, as it flew for more than half an hour following the coastline until it landed on the Caracas airport, which is also on the coast, less than 20 Km (12 mi) away from the POV. I use to say that we can have an idea of the disparate unevenness of wealth distribution in Venezuela just by looking at the airplane window while flying here, as we see lots of good looking condoms by the sea with gardens and swimming pools, surrounded by tall walls and lots of modest little homes and slums scattered on the slopes.

In December 1999 the area made the headlines of the TV news world wide when heavy rains provoked massive floods and landslides [te post] made 200,000 homeless and killed nearly 30,000 people, who submerged in mud or were dragged to the sea.

The region is very poorly represented in TE. Incidentally, the only panoramique view of the coast and the mountains is from someone who seems to be a Portuguese immigrant in Venezuela or at least Portuguese descendant, considering his name (Jos� de Sousa) and his posts of Portugal. There are many Portuguese immigrants in Venezuela, maybe between 300,000 and 500,000, who came mainly from the Madeira island and Aveiro region. There were some Portuguese among the victims of the 1999 catastrophe, as the area is home to many Portuguese immigrants.

Location (latitude, longitude): 10.6166,-66.8384

paura, crckt, feather, danos, lucasgalodoido, parbo, TopGeo, cobbydale, trekks, jusninasirun, jwmunro, xuaxo, COSTANTINO, Bluejeans, ruisc_pt has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

crckt (7222) 2008-04-11 18:39

Hi Jose,
PRETTY!!! WOW! This can be a perfect post card from Venezuela! I think if you showed this to the hotel owners they would buy it.
TFS,
Regards,
Shaeri

feather (51130) 2008-04-12 2:46

Ah! so you are on a mission to colour in your map! It's good to see the hotel owners didn't chop down the palm trees. The loungers make and colourful pattern and some interesting reflections.
Kath

[2]

paura (25802) 2008-04-12 2:52

Jos�,
Est� muito linda essa fotografia do "Caraballeda hotel". Tem inclusive qualidade comercial, para o hotel. Um pouco de ru韉o no canto superior direito, n鉶?

Abra鏾

Paulo

danos (110407) 2008-04-12 5:52

Ola Jose,
impressive the shot of this hotel in Caraballeda.Excellent the colours and the light as the sharpness too.The most i like is the clear blue sky.and the reflections on the water.Informative your note too.

Have a nice weekend,danos

lucasgalodoido (27698) 2008-04-12 11:54

Ol� Jos�,
muito interessante essa diagonal do pr閐io ma foto, as cores da imagem ficaram 髏imas, assim como a qualidade e o reflexo das cadeiras na piscina, belo trabalho amigo. Uma nota bem interessante tamb閙.
Parab閚s e Abra鏾!

zeynepe (0) 2008-04-12 12:39

Hi Jose,
You are so honest:)Thanks to you we visited some of the places in Venezuela.
Nice picture .
Have a nice weekend,
Zeynep Erek

parbo (11092) 2008-04-12 14:51

Ol� Jos�,

Very good view part of pool with colorful reflections. The curve on facade coming from design of building that creates a very nice ambiance with its dark story lines and trees too. Congratulations for also new orange colored, valuable stain in your info page.

Parab閚s e Abra鏾!

Ertugrul

TopGeo (38220) 2008-04-13 0:56

Hi Jose! excellent shot! The marvelous Hotel and with the way that him you captured impresses. The colors exceptional and the clarity of also your picture also. It is a important part for eve. I thank you, and I regards
Georgios

cobbydale (1958) 2008-04-13 2:09

Hi Jos�, certainly looks a nice hotel and the pool looks very inviting too (it's quite similar to a shot I have of the Oberoi in Bangalore), but I think it's your accompanying notes about Venezuela, and its under-representation on TE, that are of most importance here. A worthy post.
cheers
Leon

trekks (14348) 2008-04-13 4:42

Wow, Jose, 1993! Venezuela and a color on your map! Just as what my other TE friend is trying to do!

Really a great photo quality to last that many years and the color still good.

tfs, bill

jusninasirun (17529) 2008-04-13 5:06

Hello Jose. Nice looking hotel with swaying palms along the pool. Inviting scene in nice weather. Thanks for sharing and best regards. Jusni

jwmunro (286) 2008-04-13 7:47

Hello Jose -

Coloring the map I see? This is a well executed image but the subject mater is a bit uninspiring IMO. The colorful deck chairs save the scene as they add visual interest, but I think more interest would be generated with with some people out and about.

Thank for sharing.

John

xuaxo (6854) 2008-04-13 8:09

Ol� Jos�,
Para pintar o teu mapa do TE at� nem est� mal :-) � uma foto com um bom efeito gr醘ico, com as cadeiras para dar cor e as palmeiras para quebrar a monotonia.
Como foto publicit醨ia do Meli� Caribe faltar-lhe-ia umas pessoas nas cadeiras ou piscina.
Um abra鏾,
F

UnTrained (0) 2008-04-15 1:29

Ol� Jos�,
this one astonishes me. Good colours and clarity but in my eyes very much a typical tourist one. Reminds me a bit to my one from the pool on Ibiza. The lens distortion creates a tilt on the left half, the logo of the hotel is incomplete but the quality of the scan is good and the reflection of the chairs has a certain charm.
But you mentioned it yourself, nothing special.
teg�

COSTANTINO (117726) 2008-04-16 5:18

Hi JOSE,
Hello my friend and thanks for your photo
that makes me dreaming a travel directly
to that hotel..Pretty photo very warm
which describes the subject with the best
way...
Thanks for sharing

Costantino

Bluejeans (64251) 2008-04-16 5:23

Oi amigo ,
Que belo trabalho de scan est� de grande qualidade ,palmeiras s鉶 gigantes quase que tapam o hotel , 髉timos reflexos , gostei do 鈔gulo de vis鉶 do hotel em diagonal ,parab閚s!!!
Um abra鏾 Gon鏰lo

jmdias (116405) 2008-04-16 17:35

z�

gostei desta luz e do pov. as linhas brancas do edif韈io contrastam bem com os coqueiros. As cadeiras coloridas e a piscina tamb閙 nos d鉶 id閕a de um para韘o tropical.

abra鏾s

jorge

ruisc_pt (11594) 2008-04-17 11:13

N鉶 s� marcaste o ponto no mapa mas al閙 disso tens aqui uma digitaliza玢o impec醰el.
A nota � um aut阯tica reportagem jornal韘tica.
Um ab
Rui

mikeo (12129) 2008-04-18 1:14

Hello Jose,

Its 'just a hotel' but showed it in a really nice way. Composition with palms and good POV creates sunny, holiday climate in this exotic country. I also like these colourful loungers:)

Best greetings,
Mikeo

Miguel82 (47110) 2014-10-03 15:01

Nice view showing the interior of a hotel with sunbeds Jose, bright tons