Cabo de la Vela - A Different World

During my planning in Palomino, I decided to do a two day tour to the Colombian desert in the north of the country. The place I am talking about is Cabo de la Vela and is among the most northern points of South America. I thought it would be an interesting contrast to my time in the jungle and is in fact a place not many visitors go and experience.

To get there requires a 5h (mostly 4x4). The road to Cabo de la Vela is a mix of highway that I wouldn't call 'road'. Our first stop were some salt flats that produce 70% of the salt Colombians consume.

After 1.5h of more driving, I felt we were transformed into a different world - more like how I imagine the African coast. There was nothing here but a dry landscape and the ocean. It was also brutally hot (>36 degrees).

All that said, people live here but one could see immediately that they did not have much. Kids kept running towards our car to ask for candy, water or money. Or, alternatively, they erect improvised road blocks and demand pay to pass through. I could not help but think that if you are born in a place like this, you have lost the lottery of life. It must be extremely difficult to ever leave this place and have a better future elsewhere. I obviously don't know how, but things work and my mind rests a bit in peace knowing that tourism might do its bit to develop this place.

Anyway, we arrived just in time to have some delicious lunch and spent the rest of the day on two beaches before driving up to a lighthouse to watch the sunset together. After dinner, our group went for a couple of drinks at a nearby beach bar, before we called it a night and I got to sleep in a hammock for the second time in my life. It was semi-comfortable, but I got a decent night's sleep amidst the Carribean breeze.

After breakfast, we drove for a few minutes to check out a small dune and another viewpoint in the desert before spending the remaining time on another beautiful beach. It really was a picture-perfect end and definition of the phrase 'where the desert meets the sea'.

I really enjoyed this short trip as I got to see a different side of Colombia - one that not many people go and visit. It feels as if this is a forgotten region and I am very glad that I went. It's rustic, dry, hot, poor, sandy, but offers some very beautiful spots to spend time in.

On the way back, I thought that experiences like these are the reason why I travel and why I keep enjoying it. To understand, to feel, to experience, and to learn about different places, different people and different cultures. It was a truly eye-opening tour! Czytaj więcej