Farms and a Brazilian Steakhouse!

I was out in Valencia at a Rotary Conference (soon to be written about) and went out to meet a Portuguese friend (he's practically Venezuelan- he's lived here since 1986!) at his farm in San Francisco de Asis, outside of Maracay. I loved the feeling of being out in the country, away from the insanity and noise of Caracas. It was refreshing to be around extensive grassy areas and animals.






I'd never been to a chicken farm before, so this was a new experience for me. The cheep-cheep of the newborn chicks was therapeutic, as was getting to play with them a little bit.

This little one only weighed 35 grams because she just hatched the night before. The coloring on her head is from a vaccine that there are given immediately upon arrival. Noé told me that the chicks hatch at night at another farm and are brought to him the next morning, before their first meal. That way, he has total control over what they eat and their health.

Weighing the little one. Here you can see the first feathers that grow on the wings. Because of that, they don't stay for very long in these cages with the doors open.

Once in awhile they get a couple of outcasts...roosters! These little guys somehow made it into the mix of hens and will be separated soon. Obviously, for an egg (and not breeding) farm, it's not advantageous to have a bunch of roosters running around! Noé told me that out of the 42,000(!!) chicks that were delivered to him, only a handful turn out to be roosters, as seen by their distinctive markings.

"Run for it, guys!! Jump out here and save yourselves!!" is what it seems like these chicks are saying. Honestly, I felt bad for them, living their whole lives in cages... :( but found this image hilarious because it looks like they're trying to organize a break-out. :)


Apparently the practice as chicks pays off- this hen (that looks semi-rooster to me) managed to fly the coop!! But not for long... Noé is an expert chicken-catcher.

It took him less than 10 seconds to catch the runaway!

After our afternoon on the farm, we went to this amazing Brazilian "churrasquería," or steakhouse, Pare Stop Centro Turístico. I was way too busy being fascinated by the seemingly endless tables of food and waiters who kept coming by the table to offer us any of many delicious meats and even pineapple roasted with cinnamon and sugar. The latter was my favorite and I went for seconds- there's no better desert! And the battered-fried bananas were out of this world. There were tables of sushi, seafood, jamón serrano, cheeses, veggies and anything else imaginable.

The photo above is of one of our many waiters pouring us a shot of the Spanish liqueur "43". It was quite tasty, but VERY strong. Since it has to be served very cold, the bottle is frozen into a block of ice so that when it is being wheeled around on the drinks cart, it stays cold. By the way, he didn't spill a drop!

The photos on this blog show every different part of the restaurant except the sushi bar(!!) and the women's restroom. He comments that the experience to the steakhouse made him feel like Alice in Wonderland. Kudos to the blogger for a great entry! As you can see, Pare Stop is a must-visit for anyone coming to Caracas.