Pearls of Life: La Guajira, Cabo De la Vela, Colombia
Cabo de la Vela, Colombia
Knowledge is the keyword before arriving and traveling to La Guajira. La Guajira is the desert and the sea sitting next to one another. In total, we were traveling for 9 hours from Santa Marta to La Guajira. We entered the La Guajira area in Palomino and we continued to La Guajira to Cabo de la Vela. The views are totally different and the people that you meet on the way as well.
Cabo de la Vela Family on One Motorbike
La Guajira is a region in Colombia where you can find indigenous tribes that are very traditional and very different from the rest of Colombia. The tribes of La Guajira are very popular for their colorful bags and the unique ones that they are making. The bags are all custom–made, done by the indigenous people who live in this region, using natural material and natural colors. The La Guajira people are different from the rest of the Colombian population as the desert side of La Guajira is very remote and few people are traveling to that destination of Cabo de la Vela. Its definitely recommended when you travel to this region to go with someone who is familiar with the region and can navigate the roads. The roads are different from to the point of Cabo de la Vela. There are less and less people, no lights and structures on the way. It is highly recommended if you decide to travel to this region, which I personally don’t believe is a tourism point, you have to do it during the day since there are no lights or structures or stores, nothing along the way to the main street of Cabo de la Vela. It is totally kilometers of desert, until you reach the first point of humanity. It is also recommended to have enough water and gasoline since there are no stores on the way to Cabo de la Vela. I felt some danger on the way to that region due to the fact that you are approached by different people to give them something, like food, water, gasoline, depending on their needs. If you don’t give that to them, you cannot pass to reach Cabo de la Vela. Recognizing the people on the way is also an assignment per itself due to the fact that the women are covered with long clothing all over their bodies, very similar to Arab clothing in the desert, “galabeh”. Their faces are also protected and sometimes colored in black to protect them from the sun. The weather is very hot all day long. Cabo de la Vela has all the characteristics of a desert, which means a lot of sand, wind , heat and a very small population on a large area of sand. As I mentioned, there are no roads, a very primitive area in its development.
I spent the night over at Cabo de la Vela and I was surprised that I actually slept well. I guess hearing the sound of the sea had a relaxing effect on me.
Morning in Cabo de La Vela, Colombia
From my visit in Cabo de la Vela, I learned that there is a lot to be done in the area of human rights and woman rights as the population over there is acting in an ancient way of thinking where male is dominant and the woman and the girls are closed in the house, literally locked at night.
Overall this unique experience of visiting the desert region of Cabo de la Vela gave me a feeling of appreciation. I am full of gratitude for God for giving me the life that he gave me, with its unique ups and downs and the ability to have this adventure and to learn so much about human beings, while meeting them on my life journey.
Cabo de la Vela, Colombia
