We visited the Macuira National Park during our four-day tour of the Guajira Desert. We’d been wanting to discover the desert for a long time, but we absolutely had to go all the way to Nazareth, in the far north of the peninsula, to discover the surreal landscapes of the Macuira Park and the Aleewolu’u dunes!
While the journey to get there is long and relatively strenuous, the effort is well worth it. It’s safe to say that our visit to Nazareth and La Macuira Park saved our four-day tour of the Guajira Desert!
PREPARING PSYCHOLOGICALLY FOR THE GUAJIRA DESERT
To avoid any surprises, we feel it’s important to have some information before setting off into the Guajira Desert. Here are a few things to expect:
- Plastic pollution around rancherias and villages
- Children blocking the road to beg
- Seeing families fetching water from rain holes
- Having a problem with your 4×4 (breakdown, puncture, etc.)
Disclaimer: we apologize in advance for any grammatical or syntactic errors, as our native language is not English (we're a Colombian-French couple), so we hope you'll forgive us and still enjoy the information we share with you! Please note that all the information on our blog is based on our own experience, and is checked and updated regularly.
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General information on La Macuira National Park
- Name: La Macuira or Makuira
- Department: La Guajira
- Region: Caribbean
- Surface area: 250 km2
- Maximum altitude: 867m
- Ecosystems: cloud forest, tropical dry forest
- Dry season: December to March
- Temperatures: 28°C
- Climate: desert
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Macuira National Park
An oasis in the middle of the desert
The Macuira Natural Park is a unique place in Colombia, an ecosystem totally apart and, in defiance of all logic, a small miracle of nature. In the Guajira desert, so arid and lacking in everything and especially water resources, the Macuira National Park is a veritable oasis in the middle of the desert.
The park boasts a variety of ecosystems, including a “cloud forest” (bosque de nube in Spanish). An ecosystem normally found in Andean forests at altitudes of around 3.000 m, but here we are less than five kilometers from a desert zone at just 800 m above sea level!
The cloud forest of the Serrania de la Macuira is therefore unique in its kind, and its presence has a huge impact on the local population, both in terms of the water it provides for food crops and its importance in Wayuu cosmogony.
THE MACUIRA CLOUD FOREST
As a reminder, a cloud forest is a rare ecosystem characterized by the almost constant presence of clouds or mist, and consequent high levels of rain and humidity. The vegetation is adapted to capture the water in the moisture-laden air. Cloud forests are fragile ecosystems, and are relatively rare throughout the world. They are particularly important for their high biodiversity.
To explain the presence of a cloud forest in the middle of the desert, we need to understand that the Serrania de la Macuira mountain range acts as a physical barrier, blocking the moisture-laden trade winds from the Caribbean Sea. The trade winds come crashing down on the mountains, forming a mist that clings to the peaks and forms the “cloud forest” ecosystem.
The eastern slopes of the Macuira provide most of the area’s water sources, but most of the water seeps into the ground at the foot of the mountains. These underground springs are tapped with deep wells by Wayuu communities for their own needs. On the surface, the rivers remain dry for much of the year, with streams only appearing during the rainy season.
The Macuira mountains and their cloud forests are sacred to the indigenous Wayuu people who live in the region. Three peaks in particular stand out: Paluwo’u or Palúa (865 m), Walechi or Huaresh (852 m) and Alo’ulaa or Jihouone (753 m).
The park’s other outstanding phenomenon is the Aleewolu’u dunes! A real curiosity, which we’ll talk about later in the post.
La Macuira Tour with Responsible Local Agency
It’s essential to go into the desert with a serious agency. Paola’s agency is one of the few in Riohacha to have developed responsible tourism in the Guajira desert. You can go with your eyes closed and break the piggy bank to go as far as Macuira!
La Macuira, sacred place of the Wayuus
La Macuira Natural Park
The Guajira peninsula has been inhabited for centuries by the indigenous Wayuu people. The Makuira is a sacred place for this community, and many founding myths are linked to this territory.
According to Wayuu cosmovision, it is Jepirech, the spirit of the north-east wind, who leads the clouds to the mountains to fertilize them with Igua, the goddess of spring rains. This explains the proliferation of forests and water.
There are several myths that recount the birth of the Wayuu people. One of them explains that the Wayuu were born from the union between Jepirech and Igua.
The Wolunka stone
But another myth attributes the birth of the Wayuu people to Wolunkaa (or Worunka), “the woman with the toothed vagina”. And this myth takes place specifically inside the Macuira Park, near the riverbed where large stones are found. To put it simply, some boys shot an arrow at her, causing the teeth to fall out of her vagina, and Wolunkaa was able to mate and give birth to the Wayuu people.
In any case, if you go to Parc de la Macuira, you’ll be able to discover this place, this stone and this history. One of the stones has red marks, supposedly the trace of this founding event for the Wayuu people.
To continue with the Wayuu myths linked to the Macuira Park, we can also mention the Aleewolu’u dunes located inside the Macuira Park, whose legend sheds light on the relations between the indigenous peoples of the region.
La Macuira Tour with Responsible Local Agency
It’s essential to go into the desert with a serious agency. Paola’s agency is one of the few in Riohacha to have developed responsible tourism in the Guajira desert. You can go with your eyes closed and break the piggy bank to go as far as Macuira!
The Aleewolu’u dunes
Macuira Natural Park
When discovering the Macuira Natural Park, you must be accompanied by an official nature park guide. In this case, all the local guides are Wayuus trained by the national parks.
We can clearly tell you that this 3-hour hike in the heart of the park, accompanied by Mayerli, our Wayuu guide, saved our 4-day organized tour of the Guajira desert!
But to return to the beauties of La Macuira National Park, the hike inside the park took us to the incredible dunes of Aleewolu’u. A landscape out of the best science-fiction films: an ochre sand dune lost in the middle of green mountains!
ARHUACOS AND THE ALEEWOLU’U DUNES
Wayuu legend has it that the dunes were formed in ancient times by a group of indigenous Arhuacos. Feeling tired, they brought some sand from the coast to make a pillow and sleep. This sand multiplied and, blown by the wind, created the Aleewolu’u dunes.
Note: the Arhuacos are one of the four indigenous peoples living in the mountains of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta
According to our guide, Aleewolu’u means “where friends meet” and is a traditional meeting place for Wayuu communities. People come here to celebrate important events, such as birthdays and anniversaries.
The sight is truly impressive. The wind has sculpted impossible lines, waves, hollows and sublime shapes. You can climb to the top and take in the full extent of this extraordinary landscape.
La Macuira Tour with Responsible Local Agency
It’s essential to go into the desert with a serious agency. Paola’s agency is one of the few in Riohacha to have developed responsible tourism in the Guajira desert. You can go with your eyes closed and break the piggy bank to go as far as Macuira!
The village of Nazareth (Akuwai)
La Macuira Natural Park
The village of Nazareth (Akuwai in Wayuu) is the main village in the area. It lies within the Macuira Natural Park. It is home to the largest Wayuu population in the area.
Nazareth has retained a simple atmosphere, where the inhabitants don’t seem to have been affected by the inconveniences of tourism as in other parts of the Guajira. (Perhaps because there are fewer tourists in this area?) The “privileged” geographical situation in relation to the center of the desert offers access to water, a rare phenomenon in the Guajira, which enables them to claim subsistence farming in the rainy season.
Nazareth has its own indigenous village atmosphere, where traditions are perpetuated away from the hustle and bustle of the world. It’s an atmosphere in which tourists must keep a low profile, so as not to disturb the march of time.
But having a drink on a street corner, grabbing a bite to eat under a tree in Nazareth Square, sitting on the steps and simply watching life unfold before your eyes is priceless.
La Macuira Tour with Responsible Local Agency
It’s essential to go into the desert with a serious agency. Paola’s agency is one of the few in Riohacha to have developed responsible tourism in the Guajira desert. You can go with your eyes closed and break the piggy bank to go as far as Macuira!
Nature reserve
Macuira National Park
La Macuira Natural Park was declared a “Special Area for Bird Conservation” (AICA) in Colombia and worldwide in 2003. It protects a large number of endemic and migratory bird species. And indeed, we didn’t expect to see so many!
Special bird conservation area
Over 140 bird species have been recorded, including 7 endemic subspecies and more than 10 migratory species. The Alta Guajira’s emblematic bird, the ” Rey Guajiro” (vermilion cardinal), is of particular importance in Wayuu cosmovision.
It was one of the things that surprised us most about our hike in La Macuira National Park! The number of birds we were able to observe was impressive, once again in a region that is supposed to be desert and therefore not very conducive to the presence of great biodiversity… A great place for birdwatching in Colombia.
A natural wildlife reserve
As far as mammals are concerned, there are a dozen species (squirrels, rabbits, white-faced monkeys, giant anteaters, mice, tiger cats, deer and savannah foxes). There is also a wide variety of insects, 13 species of snakes, 6 species of lizards and 6 amphibians, including an endemic species: Allobates wayuu.
Finally, in the area covered by the Macuira Park, there are 350 species of flora, 120 of which are found in the cloud forest. The Macuira forest boasts the most diverse vegetation in the middle and upper Guajira (orchids, bananillos, balazos, bromeliads…).
Conclusion
Macuira National Park
In conclusion, La Macuira National Park was our favorite part of the Guajira desert. It’s a truly special destination, an ecological and cultural oasis, a small miracle in the middle of the desert.
For us, it was the place that saved our organized desert tour, and without the stopover in Nazareth and the Macuira Natural Park, we would certainly have had very different memories of Guajira!
Contact for La Macuira National Park Tour
As you’ll have understood, it’s essential to go into the desert with a serious local agency. After a mixed experience, we decided to look for an agency offering a different kind of tourism.
Paola’s agency is one of the few in Riohacha to develop responsible tourism in the Guajira desert.
Even if the tour basics are the same as the other agencies (Manaure, Cabo de la vela, Punta Gallinas, Macuira), the difference is in the details:
- Safety and reliability (mandatory breathalyzer test for all drivers and 4×4 inspection before each departure)
- More interaction with your Wayuu driver (they are not guides, but they are trained to answer your questions and interact with you)
- Maximum 5 people in 4x4s
- Visit to a Wayuu weaving workshop
- Share with locals around the sacred fire
- Share with the children of Nazareth (if you go to La Macuira)
- Turtle liberation (program to protect endangered Careta turtles)
- Swimming in luminescent plankton
- Community contribution (all services are provided by the community)
- Offers the Macuira Natural Park (and many other destinations in the department)
If you add to this the fact that Paola has been setting up social-interest projects throughout the department for many years, there’s nothing more to think about. Do you think her prices are a little more expensive than elsewhere? Now you know why, and more importantly, you know where your money is going.
We’d advise anyone who wants to do the classic Guajira Desert tour, including Cabo de la Vela and Punta Gallinas, to put in the budget and push on to Parc de la Macuira.
Contact Paola – Responsible local agency
How to get to La Macuira National Park
La Macuira Natural Park is located on the edge of the Guajira peninsula, and can only be reached after a full day of 4×4 driving in the desert, with no marked roads, where navigation is by sight and known only to the locals.
In other words, you can’t get to La Macuira Natural Park on your own. You’ll have to go through a local travel agency.
Problem is only few people want to go as far as the Macuira, so the agencies don’t offer group tours… So you have to do a Private Tour and if you’re alone or a couple, it’s very expensive! You’ll need at least to be 4 or 6 people to get a reasonable price. But whatever happens, it will be more expensive, because it’s so far into the desert.
But it worth it!
