Cabo de la Vela

To get to Cabo de la Vela we had to take a few different ways of transportation. After breakfast we first took a bus from Palomino to Riohacha. Here we took a collectivo (which turned out to be a normal car with a little sign in the window) to Uribia. The driver dropped us in the city center and pointed to a Pickup which was being loaded with all kind of stuff. We waited for about another half an hour before the car was fully packed with us on the back as well. The car started and we finally got into the desert. First it was a long straight road with a railroad and a lot of nothing next to us. The car stopped a few times along the way to drop of supplies at little villages and tiendas. One village was really cute with only a few simple houses made from clay and rows of cacti instead of fences. After a while we left the road and were just speeding through the desert till we made it to the town of Cabo de la Vela which was basically one street with a few restaurants and stores right at the beach. The accommodation here was simple. Most restaurants had rows of hammocks in the back and some of them also some rooms. I picked a normal hammock and Harri went for a chinchorro which is a woolen hammock typical for that area with extra flaps that hang to the sides which can be used to flap over yourself as protection against the cold or mosquitoes.
The landscape here was already so different to everything I had seen so far on this trip. And even compared to other deserts I had visited before as I had never seen a desert running straight to the ocean like this. We figured to make our way to Punta Gallinas we needed to take an organized tour which included all transportation to different spots and leave us at a hostel up there. We fixed the tour and I took a hike up to the lighthouse to watch the sunset. The vibes between Harri and me had become more and more distant and I was happy to take this hike by myself. However I met him at the lighthouse anyway and he walked back with me (which was probably good as it got dark pretty quick after the sun was down and it was still an hour walk back till our hostel). Walking back we didn't talk much and I realized I had enjoyed walking by myself more than walking with him. Even though I couldn't really explain it I knew that this should show me it didn't really make sense to travel together any longer. I was just hoping for some nice people on the tour to Punta Gallinas to ease the situation a bit.
Back in the hostel we had dinner and I went to my hammock for reading and sleeping quite early as we were picked up the next morning around 5 for our tour.Read more