Riohacha to Palomino

Garmin Info and Maps

Riohacha to Boca de Camarones

Boca de Camarones to Dibulla

Dibulla to Palomino

Riohacha from the air

Fishing boats on the beach

My stay in Riohacha was very relaxed. I found the lovely, affordable hotel, La Gimaura, that is directly across from the ocean and also has a pool. The hotel had been recommended by the front desk woman at the very expensive Hotel Taroa which was $130/night. La Gimaura was under $40. The room cost also included breakfast. The hotel breakfast offered a good selection of fruit, meat, breads, cereals and eggs. Every day there was a different meat selection. One day was fish, another ground beef and the 3rd morning was chicken. It was prepared with a spice that I could taste but couldn't figure out what it was. The flavor was lightly tangy like a vinegar. Whatever this spice or condiment was it made my ankles and feet become terribly inflamed. This has been a chronic problem for me for many, many years.  I have yet to figure out what the culprit is. I have tried eating vegan, gluten free, vegan and gluten free but the inflammation persists. In fact, ridding my body of inflammation is my main motivation for doing Keto. Before Keto, my feet and ankles would often swell up after eating. It usually only takes a few hours to subside but after eating the meat dishes from the hotel breakfast, it took all day. I went to the hotel kitchen to find out what they used to spice the meat but they showed me normal spices and I wasn't able to identify this extra vinegary taste. Luckily, since leaving the hotel my inflammation hasn't returned. I'm wondering if they are using some unusual vegetable oil but that wouldn't have a vinegar flavor. Maybe a Colombian MSG? The mystery continues...

Main Cathedal in Riohacha

The hardest part of doing this diet is not eating the amazing fruits of Colombia. I make up for this by eating an avocado everyday. Avocados are encouraged on Keto and I am taking full advantage. In Colombia, they are huge, cheap and readily available. Usually there is an avocado man on the street with a cart full. I just need to find the right corner. 

Drone selfie with the kids

Riohacha is fairly quiet at the beach. The center of town is total chaos. The area around the mercado publico is especially noisy and filthy. At the beach, there are kiosks set up along the ocean malecon with tourist tchotchkes to buy and lots of people selling food, beer and coffee from small carts. It was wonderful to be back at the coast. Riohacha is well known for wind/kite surfing and this time of the year the winds are blowing fierce. The trade winds kick up every January. From what I understand the winds also keep the air temperatures more comfortable. When the winds die down, the coast becomes unbearably hot. But right now, with the fierce winds, it would take a great deal of strength to surf. Not surprising, there were a few hearty souls out there catching big wind flying high in the air. When the winds are calmer this is a fun adventure activity for tourists but 30 mph winds is crazy unless you really know what you are doing. Even the surf was very, very rough. But still, the ocean is always beautiful. 

It's easy to make friends with a drone

Everyday I expected to push on but for 3 mornings I woke up and said, 'not today'. I didn't even do much which is very different for me. Usually when I stay an extra day it is to take care of things or to visit a local sight. I think I was taking in the accomplishment of having ridden from Bogotá to the coast. This had been my destination everyday for the last 2 months and it felt great to be here. One day I went to the main plaza to fly my drone and met a group of guys playing Pokemon. We became Pokemon friends and traded some Pokemons. While I flew my drone I was surrounded by little kids and one of the Pokemon guys used my phone to snap a few nice pics. The drone always draws lots of kids and it is fun to show them the image on the screen of what the drone sees from high in the air.

Pokemon buddies

Showing the littlest ones the picture while flying

Finally, after 4 nights, I pulled myself away.  My route today would be along the coast and I had a wonderful tailwind cycling on tree shaded roads. I didn't have far to go. My destination was a sanctuary for fauna and flora called Boca de Camarones.  It is a funny name that means Shrimp's mouth. This very small pueblo is Wayuu tribal land and the people here are very, very  poor. This is a level of poverty I don't often see. There is trash everywhere. There is trash all around the homes, trees, bushes especially plastic bags, beer bottles and used diapers. It is as if there are no cans or even trash bags. To me, it looks like every one drops their trash right out the front door. From what I understand there are little resources or opportunity. Education is limited and alcoholism is rampant. I saw women with carts full of plastic containers to fill with water from sources that I wouldn't use for anything. It was hard for me to believe they were going to drink this water and give it to their children.  The land is only sand and the best the tribes can do is fish and grow a few goats for food. I arrived fairly early in the afternoon and quickly got settled in a very basic hotel. Boca de Camarones is close to other touristic beach towns and most people only come for the day.  There were many kids around and they all loved the trike. One kid who was probably less than 6 years old insisted on riding. He had to practically lie down on the seat and stretch is short legs with his tippy toes to reach the pedals. Adorable. Then the 12 year old Andres put the 2 smallest kids on the rack and rode them around the property. They all had a blast.

Coming into Boca de Camarones

Santuario sign

I stayed only one night in a very basic 'hotel' for $12. The main attraction in Boca de Camarones are 2 lagoons with a large flamingo population. In other parts of the world where I have seen flamingos there have been boats to take tourists out into the water. Flamingos are skittish and viewing is usually at a distance. Here, the only way to see the flamingos was to take a motorbike. I'm not a big fan of motorbikes but I really wanted to see the flamingos. Typically, it is hard for me to get on and off, they aren't comfortable, I never know if I can trust the driver and, essentially, I just don't feel safe on the back of a motorbike. I talked to Fabian, the driver, for a while to explain that motorbikes scare me. I needed to know he understood that we were going to have to go slower than probably most people.  He seemed to understand my concerns and then we settled on a price and a time. I wanted to go later in the day because the light for pictures would be better and the flamingos might also be feeding.  

Andres and the kids

Boca de Camarones

With Fabian, my motobike driver

Fabian was on time to pick me up. He had told me we would need to ride about a 1/2 hour through Wayuu tribal land. This time of year, because of the trade winds, the flamingos move to the bigger, 2nd lagoon that is farther away. Fabian's motorcycle was smaller and easier to get on than many I've ridden in the past. Much of the ride was along the water negotiating a single track path through sand. Fabian rode very slowly through areas where we might skid with his feet down to keep us from falling. He did a great job. I was surprised that I wasn't scared. In fact, I was quite relaxed throughout the entire ride and enjoyed it. There was a lot of scrub and places where we had to duck to avoid hitting tree branches. Close to the flamingos, we rode through a very poor Wayuu community. The driver stopped to pay a woman to pass. Grandpa was laying in a hammock yelling about being paid and was obviously very drunk.

From there, it wasn't far to the lagoon. Fabian parked the motorbike out of the hearing range to the flamingos and we walked to the water's edge. There were hundreds of flamingos walking from the sand out to the water and back and forth. They were scooping up something from the sand. I've always heard that flamingos eat shrimp and that is how they get their pink coloring. I don't know if shrimp live in the lagoon sand. It was absolutely mesmerizing watching them. The wind was blowing incredibly strong and it was hard to hold my camera steady. If I had known the wind was going to be so strong I would have brought my monopod but I had to do the best I could. I could have stood there for many more hours but after about 1/2 hour Fabian suggested we leave. The sun was setting and he wanted to get me back before dark. 

We left a little too late and probably the last 10 minutes of the ride was in darkness but Fabian knew the way. I'm sure he has ridden this more times than he can count. When we reached the 1st lagoon, the big blood wolf full moon was rising over the water. This was a lovely sight. I tried to explain to Fabian that tonight was going to be an unusual full moon but he had no idea what I was talking about. I got some of it on video. This whole experience was fascinating and I was very happy I decided to come and didn't chicken out because of the motorbike.

Eagles and cactus

Andres and 3 dogs

The next morning I went on a bird watching walk with the hotel owner's 12 year old son, Andres. I was very impressed with this kid. I think I was the only person staying at the 'hotel' and I was his only opportunity to make a little money. I was even more impressed that a 12 year old kid would get up at 6 am. Of course I said yes and didn't even bargain with his very ambitious $7 price. We walked for about an hour with 3 dogs. 3 dogs is probably not ideal for bird watching but we actually did see lots of birds.  He was an adorable kid. He walked with a speaker and an app on this phone with a selection of bird calls hoping to draw birds closer. There were a few other guides with gringos in tow. These other guides were very upset with Andres for bringing the dogs. But I could also tell they really loved the kid too.

Bird watching with Andres, my 12 year old guide

Bridge with rebar

Leaving Boca de Camarones

Video of my ride from Riohacha to Dibulla

After breakfast, I got packed up and made my way back to the highway. Today I was going

I stopped for coffee and met a Mica monkey

to a beach pueblo known as the indigenous capital of La Guajira. I didn't really understand what that meant. Mostly I was going to this town because the next town was just a bit farther than I'm comfortable riding in a day. Why do 50 miles when you can do 25?  The road leaving Boca de Camarones was very rough and much of it wasn't paved. I wanted to fly my drone over the lagoons and stopped on a small bridge. I put the drone in the air and got a compass error.  This didn't seem like a good thing and I brought it down, recalibrated and tried flying again. Again I got the same error. Very strange. And then I looked at the bridge surface and realized it was concrete and probably full of rebar which was more than likely the compass confusing cause. I walked off the bridge a little ways and, sure enough, everything was right with the world again. There is so much to think about when drone flying. After all this, the video wasn't as interesting as I was hoping but I did get some bird shots. Once I got back on the highway the riding was smooth and faster. In Dibulla, I noticed there were more Arhuaco tribes people than I usually see. The Arhuaco dress all in white with a little white hat and only a little bit of color. They are not as poor as the Wayuu but still quite poor. They also carry a long woven purse bag over their shoulder that usually has an intricate design. These bags have become artisan items and very popular with tourists. The Arhuaco mostly live in the area around the Sierra Nevada mountains and they consider these mountains to be the center of the world. There were some statues around town highlighting the Arhuaco but mostly this was a quiet and clean beach pueblo. The Arhuaco are very shy and don't like having their picture taken. I can totally relate because people are taking my picture on the trike all day long. The difference is when I park the trike at a hotel I become anonymous but the Arhuaco always stand out. I found a hotel that appeared to be brand new and checked in for 2 nights. The town didn't seen to have much to offer and I was perplexed why anyone would build a new hotel although I very much enjoyed it. The next day I walked around and went on a short boat ride up the river. It was very, very windy all day. This is a sweet place to visit.

Arhuaco tribe man

Dibulla fishing boats

Hungry pelicans

Stunned Goldfinch recovering on a table

Dibulla kids

After 2 nights, I got packed up to head out to a touristic town that I have heard about since I 1st started this tour.  Every one says Palomino is a not-to-missed beach town that I heard is much more international and also more expensive. So far, I hadn't been in a town that I considered international since leaving Bogotá. But, of course, I don't think the route I've taken to the coast would be interesting to most tourists. In my mind I imagined a boutique town with lots of upscale hostels and hotels. I was quite shocked to arrive to a town with unpaved roads and no infrastructure. The main road is a potholed mess with lots of ruts and rocks. There is hostel after hostel with a few cafes in between. The town is probably no more than 4 blocks from the main road to the ocean. Of course, Myrtle was the biggest attraction. I went from hostel to hostel seeing places for backpackers with bars and loud music. This wasn't what I was expecting and certainly not what I was looking for. I kept going down this road until I got to the beach and found the last hotel. This hotel was perfect. There was no bar, no loud music and it was right on the beach with a good restaurant. The cost for a room was $24/night. Saving the best for last. I checked in for 2 nights.

Palomino beach

My beach hotel

Palomino town

Road view

It took a day for me to take in little bohemian Palomino and it really started to grow on me. The beach is long and there is also a river where kids can swim protected from the harsh surf. Lots of people were tubing lazily down the river to the ocean. It was all quite idyllic. I also had a few nice meals in Palomino. At the end of my rest day I asked if I could extend my stay. Unfortunately, the hotel was full. I asked again later in the evening and they were still full. I wasn't really ready to leave and was surprised and happy when, for grins, I asked again in the morning and this time the answer was yes. I guess sometimes all you have to do is ask one more time. I had a lazy day walking along the beach and the river taking pictures and flying my drone. It was exactly what I needed and after another day I was ready for the road once again.

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