Guajira Desert

Back in civilization after an amazing (and disconnected from telecommunications) three-day adventure into the Guajira Desert in the far northeastern corner of Colombia. I definitely don't think of desert when I think of Colombia, but this was maybe my favorite part of the trip so far. Even after deleting half of what I took, I have nearly 150 pictures from the adventure, and it is a challenge to choose just a few to recount the trip. But here goes.

From Santa Marta we had a four-hour ride NE to a place called Cuatros Vias, which is literally just a four-way intersection in what is getting close to the middle of nowhere, up near Maicao and the Venezuelan border. From there, it's all 4WD vehicles that take you farther and farther up into the desert...

...and the town of Cabo de la Vela, which is the hub of this corner of the world but can hardly be considered a hub in relation to anything else, really.

Still, it's getting to be a more popular destination for kite surfers, and it's the closest thing the local, indigenous Wayuu people have as a metropolis in which they can get their slice of the tourism pie.

I would have liked to spend two nights in Cabo de la Vela, but a month is really not enough time to see all the variety Colombia has to offer, so in this abbreviated version of a visit, we at least had one overnight, plus the chance to take a tour of the shoreline north of town, with the highlight (other than the petrifying fun of riding shotgun on a motor scooter through the desert scrub) being a visit to the glorious beach at Pilon de Azucar.

Then, at five the next morning, it was time to catch a ride a few more hours north, deeper into the desert...


...until we reached the extremely isolated Wayuu community of Bahia Honditas, where there is a well-oiled tourism machine for getting a dozen or two people/day out here to stay/sleep in hammocks...

...and see the local sights. Which are amazing. First of all, there is Punta Gallinas, the northernmost point of the South American continent. An appropriately wind-swept and remote-feeling place, though we were very clearly NOT the first intrepid travelers to pass this way.

Then there was the beach at Taroa dunes. I have never seen anything like it: this massive dune sweeping straight down into a green sea. Could have stayed way longer than we did.

These local (?) kids pushing--with great effort--a bike through the sand gave me a "Where are they coming from and going to?" followed by a "Who thought this was a good idea?" one-two punch. Then I saw them riding the bike down the dune and it all made more sense, though still didn't seem quite worth the effort.

There's also a colony of wild pink flamingoes in the Bahia Honditas area, and we took a boat trip out to several parts of the coastline and lagoon, hiking over the top of one small island but finding no flamingoes on the other side.

Eventually we did find them, though they weren't close enough for any pictures worth posting. Seeing them take flight was an amazing, beautiful sight, though.

And stopping on another beach for sunset afforded it's own beauties.

The next morning I found myself awake at 5am so decided to take a walk outside the tourist compound to watch the sunrise...

...and see some of the local dwellings and people started stirring for another day.

These vultures were at sharp attention for whatever the harsh life up here would offer them today.

And I was just basically overwhelmed by the beauty of this stark landscape and its colors and so grateful that we made it all the way up here. And now, nowhere to go but south!