Caripe del Gu�charo 'Caripe of the Oilbird'. The name makes reference to a colony of nocturnal birds which lives in a cave, the Cueva del Gu�charo, where Alexander von Humboldt studied them in 1799, at the beginning of his South American journeyings. The oilbird's scientific name, Steatornis caripensis, means 'fat-bearing bird of Caripe'; the squabs were harvested by the local Indians in Humboldt's time, and rendered for oil. They are now protected, as the cave was Venezuela's first-designated national monument (the "Monumento Nacional Alejandro de Humboldt"). The cave is the centerpiece of the (later-established) Cueva del Gu�charo National Park, which helps protect the birds' environment.
Venezuela is much more than beaches, believe it or not. Mountain biking in search of the famous Guacharo cave in the Caripe area, we experienced beautiful mountain scenery, orange plantations and banana groves
