Minca

To get to Minca you have to take a jeep from Santa Marta. You have to wait until it has a minimum of 4 people. The jeep driver was about 80 years old and the jeep even older and we broke down about 5 minutes after leaving! When the jeep was fixed it took about an hour to get to Minca up a winding mountain road.  Minca is a small village in the Sierra Nevada mountains looking over Santa Marta.

I went with a Polish girl from the hoatel and we had a very strong local coffee and began walking up the hill to Pozo Azul which is a waterfall and swimming spot. We walked for an hour in the hot sun, crossing a rickety rope bridge and I was glad to jump in the freezing water when we arrived  on the way back we stopped at a quaint little restaurant named after it’s owner on the mountainside called La Camarita.  It had wooden tables and benches with chickens and dogs wandering around and an old fire stove  I asked for a vegetarian meal and the old man cooked me fried eggs, yuca, rice, beans and the best patacones I’ve tasted!

I then went to find someqhere to stay for the night  luckiky I’d left my backpack in Santa Marta and just brought a small bag because it was very tiring climbing the many steps to get to Casa Loma. But when I arrived I was greeted by a fantastic wooden hostel with the most amazing views. They even had some rock carvibgs from the Tayronas on the property. It was so peaceful and friendly up there. I watched the sunset over Santa Marta and the mountains which was stunning.
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I braved the steps down by night to eat by the river in the village and then was welcomed by the hostel cat who led me up the steps back up. I relaxed in a hammock and read my book for the rest of the evening. So relaxing!

The next day I went to Las Cascadas with Levi from New York. The walk was hot but beautiful and always uphill! A little dog who we named Trekkie followed us all the way and me all the way back for 5 hours! The waterfall was very refreshing and we shared it with a Colombian family on a day trip  In the way back we bumped into Sharon and Jack, a couple from the hostel and had a drink at a ‘bar’ (a shop selling beers with a plastic table and chairs outside) and had a good chat about life!

I headed back with Trekkie to the village to catch the jeep back into the city. I had to meet with the tour company  arrange the trek to the lost city. I didn’t want to leave this little slice of heaven on earth!