Experience the best of Riohacha

Riohacha stands where the Ranchería River reaches the Caribbean, in the dry north-east of Colombia, on the Guajira Peninsula. Founded in the sixteenth century, it was a pearl-fishing port, and English raiders, among them Francis Drake, attacked it. A pier reaches into the sea from a waterfront promenade, and the beach runs along the edge of town.

Los Flamencos sanctuary, a coastal reserve of lagoons where flamingos feed, lies along the coast to the south-west, and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta rises on the horizon beyond. The Wayuu, the largest indigenous people of Colombia, live across the surrounding desert and weave colourful mochila bags. Far to the north-east, Cabo de la Vela and Punta Gallinas, the northernmost point of South America, are reached by desert tracks.

Friche, goat fried in its own fat, is the Wayuu dish, served alongside fresh fish, shrimp and coconut rice from the coast. Trade winds blow almost constantly, and the weather is hot and dry for much of the year.