I am determined to get a video of this as it is almost impossible to describe. Driving in Caracas is a true adventure. Caracas is in a valley that runs directly East-West. On the North and South sides of the city are hills and mountains. It seems that the roads that are located on those hills follow the natural drainage patterns that nature established years ago. The developers of these hillside neighborhoods also forgot to put in any artificial drainage systems to handle the torrential downpours that drench this metropolis on a weekly basis during the 5 month rainy season.
My hilltop apartment complex has a serpentine road that leads us down to the valley - and as the road winds it way down the hill, it is joined by other roads to create a main artery that ends up at the Autopista in the valley. It seems that signage is missing at most of the intersections of merging traffic and each juncture becomes a game of chicken. When in Rome, I guess. I seem to grab my chair, squeeze my eyes shut and hold my breath each time we do this - and I am quite sure that Eric, my driver, finds this quite amusing. Thankfully, my kids are oblivious in the back seat with their IPODS, just singing away.
We brought the kids home last week during one of the downpours. Seriously, Galveston has nothing on a Caracas rainstorm. It is as if God vomits water onto the city. So here we are, winding our way back up the hill as sheets of water are running DOWN the hills along the roads. There were actually WAVES running down the roads. The visual dynamic was incredible. It felt as if our minivan would get swept away at any minute. Quite thrilling actually. Of course we made it home no problem - I certainly would have wrote sooner with a much better story if we had not. Will try to capture the experience soon.
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