It’s hard, living in the desert. In fact most of the world’s deserts are completely inhabitable. Although it’s not completly inhabitable, the Guajira desert located in northern Colombia gives its people a lot of inconveniences. But the Wayuu indigenous people continue living in these places and in fact they adapt pretty well to their circumstances. The main issue that people have in the Guajira is the lack of water, the same issue that exists in every desert around the world. People have to adapt to these conditions so that they are able to survive. But that is not a problem, humans have proven capable of surviving in almost any condition around the globe. What is interesting is they way in which they accomplish this in the Guajira desert, one thing we had the priviledge to experience with our own eyes.
The way locals adapt to the amount of water available in la Guajira is a hard thing. There were places where we visited in which there regularly was no water, so when we went there they had to walk about 4 to 5 hours to get the water and bring it back in mules and donkeys, so that we could shower. What do they do regularly then? They do not shower with potable water normally. They get in their nearby seas where they can put some water on themselves, but clearly they cannot use soap. Being a city person, its hard to imagine our life without showering every morning. We are used to cleaning up every single day, to smell good and feel fresh. The desert people dont have that privilege. They dont even dream of being able to shower every day, but they are completely used to it. I am sure that when they saw us desperately begging to take a 1 minute shower, they laughed to death inside. Its something that goes with culture and habits, but they deal with it perfectly. while staiyng at Punta Gallinas we could see what water meant to them after it rain all night. in the morning women has ritual dresses and were happy to pick up the water that had been left over from the rain in the ponds. Water is primordial for them, they even felt disrespedted when we gave a bad use to the water or we threw it away.
We also noticed that they live mainly depending on the amount of goats the family has. The goats are the animals who have the best balance between benefit to the owners and cost, because of their way of not consuming water. Other animals like cows need grass which needs water which in total becomes a counter-productive activity. To get married they pay 70, to put a hammock next to their wifes is 10, and what we noticed is that there were a lot of lonely goats in the desert. This is like finding money on the ground, because they even buy women with these animals.
They mainly live on goat meat, rice and fish, because this is what is available for them to hunt. In fact, their food variety is very limited. In some places there were eggs, they raise chikens for the eggs and for their meat, but they dont have a lot of them because they are hard to maintain, especially with no water. They have a weird culture, but I'm not going to get deep into that. The Wayuu people have learned to live with what they have, and they do a great job. As you move north, all of these things start getting more and more hard to find. By the time you get to Punta Gallinas, the northernmost point of Colombia and of the entire South American continent, everything is limited. Everything they have has been brought before. The water is taken after long, excruciating walks by the women and the food is also brought, except for their goats and the traditional fish that they get in the sea, fry it on oil and ready to eat. This is the basis of their protein diet. All of the rest, carbohidrates and fruits are imported by them, nothing is produced there
The wayuus live in a very dry environment, a place where food and water are very hard to get. They make their own clothes, their own hammocks and their own rancherias all by themselves. They consider themselves a separate part of Colombia, they have their own laws. For example, if one person kills another, the family of the victim has the right to kill the other one, in any way they want. To be able to survive in here, they have a lot of practice and experience. The culture has embraced the lack of water as a part of the daily life, this is one of the reasons the Wayuu are so good and used to lacking of water.
Martin Valencia
Daniel Agudelo
Camilo Vaca
It’s hard, living in the desert. In fact most of the world’s deserts are completely inhabitable. Although it’s not completly inhabitable, the Guajira desert located in northern Colombia gives its people a lot of inconveniences. But the Wayuu indigenous people continue living in these places and in fact they adapt pretty well to their circumstances. The main issue that people have in the Guajira is the lack of water, the same issue that exists in every desert around the world. People have to adapt to these conditions so that they are able to survive. But that is not a problem, humans have proven capable of surviving in almost any condition around the globe. What is interesting is they way in which they accomplish this in the Guajira desert, one thing we had the priviledge to experience with our own eyes.
The way locals adapt to the amount of water available in la Guajira is a hard thing. There were places where we visited in which there regularly was no water, so when we went there they had to walk about 4 to 5 hours to get the water and bring it back in mules and donkeys, so that we could shower. What do they do regularly then? They do not shower with potable water normally. They get in their nearby seas where they can put some water on themselves, but clearly they cannot use soap. Being a city person, its hard to imagine our life without showering every morning. We are used to cleaning up every single day, to smell good and feel fresh. The desert people dont have that privilege. They dont even dream of being able to shower every day, but they are completely used to it. I am sure that when they saw us desperately begging to take a 1 minute shower, they laughed to death inside. Its something that goes with culture and habits, but they deal with it perfectly. while staiyng at Punta Gallinas we could see what water meant to them after it rain all night. in the morning women has ritual dresses and were happy to pick up the water that had been left over from the rain in the ponds. Water is primordial for them, they even felt disrespedted when we gave a bad use to the water or we threw it away.
We also noticed that they live mainly depending on the amount of goats the family has. The goats are the animals who have the best balance between benefit to the owners and cost, because of their way of not consuming water. Other animals like cows need grass which needs water which in total becomes a counter-productive activity. To get married they pay 70, to put a hammock next to their wifes is 10, and what we noticed is that there were a lot of lonely goats in the desert. This is like finding money on the ground, because they even buy women with these animals.
They mainly live on goat meat, rice and fish, because this is what is available for them to hunt. In fact, their food variety is very limited. In some places there were eggs, they raise chikens for the eggs and for their meat, but they dont have a lot of them because they are hard to maintain, especially with no water. They have a weird culture, but I'm not going to get deep into that. The Wayuu people have learned to live with what they have, and they do a great job. As you move north, all of these things start getting more and more hard to find. By the time you get to Punta Gallinas, the northernmost point of Colombia and of the entire South American continent, everything is limited. Everything they have has been brought before. The water is taken after long, excruciating walks by the women and the food is also brought, except for their goats and the traditional fish that they get in the sea, fry it on oil and ready to eat. This is the basis of their protein diet. All of the rest, carbohidrates and fruits are imported by them, nothing is produced there
The wayuus live in a very dry environment, a place where food and water are very hard to get. They make their own clothes, their own hammocks and their own rancherias all by themselves. They consider themselves a separate part of Colombia, they have their own laws. For example, if one person kills another, the family of the victim has the right to kill the other one, in any way they want. To be able to survive in here, they have a lot of practice and experience. The culture has embraced the lack of water as a part of the daily life, this is one of the reasons the Wayuu are so good and used to lacking of water.