Riqui Riqui is the private home and dream come true for Ani Villanueva located in the Henry Pittier National Park in the mountains above Choroni and the Caribbean Sea. She fell in love with the forest and land in 1991 and began construction using local builders experienced in the local construction techniques using bamboo and mud. Surprisingly the primitive materials add a sense of the land and culture that is beatific. The home is wide open to the awe of the rain forest. They share each other.
Equally integral to the beauty and functionality of the home is that it serves as Ani's studio where she paints most often from local themes. The home is adorned with art by Ani as well as other well known and not so well known artists who shared time here.
Ani has brought her approach and care for this forest from her experience as director of the private wildlife reserve in the Venezuelan lowlands called Hato Piņero. She has also worked since 1989 as a consltant for eco-tourism and sustained development in protected areas.
Breakfast is served on the veranda as hummingbirds, parrots and colorful butterflies
fly through. You are sitting within earshot of the Choroni river amidst stands of bamboo,
heliconia's and banana plants and huge 200 foot tall trees. Keeping an eye out for
wildlife and plants becomes the 
ever-present background
to all activities. Following breakfast the river welcomes bathers for a cool
arising massage in it's rapids and waterfalls. A little sunbathing on the warm rocks
and it's back to the veranda and the library for a late morning read before lunch.
All meals are prepared fresh and gourmet using local agriculture. From here it's on to the mountains the beaches or the sea depending on your wishes. Sea the excursions page for more details.
