Travel Guide Palomino

The Palomino River, which descends from the heights of the Sierra Nevada and flows into the Caribbean Sea, separates the departments of Magdalena and La Guajira. The village of Palomino is located just east of this crystal clear river. For convenience, the gateway to the Guajira is treated in this guide in the region of Santa Marta, with which it shares many geographical and cultural similarities, and not in the Guajira peninsula which is still a world apart... Palomino is a small fishing village, located between the sea and the mountains, where the Caribbean peoples and the Indians of the Sierra, descendants of the Tayronas, meet: Kogui, Arhuako, Wiwa and Kankuamo. At first sight, the village crossed by the Troncal del Caribe does not present anything very attractive. But after 5 minutes on the back of a motorcycle cab, one discovers a turquoise blue sea and a white sandy beach, several kilometers long and almost deserted, bordered by a luxuriant tropical vegetation. Go to the beach at daybreak at the mouth of the Palomino River, where the salty waves mix with the fresh waters of the river. An unforgettable sight awaits you: behind the tropical vegetation, the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and its eternally snowy peaks are revealed. The Cristóbal Colón peak and its twin, the Simón Bolívar peak, reach an altitude of 5,775 m, only 42 km from the Caribbean coast! The Sierra gives birth to thirty rivers and presents enormous natural and cultural wealth, to be discovered from Palomino. You can also go surfing, or share a fogata (a campfire) under the stars. The impression you get will be very different whether you come in high or low season. Despite the rapid development of tourism, Palomino remains a mystical place, from which you will probably find it hard to leave.