Teleferico de Caracas, Cable car system in Caracas, Venezuela.
The Teleferico de Caracas connects the city with the mountain summit across a three-kilometer route through the national park. The gondolas glide above dense cloud forest and climb nearly 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) from the base station to the highest point.
The system opened in 1955 under President Marcos Perez Jimenez and was considered a showcase engineering project of its time. After two decades of operation, it had to close in the late 1970s due to technical difficulties and was only restarted decades later.
The system takes its name from the coastal range that separates the capital from the sea and has shaped the city's daily life for centuries. Rides to the top are popular among locals on free days, when families travel together to reach the heights and picnic or hike there.
The ride from the base in the Mariperez neighborhood to the mountain station takes around 15 minutes. The system opens midday on Wednesdays through Fridays and in the morning on weekends, though exact times may vary slightly with season and weather conditions.
From the upper station on clear days you can see both the sprawl of the capital and the Caribbean Sea coastline. On some days clouds drift through the station itself and wrap visitors and buildings in thick fog.
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