Nowadays touristically La Guajira is known for its space, desert and beaches and is a very interesting part of Colombia to visit. Because of it’s landscape, culture and ecology. It still doesn’t have a lot of tourist infrastructure. But this is where to go if you want to see a completely different Colombia . La Guajira is the most northern part of Colombia borders Venezuela, Aruba, and Curacao. It is situated on the Caribbean Coast. La Guajira is also one of the most inhospitable, dry and poor parts of Colombia . This peninsula the most eastern part of Colombia and South America was seen for the first time by an European in 1498 when Alonso de Ojeda sailed along the shores the peninsula. It was near the most Northern point of the peninsula very near to the place that is now called Bahia Honda (Deep Bay) on which Alonso de Ojeda on his second travel in 1502 set ashore and built the first European settlement on the continent: Santa Cruz named after the day of Santa Cruz (3rd of May) on which he set foot on land. The settlement only lasted 3 months due to aggresivenes towards the Guajira people in the area and internal conflicts. During Spanish colonial time at Cabo de Vela a pearl fishery site was set up. This activity stayed there until the 17th century. In this work the Spanish used slaves originating from Africa. Later the Afro-Colombian community spread out towards Riohacha where they worked in sugar, tabacco and corn cultivation and cattle breeding. Pearl fishing stagnated in the 17th century. The peninsula was a place in which different powers strived for hegemony like the Spanish, English, French, Dutch and pirates. The north eastern part of La Guajira however always has been an inhospitable place with
Nowadays touristically La Guajira is known for its space, desert and beaches and is a very interesting part of Colombia to visit. Because of it’s landscape, culture and ecology. It still doesn’t have a lot of tourist infrastructure. But this is where to go if you want to see a completely different Colombia . La Guajira is the most northern part of Colombia borders Venezuela, Aruba, and Curacao. It is situated on the Caribbean Coast. La Guajira is also one of the most inhospitable, dry and poor parts of Colombia . This peninsula the most eastern part of Colombia and South America was seen for the first time by an European in 1498 when Alonso de Ojeda sailed along the shores the peninsula. It was near the most Northern point of the peninsula very near to the place that is now called Bahia Honda (Deep Bay) on which Alonso de
