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Published: April 22nd 2018
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Minca (14/04/2018-16/04/2018) As we fare goodbye to our fantastic hostel in Santa Marta and its wonderful
jugo (juice), we hail a taxi to take us to get a shuttle bus to our next destination Minca - a refreshing town nestled in the mountains, renowned for its natural beauty. Minca is the perfect place to kick back and relax for a few days, take in some great scenic walks, spot tropical birds, and enjoy interacting with some locals.
After a 15 minute drive, our taxi driver stops and checks for the bus shuttle.. he returns with bad news, and mumbles something in Spanish to inform us the shuttle bus isn't until tomorrow. How odd... the hostel never mentioned anything.. something doesn't feel right, but we were stuck! So he ended up personally driving us to Minca (45 min drive). As we hit the twisty road up to Minca, there.. in front of us.. is the shuttle bus we were supposed to be on.. We were fleeced! And ended up paying ten times the price of the shuttle bus. How annoying!
Passing nice landscapes and street vendors out of Santa Marta and onto the steep slopes of Minca, my ears
Casa Relax's Views
Buenos días, Minca! pop due to the altitude change. The closer we get, the steeper the slopes, and the harder it is for our taxi to struggle up the hills. The incline almost stalling the car on numerous occasions. Now at the centre of Minca, the taxi must leave us as he cannot make the rough bumpy terrain up to our new hostel, Casa Relax. Our only option.. the motorbike taxi (apologies to Amy's dad). Hoping onto two motorbike taxis, I hold on using my leg muscles as the driver scoots up the mountain terrain, an uneven climb, avoiding obstacles along the way.
Greeted by our lovely hosts, two Colombian chicas and an Argentinian volunteer, we were welcomed with open arms and given the full tour. What fantastic views of nature and wildlife, with a hummingbird sugar water feeder where not only 1, or, 2, or 3, but 4 different hummingbirds were whizzing by, sipping water and resting on the branches of nearby trees. The reviews were true... we immediately felt the chilled, laid back vibe of Minca. With it being afternoon, we decided to go for a stroll. Wandering into town meant crossing a slightly unstable bamboo bridge, Amy opted to
A Hike
hard work in the heat! wade through. Across the river, we indulged in some Churros smuthered in condensed milk and arequipe AKA dulce de leche - Colombians love the stuff! These were the best Churros I've ever had. In town we find some street vendors, restaurants, many motorists, locals, as well as a few friendly gringo backpackers. A little later we find our way into a lovely restaurant for our late lunch - The Lazy Cat, where literally smelly cats and dogs were resting under the terrace outside and attempting to access the restaurant, only to be squirted with
agua. Resting outside the restaurant for a while, we make our way back to Casa Relax, slowly crossing that lovely log bridge once more. Relaxing by the small hostel pool, we notice the many animals Minca has to offer. Observing many lizards making their way up trees, different birds, and even a Tucan!
Approaching late evening we decide to discover the Minca night life. We met a lovely German man named David, and Amy taught him her lovely, frustrating card games. We make our way into town once more. The night time changes the view of Minca, bringing out all of the mosquitoes and bugs
The Daily River Crossing
We have to cross this beautiful river to get to town (there is a small wobbly bamboo “bridge”) we so love. It's totally pitch black, so using a torch, we find our way into town and into a local
musica bar. There we watch a live band and the bar becomes more crowded with the hippy locals and gringos. Once the band finishes, the salsa music comes on and my hip control was put to the test. After a nice night of dancing with our new pal, we head back to the Casa Relax. The walk back at 11pm is just as safe as it was at 3pm. Waking up early the next day we soon realise the many mosquito bites we've been blessed with. Starting our early day hike with a long bumpy motorbike taxi (apologies again to Amy's dad) up the mountains, we experience the lovely chill air as we pass waterfalls, finally reaching the popular viewpoint over Minca, at
Los Pinos. There we start our eager sweaty hike through the small trails. First setting our destination to Casa Elemento and relaxing on the world's largest hammock.
Then making our way to find some waterfalls. After 3 hours of hiking and failing to find the most famous waterfall, we decided to motorbike taxi to the
World's Largest Hammock
Sal relaxing in Casa Elemento's famous hammock! other side of the mountain were the biggest waterfall, Pozo Azul was. Many locals come here and cool off in the ice cold waters, take picnics, and relax on the rocks. With the lovely cool breeze blowing, it was very refreshing after hiking. After spending some time there we make our way back to the hostel, our legs still sore from the challenging 4 day Lost City trek, we desperately grip on along the bumpy ride. In the afternoon, while Amy relaxes by the pool, I venture into town to look for local merchandise for a gift for the parents and stop at the Lazy Cat one last time for another refreshing
Limonade de Coco and purchasing a
pan de chocolate for Amy. I then return to Casa Relax for a lovely, cold shower and early sleep, ready for tomorrow when we set off to our next destination... the colorful and historical, Cartenga de Indias, one of Colombia’s most beautiful tourist destinations, and this time we won't be fooled by taxi drivers, we hope!
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