In  1843, a group of mostly German colonists (240 men and 151 women), arrived to establish a colony.  After spending some time in quarantine due to a disease that had broken out on board, the group made the long walk up into the mountains outside Caracas.  Most of them were from the Kaiserstuhl region, and the area reminded them of the Black Forest back home.  After a few months, they brewed their first craft beer, a sign they were truly settling in.  Unfortunately for us, the old factory has been relocated recently, and there was nothing but Polar and a few other local Venezuelan brews to be found!

We spent sometime in the museum and walking around town.  The architecture is straight from Germany, and reminded us a bit of Hahndorf, the German town we visited outside Adelaide in Australia.  These days the Colonia Tovar is a great spot to escape from the city without going too far.  We enjoyed our walkabout and, of course the local strawberries, peaches and apricots, a wide variety of German sausages and sweets.  There are lots of excursions into the forest and out to the old homesteads and farms we saved for another trip.  It would be great to come for a weekend and stay at one of the cosy chalets with a wood fire in the lobby!

Before heading home, we stopped at La Casita de Fondue for a leisurely dinner.  For photos click HERE.