La Guajira: where the desert meets the sea

Your adventure starts in Riohacha where your guide and Wayuu driver pick you up in a Land Cruiser. Your first destination is Camarones, a Wayuu village that is the gateway to the Flamencos Nature Sanctuary.

After lunch in Camarones beach you'll get on a paddle boat to see the flamingos and other marine birds of the reserve’s lagoon and walk through the marsh area of the reserve.
Then you'll visit the Wayuu Tocoromana community to learn about their way of life and get a sampling of their traditional music, dance and food.

From Camarones you'll take a coastal road to Cabo de la Vela. Along the way you pass the Manaure salt complex with its collection ponds and mountains of sea salt.

Cabo de la Vela --- “Cape of the Sail” --- has long beaches and dramatic headlands set against a backdrop of undulating dunes. Here you'll visit Punto Arco Iris (Rainbow Point) where waves smashing on red and green rocks create a colorful curtain of spray. You'll hike up to promontories to get great views, relax on the beach and take a dip in clear Caribbean water.

You'll end the day by watching the sunset on top of Pilon de Azúcar (“Sugar Mound”), a hill overlooking the cape and the highest point in Cabo de la Vela.

Today you'll continue north with your first destination being Bahía Honda. You'll spend the morning in a quiet beach in the bay with golden sand and turquoise water.

After lunch transfer to Puerto Estrella and hike on rolling sand dunes to visit the Laguna de los Patos, a picturesque lake in the middle of the desert.

You'll end the day in the Wayuu town of Nazareth, gateway to Macuira National Park.

Macuira is a 25,000 hectare oasis and, for the Wayuu, is the most sacred place in all of La Guajira. It is an area of mountains, cloud forests and streams. Macuira is a refuge for over a hundred different bird species, 17 of which can be found nowhere else in the world.

You'll spend the morning exploring this lush paradise in the desert and hike to one of its unique features: Las Dunas de Arewaru, a sand dune in the middle of a forested mountain range.

You'll end the day with a dip in Las Bateas, a series of small lagoons and waterfalls in the middle of the forest. .

Overnight in Nazareth.

Transfer to Punta Gallinas, the northernmost part of your journey. The Taroa Dunes are waves of powdery sand that meet the Caribbean Sea. You'll walk over the dunes and slide down a steep 10 meter (33 foot) sand bank to get to the water.

You'll visit El Faro, a lighthouse at the northernmost tip of the South American continent. In the afternoon you'll take a boat to go around Bahía Hondita, a bay with an opening so small that it looks like a blue lake. You'll visit the bay’s mangroves and mud flats for a chance to see migrant flamingos and other birds.

Toward the end of the day you'll go to Punta Aguja (Needle Point) to wind down at the beach. Overnight on a plateau overlooking Bahía Hondita.

20 minute boat ride to go back to Riohacha. While the vehicle drives around Bahía Hondita you'll stop to a beach there that is  named La Boquita.

When your vehicle arrives at the beach you'll continue on to Riohacha where you visit the cultural center.

Your Guajira adventure is at an end and you come away with memories of unique experiences, photos of spectacular landscapes, and a marvelous tan.