Palomino Overview

By Lorraine Caputo

Psst, psst—I'm letting you in on a Colombian secret, one that few foreigners have heard about. It's called Palomino, mid-ways between Riohacha and Santa Marta, flanked by the San Salvador and Palomino Rivers. Buses pass through the town straddling the coastal highway. But head to the beach where the Caribbean lies wide open, waves crumpling ashore. In the dawn light, fishermen push their boats to sea. Comb these amber sands for shells or observe birds in the rivers’ mangroves. On clear mornings the snowy peaks of Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta backdrop the palm trees. Sea turtles nest here in season.