April 12, Santa Marta, Colombia

Awake too early again, but that is ok..... watched the sun come up. Very nice.
Breakfast and then onto a boat... for a 30 minute ride through the bay and along the mangroves. Very nice. Saw a caracol (type of eagle), heron and many goats on the beach. It was a great way to go... it saved 1 1/2 hours on the rough roads!

Into the van for a 2 1/2 hour ride along the trails, following the coast fairly closely. The roads are very rough. Arrived in Uribia and had lunch and then a 1 hour ride to Riohacha but this part was on the pavement. Switched to a shared taxi and 2 1/2 hours back to Santa Marta. A long day on the road but nice to be back at hotel.

Relaxed and spent some time talking to a German woman that had just returned from the Lost City. Great to talk to her and get some details.


April 11, Punta Gallinas, Colombia

Off at 8 am driving to the sand dunes along the coast. Beautiful! Got a swim. Interesting as there are a few rocks you need to watch out for. A short drive to a beach. No swimming as it has many jellyfish. But nice to walk along the beach. There were a few dead stingrays on the sand so interesting to look at. Long drive to Punta Gallinas for lunch, rest and then to the Gallinas lighthouse.

A metal tower with a solar powered light. Along the beach are more stone stacks. We watched the sunset. Amazing how fast the sun drops into the water. This is the most northerly point in South America and the most easterly area in Colombia. There is a thin strip of land to the south and west that is Venezuela.

April 10, Cabo de la Vela, Colombia

Up early, 4 am for a 4.30 am pick up! Much too early. Not much talking in the car. Arrived at Riohacha about 7.30.

Into a restaurant for breakfast. I am very glad there was still some coffee leftover at the hotel before I left...

It would have been a very long ride! Good breakfast with a guy from Brazil. A nice talk. Then off to travel agency to wait a bit for other people. Turns out Brazilian guy was in a different car that me. I was lucky there was only 4 of in in a Toyota 4x4 and 6 in the other vehicle. A Dutch couple and 1 German woman Great people. Funny as the German woman was in the car going to Riohacha then sent to different tour company before breakfast...Strange how things work but they do.

Drove along to Uribia. Here we stopped for gas... but no gas station. Just large blue plastic barrels along the side of the road. Gas siphoned into 5 gallon cans and poured into the tank. Turns out the gas is from Venezuela. About 3000 pesos per gallon compared to 7 to 9,000 at the gas station! Off again. We drove to the coast. Here there is a lot of salt harvesting. Interesting to see once again. Here the water is very pink and the salt is not as white as that in Bolivia.

We stopped at Playa Dorada. This coastline is beautiful. And the amazing part is there is no one else around! Very secluded! Went for a swim and enjoyed the water.

Then to Cabo de la Vela (translates to Cape of the candle, there is a lighthouse) which is where we will spend the night. Quite nice. It is a huge bay with a few small hostels. They also have a kite board school.

The wind is howling and the guys were getting lots of air! Great to watch. Lunch, rest and then off to the opposite side of the point. This is rocky but with some very hard sand dunes. Amazing! Another short drive to a beach for some more swimming and we climbed the Pilon de Azucar, Sugar pile. A rock outcrop that looks like a pile of sugar. Great views of the water and area from the top. Only a short walk up, about 15/20 minutes. Nice to get some exercise after sitting for so long!

Then to the lighthouse to watch the sunset. We bought some beer. Small bottles, 222 mls, Polar, from Venezuela! No doubt "imported" the same as the gas! But it was cold and good. Even though there is not much around, there always seem to be people there to sell you drinks or souvenirs! Glad there was beer as it tasted good! A toast to the sun and watched the sun go down. Very fast....very nice... even if there was not a cloud in the sky!

Back to the hostel. I had fish again.... excellent! Just as good as lunch!
Relaxed and to bed early, it had been a very long day! It was probably 9. I had paid extra for a bed, whereas the rest were in hammocks! Apparently they had a snorer! Too funny as I did tell them they were lucky I was in a room!