This is a story of a trip with a group of friends in the north region of Colombia, the trip started in Santa Marta and finished in el Cabo de la vela. The story is told in 7 parts, this is Part 6 of the story, you can read part 1 here.
Arriving in El Cabo de la vela was quite an ordeal. Several days of traveling and staying in beautiful places while making our way up the Colombian coast. Improvised stays and rides, near death experiences, recklessness and overall unsafe behavior were the seasoning of this journey. And a late night arrival to our final destination, without directions or knowing exactly where to go was the final trial before reaping the rewards in the morning.
Photographer: CU
The sun rises pretty early, and without walls the light wakes you up soon, so we were up and running before 8am.The first thing we noticed when waking up was that our rancheria wasn’t really a house, it was actually just a wall and a roof, it looked like a front porch, but there was no house behind it. Our 12 hammocks were hanging under the roof, with direct view to the main road and the beach. Behind the wall was the makeshift kitchen, including a rudimentary wood stove and some pots and pans. There was however, for the first time in the whole trip, a bathroom, I mean four walls and a door with a lock and a ceramic toilet. There was in fact no sewage system, so we still had to bring in a bucket of water to flush but it was the best we had seen up to this point. We couldn’t have been happier.
Photographer: CU
There were animals roaming free all over the place, kittens and puppies and chicks it was such a pleasant experience. Waking around Cabo de la Vela, was a new world for me, seeing the bright colors of the desert clashing into the blue and green waters, it is something beyond imagination. We grabbed a frisbee and made our way up to the hill known as el Pilon de azucar,white and high with a great view of the landscape.
Photographer: CU
There is something to do here for every taste, and so my friends and I split up into smaller groups. Some went diving, some others looking around the little shops selling curiosities, some wanted to swim and sit in the sun to even out tan lines from the previous days. I stayed over for two days, not nearly as long as I wanted to, and my friends were staying even longer but I had an important family commitment back in Bogota on the evening after arriving, so this was the longest I could extend my trip.
Photographer: CU
With the lack of electricity, the night started pretty early; the sun goes down at six and you start having a few drinks, playing some guitar and dancing by the sea. By 11 you are exhausted and at 1am you feel like it was the longest party ever. My last night I asked about returning to Santa Marta, and was told I would have to take a flota from Riohacha and would have to take the bus that leaves el Cabo at 4am. I figured I would stay up all night, to avoid going to bed and not waking up so I wanted to party all night long and sleep in the bus. The drinking and dancing started and at 1am I decided I would take a fifteen minute power nap to keep on going until four. When I opened my eyes it was 5:30 in the morning. I had missed my bus.
Photographer: CU
End of part 6, you can read part 7 here.