Manaure Salt Flats

The Guajira peninsula is dry, hot and windy, which is exactly what solar salt production needs, and the Wayuu have gathered salt here for centuries by traditional methods before industrial pans were laid out in the twentieth century - the operation at Manaure has been among the largest in Colombia. Seawater is let into shallow beds, the sun and wind take the water, and the salt is raked into white heaps that stand along the flats. Some ponds run pink from the same halophilic algae and bacteria that colour salt pans elsewhere. Ownership and control of the salt works has been contested between the state, companies and Wayuu communities, with agreements and disputes running for decades and the community's share a live issue.

Highlights

• Shallow evaporation beds - seawater taken by sun and wind.
• White salt heaps - raked along the flats.
• Pink ponds - from halophilic algae at high salinity.
• A contested operation - state, company and Wayuu claims unresolved.

When to go

December to April, the dry and windy season. Half a day.

Good to know

Glare off the salt is severe - sunglasses are essential and skin burns from reflected light. There is no shade at all. It is a working industrial site as well as a community one. Water and services in Manaure are scarce.

Nearby

Riohacha is south-east; Cabo de la Vela is north.