Riohacha

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I've been getting lazy of late...
I stayed in Santa Marta for an extra day, which really could have been avoided if I'd pulled my finger out when I'd returned from the Lost City.
Now I was leaving to go to Riohacha. One of the staff from the hostel suggested I should stop on the way at Palomino, a beautiful wild beach. Only it was 15 minutes walk from the road (with the rucksack) and I wasn't sure I could be bothered. The other thing with Riohacha was that I knew there wasn't much there, but it was the entry point to la Guajira, a little visited area of Colombia near Venezuela. However, I was aware that my time was limited and I was hoping to get to French Guinea ASAP, so I'd decided to just spend one night in Riohacha before heading towards Venezuela. That probably wasn't the wisest choice as if I wasn't going to La Guajira, I might as well have been heading straight for Venezuela. The fact that I had agreed to try and meet up with Andy and Alex did play a part, but my laziness was probably the main reason why I decided to stop there.

It wasn't a long way to go from Santa Marta, so I didn't leave until 11am. The girl at reception gave me directions to the correct location to catch the bus. After 20 minutes walk in the burning sun and with my pack on my back, I finally reached the correct area but couldn't find the spot where I was supposed to catch the bus. I asked many different people and didn't get the same information twice, but eventually, a market trader pointed me to where I was supposed to go.
By that point, I was dripping with sweat and no longer in the mood to stop at Palomino. I got on the bus and the guy informed me that the bus (8000COP) was not going all the way to Riohacha, but finishing in Palomino. I thought it was probably a sign and maybe I should stop and have a look at it after all... Then, as I was getting off the bus, the man said “the bus to Riohacha is coming, do you want me to stop it for you?” So I never went to see the beach in Palomino (although I saw bits from the bus and it looked very pretty).
A little while later, I got off in Riohacha and started walking towards the hotel I wanted to stay at. It was about 15 minutes away from where the bus had dropped me off. It was right by the sea (although there was no access) and was shaped like a white castle. It was a little bit of a strange looking place and could probably have been a lot nicer than it actually was. I dropped my bags in the dorm and went for a walk by the sea.
It was pretty dirty, with people clearly using parts of it as a dumping ground. I walked along the “promenade” until I felt there was nothing more to see. I enjoyed the fishermen selling their catch on the beach and watched the sunset. It didn't seem that there was a lot more to do, so decided to return to the hotel. As I was on my way back, I bumped in Andy and Alex who had just arrived. We went for another walk so they could see the beach and then found a cheap café to have some food and a beer.
That was it. There was nothing else to see or do in Riohacha, so we returned to the hotel and had a chat and an early night. The next day, the boys were heading to La Guajira and I was going across to Venezuela and the town of Coro...

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Comments

[delphine]

encore une photo du paradis!

[delphine]

mmmmmm ca ferait un bon BBQ, ca me donne envie!