A Tale of Two Beaches

The first row of photos is from lush Tayrona National Park, on the Carribbean, near Santa Marta, Colombia.  Also near Santa Marta is the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, a coastal mountain range containing peaks as high as 19k'.  That's shown in the last photo on the 1st 5 photos

The high peaks of Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta create a rain shadow, creating the coastal desert and beaches of the Guajira peninsula and Cabo de la Vela, shown in the remainder, which is about 120 miles east of the lush beaches of Tayrona.  The cabo lighthouse is visible in the last photo.

Guajira Desert: