Venezuela - The Rough Guide to South America on a Budget - page 880

Restaurant La Esquina de Arturo C Plantél. “Art's
Corner” is a good place to sit and watch the world go by,
positioned as it is on the town's busiest intersection. Good
comida criolla comes cheap and the set breakfasts (around
BsF50) include juice. The desayuno marinero is particularly
good, while there's a great-value menu del día (BsF50) for
every day of the week, served from noon. Daily 7.30am-6pm.
Txalupa Av Principal, at C Zamora T 0259 818 6425. The
portions are big but pricey at this first-floor balcony
restaurant overlooking the malecón. If you don't want to
spend BsF100 on dinner, beers are BsF10 and the staff are
happy to keep them coming. Daily noon-10pm.

Calle hosts a weekly showing of classic
movies in a makeshift street cinema.

Churches
The centre of the casco histórico is the
Plaza Bolívar, on the east end of which
stands Venezuela's oldest Cathedral , begun
in 1583 and finished in 1634. Two blocks
north on Plaza San Clemente, the Iglesia
San Clemente was originally built in 1538
by the town's founder, Juan de Ampíes.
Totally rebuilt in the eighteenth century,
San Clemente is one of three churches in
the country built in the shape of a cross.
Beside it, a small monument contains
the Cruz de San Clemente , the wooden
cross used in the first Mass after the town
was founded.

DIRECTORY
Banks and exchange Bancoro, C Plantél, at C Calvario;
Banco Industrial (and others) on C Zamora.
Internet Byte Quest, on the south side of Paseo Bolívar
(daily 8am-8pm; BsF8/hr). Multiple computers, plus wi-fi,
scanner, photocopier. Sells camera memory cards and
recordable DVDs.
Pharmacy Several options on C Zamora, one next to Oasis
Sport (daily 8am-9pm).
Phones Comunicación los Cayos, on the west side of
C Zamora (daily 8am-8pm), offers calls, internet access,
and sells mobile phone credit for all the major networks.
There's also a Movistar call centre about 100m further
inland (Mon-Sat 8am-noon & 3-7pm).
Post The nearest post o ce is in Tucacas.

11

Colonial mansions
El Balcón de los Arcaya (Mon-Sat
9am-noon & 2.30-5.30pm, Sun
9am-noon; free) at the western edge of
the Plaza San Clemente on Calle Zamora
is a mansion once owned by the affluent
Arcaya family; it houses impressive
mastodon excavations and some less-than-
scientific diagrams. Further down the
road, the Casa de las Ventanas de Hierro
(Tues-Sun 9am-5pm; free) is a colonial
museum where the staff are kitted out in
period dress. The work of local artists is
displayed at the Casa del Tesoro (Tues-Sun
9am-5pm; free), another stately mansion
next door. A block and a half to the
northeast of Plaza Bolívar on Avenida
Talavera, the Museo de Arte de Coro
(Mon-Sat 9am-6pm, Sun 9am-1pm;
free) has temporary exhibits featuring
international names in a beautifully
restored eighteenth-century townhouse.

CORO
CORO , Venezuela's prettiest colonial town,
was named a national monument in
1950 and a World Heritage Site in 1993.
A pleasant stopover between the coast
and the mountains, Coro contains some
of the country's best backpacker
accommodation. The town is at its
prettiest in the casco histórico , where
a number of colonial mansions have
opened their doors to the public as
museums. he nearby Parque Nacional
Médanos de Coro lies on the edge of
town; a mini-desert of golden sand dunes
and wild goats.

Parque Nacional Médanos de Coro
A short taxi ride (BsF25) will take
you to the entrance of the eighty-square-
kilometre Parque Nacional Médanos de
Coro , a mini-desert where you can stroll
the sand dunes, spy on wild goats or go
sandboarding with the staff of Posada El
Gallo (see p.886). To get back to town try
hitching a ride with any of the numerous
visitors at the entrance, otherwise it's a
500m stroll to the main road where you
can hail a taxi. Robberies have occurred

WHAT TO SEE AND DO
You only need wander the sleepy streets of
central Coro to get a flavour of the town's
Spanish imperial heritage, but for a closer
look, there are museums, mansions and
churches to be visited. If you're in town
on a Tuesday, head over to the Museo de
Arte de Coro at 6pm, when Cine en la