Mystical places in Venezuela
2 legends · 2 cities
Regions and cities
Apure State1
Zulia State1
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De Loys's Ape
In 1920 the Swiss geologist François de Loys, prospecting for oil on the Venezuela–Colombia border, shot what he described as a large tailless ape that came at his party by the Tarra river. The single photograph — the animal propped on a crate with a stick — was published in 1929 by George Montandon as Ameranthropoides loysi, the missing link of American man; Montandon used it in a racist theory of the separate origin of races. The picture shows an ordinary white-fronted spider monkey, common in those forests: the crate gives a true height of about a metre, and the tail is hidden behind the body. De Loys's companion later said the whole thing had been a joke at Montandon's expense.
El Silbón, the Whistler
The Llanos (Los Llanos) is a vast expanse of tropical grassland plains and savanna situated within the Orinoco River basin across western Venezuela and eastern Colombia, specifically centered on the municipality of Guanarito in the state of Portuguesa, alongside Barinas and Cojedes. "El Silbón" (The Whistler) is a premier figure of northern South American folklore. Depicted as a roaming spectral patricide bearing a sack of human bones across his shoulder while emitting a chilling tonal whistle, the entity represents a foundational cultural archetype of regional Llanero cattle-ranching lore.