点评:Booked a 3 day tour through Kaishi Travel to La Guajira, covering both Punta Gallinas and Cabo de la Vela, and we saw all the highlights. A few things worth sharing for anyone considering this.
Before the trip, Kaishi gave us a heads up not to buy food or water for the local community, and to instead spend money on artesanías and meals, and to always ask before taking photos of locals. Really solid advice and something I appreciated going in.
One thing to know though: Kaishi outsources the actual tour execution to a local operator, Sachi Tours (hope I’m spelling that right). Because of that, it was pretty much unavoidable that some of my fellow travelers and even the guide ended up handing out water, rice, coffee, and cookies along the way. I get why, there’s real need there, but it’s a short term fix at best. The tricky part is that kids pick up fast on the fact that asking gets results, and that’s not a great pattern to reinforce. I talked to the guide about this and we discussed possible longer term solutions that could actually benefit the community, ideally something that helps them build income within their own existing structures rather than creating more dependency. Not blaming anyone here, just something worth being aware of if you’re going.
On the practical side, Kaishi Travel stayed really involved throughout, checking in regularly to make sure everything was going smoothly. The hotels in La Guajira are basic, as expected out there, but well kept, and the meals were good too.
Overall it was an impressive, eye opening trip and we saw some incredible places. Just go in with the right mindset about the community dynamics, and maybe think about how you personally choose to engage, buying local, respecting photo boundaries, that kind of thing.
翻译:我们通过Kaishi Travel预订了为期3天的拉瓜希拉之旅,行程涵盖了蓬塔加利纳斯和卡波德拉维拉,我们也看到了所有值得一看的景点。在此,我想分享几点建议,供计划前往此地的朋友们参考。
出发前,Kaishi提醒我们不要给当地社区购买食物或水,而应该把钱花在购买手工艺品和用餐上;另外,在给当地人拍照前也务必先征得许可。这些建议非常实用,也让我在旅途中受益匪浅。不过有一点需要了解:Kaishi把实际的旅游执行工作外包给了一家本地旅行社——Sachi Tours(希望我拼对名字了)。正因如此,我的同伴们甚至导游本人最终都不得不在旅途中分发水、米饭、咖啡和饼干。我理解这样做的必要性,毕竟确实有这种需求,但这充其量只是个治标不治本的临时办法。棘手的是,孩子们很快就会发现:只要开口请求就能得到东西。这种模式并不值得推广。我和导游谈到了这一点,我们讨论了一些能从长远上真正造福社区的解决方案——最好是能帮助他们在现有体系内增加收入的办法,而不是让他们变得更加依赖外界。我这里并无责怪之意,只是觉得如果你要去的话,这点也值得留意。
实际操作层面,Kaishi Travel自始至终都积极参与其中。我们定期检查,确保一切顺利进行。正如预期,拉瓜希拉地区的酒店都很简陋,但维护得不错,食物也很好吃。
总体而言,这是一次令人印象深刻且大开眼界的旅行,我们参观了许多绝美的地方。只要以正确的心态去了解当地的社区文化,再想想自己要如何参与其中——比如购买当地产品、遵守拍照规定等等,就足够了。