Sawt Falasteen - 'Blessed town' on Venezuelan coast escapes quake damage

The twin tremors on June 24 killed over 4,800 people and caused hundreds of buildings in the coastal state of La Guaira to crumble.

But the town of Anare, located around 30 kilometers (18 miles) east of the city of La Guaira, miraculously remained unscathed by the disasters.

Reaching the haven first requires passing through the wreckage of buildings that line the coast north of Caracas.

Anare's 4,000 or so residents felt the 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude tremors, but their hillside homes remained intact.

"This town is still standing firm; we haven't lost hope that all of this will pass," surf instructor and fisherman Daniel Lozada, 18, told AFP.

He and two other men fished off a small pier at sunset, while a dog splashed in the waves nearby.

The tranquil scene contrasted starkly with events transpiring an hour's drive away.

In the city of La Guaira, rescuers and loved ones have spent weeks digging relentlessly through the rubble in an attempt to find victims trapped underneath.

Anare has become a refuge for survivors, just as it was during deadly landslides in 1999.

But thousands more families made destitute by the quakes are crammed into nearby camps with substandard sanitation systems.

- Uncertainty -

"Welcome," reads the message spray-painted onto a kiosk near Anare Beach, which receives hundreds of tourists every day in normal times.

Lozada's companions on the pier are concerned about how the industry might fare in the earthquakes' fallout.

Retiree Henry Romero reflects on a life of living off the sea -- and the tourism economy -- in this "peaceful place."

Upon retiring, the 65-year-old opened a guesthouse, which now hangs in the balance as the likelihood of tourists continuing to visit the battered area is low.

"We're looking forward to tourism returning again so that life can go back to normal," he said.

Fisherman Jose Izaguirre, 40, says he has grown accustomed to the natural disasters that have hit La Guaira over the years.

"We're not leaving here," he said.

"Anare is a blessed town. Many things have happened, and this town has never suffered."

P.Tamimi--SF-PST