Riohacha Services

By Lorraine Caputo

Tourism Office

The tourism office, Dirección de Turismo de la Guajira, is on the Malecón. It dispenses basic, curt information on what to do and see in all the Guajira (daily 8 a.m.-noon, 2-6 p.m., but may close earlier on weekends. Calle 1 and Carrera 5 Tel.: 5-727-1015, E-mail: lourdesmarevalo@yahoo.es).

Other offices of importance are:

DAS—Monday-Friday 7-11:30 a.m., 2-3:30 p.m. Calle 5 4-48, Tel.: 5-727-2407.

Instituto Geográfico Agustín Codazzi—Calle 12 5-25, Tel.: 5-727-3930

National Park office—Carrera 7 2-15, Tel.: 5-728-2636

Venezuelan Consulate—Carrera 7 3-08, P-7B, Edificio Ejecutivo (next to Banco

AV Villas), Tel.: 5-727-4076

Money

As money facilities—banks, ATMs, casas de cambio—are non-existent in the peninsula, it is best to stock up on pesos here before heading into the hinterlands.

BBVA (Calle 2 and Carrera 8, across from the church)—ATM: MasterCard,

Visa, Plus

Banco Popular (Calle 1 and Carrera 7)—ATM (on Carrera 7): ATH, Visa

MasterCard, Cirrus, Plus

Banco AV Villas (Carrera 7 3-16)—ATM: ATH, Plus, Cirrus, MasterCard, Visa

Bancolombia (Monday-Thursday 8 a.m.-4 p.m., Friday 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Carrera

8 3-09)—Exchanges American Express travellers cheques; ATM: MasterCard, Visa, Cirrus, American Express

Keeping in Touch

Telecom has local, national and international phone services (Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-noon, 2-6 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m.-noon). Shops and street stands charge $0.10 per minute for local or national calls. Correos de Colombia also has an outpost here (Monday-Friday 7:30 a.m.-noon, 2-6 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m.-noon. Calle 2 6-46). Internet is a bit difficult to find; the average price is $0.80 per hour. Yejogi Internet has a special price of $0.50 per hour from noon to 2 p.m. (Monday-Saturday 9 a.m.-9 p.m., closed Sunday. Calle 4 8-29).

Medical

Hospital Nuestra Señora de los Remedios serves Riohacha’s medical needs (Calle 12, Avenida de los Estudiantes, Tel.: 5-727-1374 / 727-3077). Pharmacies can be found throughout the city; several are on Calle 7, near Carrera 7.

Laundry

Spumas Lavandería y Servicios is the place to go for the laundering of your clothes. It is more expensive than other parts of Colombia, costing $2.35 per kilogram, owing to the scarcity of water (Monday-Saturday 8 a.m.-7 p.m., closed Sunday and holidays. Carrera 5 9-27, Tel.: 5-727-4514 / 315-749-1064).

Camera

A trio of camera shops offering processing, print films (Kodak, Fuji and Konica), cameras (both analog and digital) and accessories, as well as other photographic services, are located on Calle 3, between Carreras 6 and 7.