Continuing from my previous post. After Tayrona Nationa Park, I went to Santa Marta. I took a bus from outside Tayrona Park for Santa Marta. When I reached Santa Marta, nicest thing happened with me. When I get down from the bus, many taxi drivers approached me but I flatly said “NO” as I wanted to take a local bus to reach my hostel. This one taxi driver asked me where I am going and I replied. He walked with me for a good 5 mins to show me the bus stand from where I can get the bus for my destination. It was a small act of kindness but left a big impression on my mind. Lesson Learnt: Be nice to People! I only spend a night in Santa Marta before traveling to Minca.
DAY 1
I took a Minivan/Combi from Santa Marta to reach Minca. It was around 40 mins ride. Minca is a small town surrounded by mountains and nature. After checking into my hostel, I went straight to the Marinka waterfall. It is approx. 1-hour walk through nature from the town. Entrance fees were 5000 cop. There are two waterfalls. Climb up to the second one as it is much cooler as you can bath below the waterfall. There’s a huge hammock at the restaurant in the compound. Make sure to check it out! I walked back to my hostel before sunset for a much-needed rest.
DAY 2
I check out of my hostel and went to Pozo Azul. There’s no entrance fee. Here too there are two waterfalls and again the higher one is better. It was approx. one hour walk from the town. I like Pozo Azul much better than Marina Waterfall. Water was really cold here though. There’s a small pond beside the waterfall and I jumped from the small cliff even though I didn’t know how to swim. Yes, the pond is deep enough to drown. The people helped me to get out of the pond with a wooden stick. The experience taught me two things that I am not afraid of water and I need to learn swimming pronto. At Pozo Azul, I met a couple traveling South America in a Car cum Motorhome. The guy is from Germany and the girl is from South Korea. They have traveled in India extensively and absolutely loved it and wanted to share travel stories with me but due to time constraint couldn’t. So I bid them goodbye and walked to my new hostel where I am going to spend the next 2 nights. The hostel in question is “Casa El Recuerdo”. Around 40 mins walk from the town. Located in the middle of nature. I highly recommend staying at this place. Great staff, location and ambience. As luck would have it, I met the same couple in the hostel. During the night, they shared endless travel stories from their travels to India, Pakistan and Iran. What was common in these countries according to them was heartwarming hospitality.
DAY 3
Next morning, I decided to go to “Los Pinos” via Shortcut with the couple. Los Pinos is a viewpoint from where you can have a beautiful view of mountains, Minca and Santa Marta. After walking for more than half an hour, we were clearly lost and decided to return to the hostel. I decided to go to Los Pinos by myself in the normal way. There’s a way to Los Pinos near Marinka Waterfall entrance. I saw some beautiful peacocks on the way. After a certain point, the hike gets steep. I walked a lot. It was getting late and I decided to head back. It is approx. 3 hrs walk from the town to the way up. So I should have left early in the morning. While returning, I stopped at a restaurant for fresh Lulo Juice. Lulo is a local fruit. It has a particular taste and is good for your health. I went back to town to visit the Minca Museum but it was closed that day. Do visit the museum to know about the history of Minca. While returning back to the hostel, I stumbled upon a beautiful farm. I met some friendly locals there who let me inside the farm. There’s also a cacao farm at Finca La Candelaria. It is around 90 mins walk from the town. The tour of the farm lasts around one hour. It is popular among tourists. After returning back to the hostel, I took a bath in a unique swimming pool at the hostel. At night, we went to the mirador(Viewpoint) for the beautiful view of Santa Marta. After dinner, I played the card game of “Uno” until late at night with the couple and hostel staff. It was total fun. Next morning, the couple gave me a ride till the bus station of Santa Marta. From there, I catch a bus for my next destination.
Such a beautiful place. I just added colombia to my bucket list. Thanks for sharing.
Colombia looks like a fun place to visit!
Such a lush green environment and especially the waterfalls are amazing. I love the view, awesome place.
the list looks great! I would love to visit it as well! lovely!
Your post made me want to visit colombia so bad. Can’t wait for sooner hopeful in 2021
Such a beautiful place to visit Colombia. Added to my bucket list.
It seems Minca is meant for the nature lovers. I know that my brothers would love this.
The day wise details, the scenic beauty and the food – excellent experience I must say. Awesome
Oh, lucky you, you’ve been to Minca! Since I had only three weeks for Colombia, I skipped it. But Colombia was such a wonderful experience, I’ll certainly be back – and for that, I’m bookmarking your post for future reference.
Oh that seems like such a wonderful place to be. Well, who knows, after Covid?
How fun. When Darcee & I were in Santa Marta, we took a side trip for just 1 day to Minca and had a blast. Darcee loves coffee so we took a trip mainly to La Victoria Coffee farm, Minca but after our guide did take us for a swim to Pozo Azul to swim in the waterfall with the animals. We were there after a rain with just 1 other couple and the birds where everywhere. I do wish we experienced the Los Pinos that you got from atop the mountains though. What great images.
Columbia is a place I want to visit. Thank you and looking forward to it one day!
It’s Colombia 🙂
This is an offbeat side of Colombia. It has such wild beauty.which seems to be untouched. The Pozo Azul waterfalls sound really enchanting.
looks like a dreamy destination! I would LOVE to visit it one day
I’ve never been to Colombia yet and I can’t wait to visit this wonderful country.
Wow, that is a lot of walking: 1h here , 90min there. Were those destinations only assessible by walking or could you have rented a bike or did you intentionally walk to enjoy nature?
Hi Rudy! Yes, you can rent a motor bike, bicycle or take a moto taxi but I chose to walk 🙂
Goodness, you are so brave to jump into deep water if you do not know how to swim! I hope you can learn as swimming in natural places is often the ery best way to finish off a hike – I think it’ll make your life even more fun. 😀
I had a feeling I’d like this post right at the start when it mentioned waterfalls, walks and mountains. You did not disappoint.
Wow, this is so beautiful! Having been to Medellín, Bogotá, and Cartagena, I would absolutely love to go off the grid in a place like Minca next time I visit Colombia. The lulo juice sounds interesting, and I always hate when taxi drivers are really aggressive. I’m glad one was willing to help you find the bus stop!