Hi,
My wife and I plan to spend a few days in La Guajira at the beginning of our trip to Colombia. I have read many of the posts but I still have a couple of questions.
1) For anyone that has gone on one of the tours from Riohacha, how much should we expect to pay? I just would like to know what to expect. I would usually do this on our own like some have mentioned but my wife is pregnant so we can't be quite as adventurous as we have in the past.
2) What are the lodging options in the area? Out side of Riohacha are there any rooms or is everything hammocks and huts? Again I want to know what to expect.
3) We would like to get out to the jungle mountain area on the peninsula. I like the idea of this in the middle of a wind swept desert area. Is it worth the effort to get out here. Does it require hours of hiking to see anything?
4) How long are the busses from Riohacha to Santa Marta to Cartagena. Do they have toilets?
Any other hints or tips would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Josh
Hi!!! I spent a few days in La Guajira last february. Riohacha is located 200 km from Santa Marta and it will take you approximately 2 and a half hours to get there. The one way bus ticket costs around US$ 15. Buses are OK but not the best: generally they come from Cartagena, so when you get on board in Santa Marta they tend to be quite dirty.
I spent only one day and one night in Riohacha but I found it to be a nice little town. There is kind of a "malecon" which is really nice. In the afternoon wayuus and craftsmen sell necklaces, fruit, etc on the sidewalk. Riohacha is not a very touristy town, most people spend only a night or a few hours there on their way to Cabo de la Vela and/or the Alta Guajira. The most comfortable hotel there is the Gimaura. I stayed at Hotel Las Brisas, cheap but very basic.
In order to travel around The Guajira it is better to hire a guide, since a four wheel is needed and part of the road is through a desert. There is no road in the desert, so you could easily get lost without a guide. Cabo de la Vela is a very rustic place: a few block of houses where only wayuus live with no light or running water. Accommodation is really basic: a hut made of dried cactuses. You are given a bucket of water per person in order to take a bath, etc. Buy mineral water in Riohacha. The reason for going to Cabo de la Vela is to watch the sunset. You could sunbath for a few hours in the beach beside the Pilón de Azúcar (the only nice beach in the area), but don´t spend there more than an afternoon and a night. Most tours arrive to Cabo de la Vela for lunch, you spend the night and leave at midday the following day. You mention the jungle, so my guess is that you would like to get to Serranias de la Macuira. Though I didn´t make it there, I can tell you that you would have to take a 4 day tour in order to get there... the road is rough.
Mi advice: though the sunset in Cabo de la Vela has its charms, it´s too rough and inhospitable for a pregnant woman... maybe my vision is tainted because I had the horrible experience of having my passport and credit cards stolen in Uribia on my way back to Riohacha. But I´ve also heard from colombian friends when I was back in Bogotá that even though "guajiros" are really friendly they can also be dangerous... most of them are armed, etc.
Though I do not regret going to La Guajira, I would not return. If asked by a friend whether to go or not, I would say: go if you want to experience something different but be very cautios. If a pregnant friend asked me the same thing I would say: NO WAY, stick to beautiful but more secure places such as the Tayrona Park.
If you still want to go and need further information on hotels, guides or prices, just ask...
Hey, I stayed in La Guajira last month and it was amazing. Can't quite remember what we paid but we took a jeep tour that we booked in Riohacha - I think it might have been about 330,000 Pesos each but I could be really really wrong. I definitely do the jeep tour rather than do it myself by bus. We stayed for two days (one night) and that was fine.
There was a pregnant woman on my tour and she was fine with everything. The only thing I would say is that there's no water available in the desert so if you want something other than beer or fizzy drinks then take your own water.
Our tour stopped at a salt plain on the way to Cabo de Vela, and then headed on to where we were staying which was a hammock type hut on the beach front. There are other places to stay but I'm not sure there are rooms available, I only really saw hammocks. We were taken on a couple of drives, one to a beach/cove type place and then a later one to a good vantage point for the sunset.
I know that someone has said that Cabo de la Vela is too much for a pregnant woman but the Colombian woman on our tour was fine (she was 5 months I think) and her husband was a doctor so I doubt they'd take risks....
I didn't go near the jungle so I can't help with that...
Buses were fine and all had toilets.
Well, you already got a lot of anwers:
I also assume that you are talking about Parque Makuira, the mountain area, it is a 7 hour tour from Rioacha, but only possible from November to February (due to whether conditions). I have been told that it is a beautiful region, but I havent got that far.
Cabo the la Vela is beautiful, there is one hotel with rooms, but I forgot the name of the hotel. For one night the huts are okay for a pregnant women, if she likes to have a good shower everyday better not, as there are no shower facilities, only a bucket of salted water. I recommend to hire a good truck, the road is rather bumby and with your wife pregnant you have to take special care during the trip........
Parque Tayorna is also a must. As I told a fellow thorn tree user, the ecohabs are rather expensive but I have been told that a ecocamping will be opened soon. Look at the internet the coming weeks (search for camping- tayrona- environment)
Good luck on planning your trip, Colombia is a really good holiday destination
You will love Cabo de la Vela, so please don't be tainted by Agosta78's bad experience.
I was there late November last year with my husband and it was fantastic. One of the most spectacular places I've seen so far in Colombia and we're both dying to go back.
While the standard overnight tour is sufficient for most, if we do get back there we'll likely stay at least two nights to just get away from it all and totally relax - bring a book, a bathing suit, maybe a card game.
Apart from the Pilón de Azúcar beach, which is beautiful, we also enjoyed the Ojo del Agua beach.
The most amazing thing about it was that at that time of year we had the beaches entirely to ourselves, with the one other person that was on our tour (to make the trip more cost effective, we joined up with a stranger, arranged through the tour agency, who turned out to be a good travel companion).
While the "roads" (desert trenches) can be a bit rough in the last stretch before arriving to Cabo de la Vela, I don't remember it being extremely bumpy. Just make sure your driver will take it easy and the 4x4 has shock absorption and air conditioning. I really don't think it would be too rough for a pregnant woman, unless maybe she was about 8 months along or there was risk of early labour.
The "ranchería" our tour guide brought us to had 3 sleeping options: hammock, chinchorro (a bigger hammock), both under a roof in a sort of open pen/corral concept, and bed in a separate cabin (I believe with fan and private washroom, still the standard water bucket operation). The bed option didn't cost much more than the hammock or chinchorro. The man that travelled with us chose the bed option as he has a very bad back. He didn't have any complaints and I believe he found his room quite comfortable.
We went with a tour company called something like Sanín-Wayúu. It's opposite the government-run tourism office, facing the shore, along the same street that has the malecón, a short walk after crossing the little bridge if you're heading toward the malecón from the Hotel Gimaura. It's between a couple of restaurants and has Wayúu mochilas (the colourful hand-woven bags) and hammocks in the display window. It's run by a family that at that time had a little baby that sometimes slept in one of the hammocks in the store. After we got back from the tour with them, we wanted to buy some mochilas and they gave us a huge discount because we had travelled with them (the set prices were about 80.000 or 100.000 pesos but they sold them to us at between 40.000 and 60.000).
I think the Cabo de la Vela tour cost us about COP 180.000 each, because we chose the hammock option (the secret is to sleep diagonally), no lobster (which wasn't that much more expensive), and we were in a group of three. For two, the price goes up a fair bit per person (maybe up to 240.000?). The tour included stops in Uribia to see Colombia's only native capital "city", Manaure to see salt flats, and Cabo de la Vela. At Cabo de la Vela we got lunch and supper the first day and breakfast and lunch the second day. The bucket of water we received was more than enough for one person to bathe with and it was NOT salt water. Our guide was in a bit gruff (but not unfriendly) and didn't want to take us to see flamingos like we asked, but you could arrange beforehand for a stop where flamingos might be, to be included in your tour. There's also the Flamingo Sanctuary in Camarones about 20mins south-west of Riohacha that you can get to on your own and see them. Check if they'll be there beforehand, because they migrate.
I think the Parque de la Macuira also sounds spectacular. However, we did not get there, as it is far and an extra expense and time. They may have basic cabins at the entrance of the park, but otherwise I think you'd have to rely on camping. The tour company you go with could probably provide the equipment and food.
The bus from Riohacha to Santa Marta, as said, is about 2.5 hours. We took it starting from Riohacha, and had it drop us off at the gate to Tayrona NP instead of going all the way to Santa Marta and going back to get to Tayrona. It was NOT dirty at all starting from Riohacha and there were toilets. Just double check before you get on the bus if you're concerned about toilets and cleanliness - there are a number of operators to choose from. If you're arriving to the airport at Riohacha and then planning to take a bus from the airport, don't fall for the same as we did by taking a taxi from airport to bus terminal - they're quite close to eachother and we were charged $5000. Any taxi leaving from the airport has to charge a minimum of $5000 I understand. You can walk between the airport and the bus station. To get to your hotel, just walk out of the airport and catch a taxi on the street so you don't have to pay the extra fee.
I believe a bus from Santa Marta to Cartagena takes about 4-6 hours? I've only been on the Barranquilla-Cartagena stretch, which I think was supposed to take 2 hours or so but ended up taking about 4 - don't go with the bus company that's just coastal (I don't remember what it's called but it's got a name that sounds very coastal), it goes very slowly.
Have fun! You'll love your trip.
trusted partner
