La Guajira - sand, poverty and resilence

The next day we hopped on a 3-day desert tour of La Guajira, from the sand dunes, through the lakes and cactus fields to Punta Gallina, the most northern point of South America.

The trip was exhausting and intense, in every possible way.

The ride through the desert is a bumpy and slow one, and the countless kids holding chain and rope barricades don’t help. We had to stop every 5-6 meters at one point, paying for our passage by money, water, sweets and other food. We were prepared, but not sufficiently - we ran out of everything half way through the day and the driver was just heading straight through the ropes/chains and people who would drop them down and jump away to the side.

Our car was bad and it broke down - luckily very close to a big gathering in the middle of the desert. I thought it was a restaurant, curiously poking around and asking for coffee. They didn’t let me pay, the main lady took my arm and walked me around the wooden establishment while the driver was negotiating how to fix the car. It was the anniversary of her father’s death - 8 years - and all the attendees were extended family, cherishing and remembering his existence. We went in the back of the kitchen and there was a big altar and more people sitting around it, everyone dressed up and looking very formal. She said that the closest family members came the day before to help clean the bones (remains) of the father, which are dug out every year, to show respect and love, and then put back after the feast. It was intense for me, but I was amazed at the lightness and ease these people showed in dealing with death and remembering the dead.

Punta Gallina although very famous and praised for tourism is nothing really - a short car stop to observe the raging ocean and take a photo at the most northern point of the South American continent.

After that however, we went to see the dunes and have a lunch there (turns out that our hostel was near the dunes as well).

Crazy, crazy, crazy.

One of my favorite landscapes in my life. Imagine big nothing of the desert. Soft sand, wind, blinding sun. Thirst. Salt in the air. Slippery sand where each step becomes two steps and your foot disappears u til the ankle with each.

Then with one step the mighty ocean shows itself, previously only hinted by the sound. Never have I seen before these two deadly environments coming together so well, and people living happily at their intersection. Tall, dark-skinned, skinny people. Happy people.Read more