Overflight of La Guajira Peninsula

What an awesome start to my expedition to La Guajira! Our plane from Madrid to Bogota arrived at the South American shore right at the La Guajira peninsula where I will spent the next two months. I was so excited to see the area that I am already planning to explore for over one year now from above that I was just about to jump off the plane.

You can clearly see the structures of Puerto Cerrejon at the bottom of the foto. The black surface at the spit is a coal deposit. Puerto Cerrejon is the port where the coal of Colombia’s largest coal mine El Cerrejon is loaded on ships and exported world wide. The port is located at the bay Bahia Portete.

On the opposite side of the bay there is a white plane. This is Salar Kemrri – a natural salt pan. Further up in the image you see two more bays that are called Bahia Honda (the larger one) and Bahia Hondita (the smaller irregularly shaped one).

The left-most point in the foto is actually the most northern tip of South America, called Punta Gallinas.

One more visible detail are  the coulds coming from the caribbean sea getting blocked by the mountains of Serrania Macuira. The mountains drain water into the arid land and create a local oasis in the middle of the dessert with unique flora and fauna.

Before I can finally explore the Guajira peninsula on the ground there is still a lot to do. So, let’s get started!