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Published: August 23rd 2010
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Punta Gallinas
Youngster poses in the desert where he´s grown up. After two weeks in the city and days on rollercoaster roads in the cloud forests, what better antidote than a spot of ecotourism in the desert? And if it includes a visit to an ethnic minority, then so much the better!
La Guajira is a peninsular that juts north into the Caribean Ocean around the border between Colombia and Venezuela. What particular microclimate has produced this desert surrounded by jungle I don´t understand, but I do know that it contains a small area where a mountain range rises out of the desert and and sustains its own cloud forest with fresh water streams that run down into the desert and dry up.
We found
Kaí Ecotravel in the
Lonely Planet, phoned, and booked a tour without paying a deposit. Thus we flew from chilly Bogotá to scorching Riohacha in less than an hour. This small enterprise exists to offer income alternatives to the Wayuu people of the northern Guajira, offering an outlet for those who want to extend some of their traditional practices in a way that will earn income in the modern world.
We engaged to go with a guide, for four days to the top of the
Salinas de Manaure
Happy travellers infront of a pile of high-grade salt. continent and back. The blurb said that this excursion is not for the faint-hearted, lovers of luxury, or those over 70 with chronic health conditions. Things didn't really stick to schedule, which, for us, made life the more interesting.
The trip that eventuated involved a one and a half hour taxi ride to meet up with our guide in Uribía, the country town that announces itself as "The Ethnic Capital of Colombia," and then transportation in a fourwheel drive for a day and a half with our Wayuu guide, Toni, who suddenly announced that the road ahead was impassable, so he would phone to his brother-in-law, who would come and get us in a boat. We waited on the beach for a couple of hours and then experienced the choppiest of ocean boats rides. after longer than anticipated, the boat turned into a river fringed with sparce mangroves and tall red cliffs and finally anchored off another small beach. We waded ashore and climbed the cliff. On top, the land was flat, flat, flat. We stayed here and explored for a couple of days.
Our return was faster, the wind being behind the boat and the four-by-four going
Cabo de la Vela
One of the area´s many bays. back along the road without exploring to deliver us into the hands of another taxi in Uribia. Back to base three or four hours behind schedule. Not bad!
My pictures tell a story of inspecting the natural resources of the area (salt and coal mainly, and handcrafts and wind power), experiencing the amazing natural beauty that occurs when desert meets ocean, and of seeing something of the lives of the people who live at this juncture.
The people. Sources agree on one thing: no one ever succeeded in conqueroring or colonising the Wayuu.
Wikipedia describes them as leading savage and remote lives. Others see them as semi-disenfranchised. They are fiercely independent and were never colonised by the Spanish. One Colombian I spoke with said, "There are the tourist Wayuu and the ordinary Wayuu who live in towns and watch TV. Enjoy meeting the tourist Wayuu, but don't forget about the others." Yet we got the impression while we were in that vast and inhospitable land, that not all of the Wayuu who remain on it even engage in tourism.
It is hard to judge. Luzmila, who kept the
hospedaje where we stayed was also the local primary
school teacher. She had lived outside the area for nine years, training and working. Now she teaches a bilingual class (Wayunaki and Spanish) and she makes sure the children master the traditional crafts and dances of her people. Yet her son lives with his uncle in Uribia, where he is getting his education in a larger school.
Travel Information
Kaí Ecotravel functions chiefly online, but Francisco can often be found in the Castillo del Mar (Calle 9A, 15-352), an unusual castellated compound right on the coast where dormitory beds cost C$20,000 (US$10.75) and private rooms rather more, which is where we stayed.
We spent the first night in Cabo de la Vela, in one of the twenty or so simple
hospedajes built of traditional cactus stalks and without running water. We had beds; hammocks are available. Public buses do run this far.
We spent the next two nights at Punta de Gallenas, where we swung in hammocks in one of the wall-less rooms kept for visitors. The only way to book this highpoint is through Kaí Ecotravel. The people obviously respect Francisco and what he does for them. There is no public transport and the roads are
Uribía
It is chiefly a market town ... at best elementary.
How I've Been
This was definitely a high point of the trip for me: somewhere really different! I´ve one more entry about Colombia to post, and tomorrow I head to Quito for a spell of language study. Grammar is still a passion of mine, but how I wish I knew how to get fluent in speaking Spanish! And a bit frustrated at the difficulty of editing photos on the run. I can see now that some of these are overexposed.
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peta
non-member comment
wow, you do get around...
hi Gillian still amazed at what you do and areas you get to...and admire ability to learn spanish. So I'm travelling vicariously with you as have not ventured to south america. meanwhile, has been hot in Pennautier while we watched the election saga unfold, and more power to the Greens, thank heavens. interesting result of hung parliament... so happy travels and we're well out of it! peta