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 1.5h drive to the tour office and another 3.5h drive with a 4x4 truck.
The road to Cabo de la Vela is a mix of highway (paved and unpaved) and lots of very bumpy sandy paths that I wouldn't call 'road'.
My group consisted of five Italians and me and our first stop were some salt flats that produce 70% of the salt Colombians consume.

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

All that said, people lived here but one could see immediately that they did not have much. Kids kept running towards our car with their hands streched out asking for anything from candy to water to 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 kinda have lost the lottery of life. It must be extremely difficult to almost impossible to ever leave this place and have a comfortable 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 (look at the fish in the pictures!) and then spend 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 (first time was in Cambodia last year). It was semi-comfortable, but I got a decent night's sleep amidst the Carribean breeze that was blowing through the accomodation.

Once we finished breakfast the next morning, 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 in the Carribean coast. It really was a picture-perfect definition of the phrase 'where the desert meets the sea' and we had a great guide as he got us to all the spots before any other tour arrived (not that there were many in the first place).

Then it was already time to head back to Palomino. 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!もっと詳しく