Santa Marta, Tayrona and Minca


Advertisement
Published: October 24th 2011
Edit Blog Post

Santa Marta, Tayrona and Minca



From Bogota we took a plane ride up to the Caribbean coast of Colombia, to the city of Santa Marta. As soon as we stepped off the plane we knew something had changed, the weather was hot and sticky, and the atmosphere was laid back (not surprisingly given the heat!). We spent about a week and a half in Santa Marta interspersed with a few nights in both Tayrona National Park (a spot of largely unspoiled jungle next to the sea) and Minca (a small village in the foothills), the highlights of our time in these places is outlined below.

Santa Marta: a very relaxing stay in Aluna with our Irish host Patrick; set Mexican lunch at Agave Azul and fresh smoothies at Lulu’s; beach day at Rododero in a an open tent (tent was for Will the poor flower!); trip to Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino, the place Simon Bolivar died and the home of some very large iguanas; and time spent with Nando’s family (a Colombian who moved to the US 20 years ago).

Tayrona National Park: a hot and crowded bus journey out there (complete with a chap
Relaxing bus journeyRelaxing bus journeyRelaxing bus journey

Man with drum, mouth organ and surprisingly good voice
playing the drums and singing!); hammock living at Yulukka on Arrecifes beach; watching the local dogs playing chicken with the alligator in the river; massive pan au chocolates at a local “bakery”; and finally the hottest, sweatiest day ever on a hike up to El Pueblito, the sight of a few old ruins, complete with being able to ring out our shorts at the top!

Minca: watching the thunder storm pass down the valley from our balcony with our 2 feline companions; our hike to the waterfall which ended in us being caught in yet another downpour; breakfast with the humming birds (cue frenzied camera activity); and the very kind local who gave us a lift back to the city in his jeep through a biblical flood!

Travelers tip: on a trip to Tayrona stay at Arecifies rather than Cabo San Juan as the camp ground is much nicer – good bathrooms! Although you can’t swim on the beach it is only a 20 minute walk to the next beach where you can or an hour to Cabo. Plus don’t bring a wheelie suitcase to a wet jungle with muddy path ways – it happens, we saw it!



Additional photos below
Photos: 29, Displayed: 23


Advertisement

Big daddy iguanaBig daddy iguana
Big daddy iguana

He sat at the bottom of the tree so he could regulate who came into his tree
Spot the assSpot the ass
Spot the ass

We feel we should really throw this one open to a caption competition


26th October 2011
Humming bird take # 439

What a beauty!
Definitely worth the frenzied camera effort.

Tot: 0.149s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 14; qc: 70; dbt: 0.1014s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.2mb