Minca - Days 14-18
A slow start to the morning given last nights festivities and the breakfast buffet at The Dreamer left much to be desired. Nonetheless, we were in great spirits as today we head to Minca! Minca is less than an hour from the coastal Santa Marta but straight up into the Sierras. Its been described to us as a lazy, tropical mountain town and we have high expectations for it to live up to. Even better, Sarah and Minos are planning on joining us for a few days! But first, a quick [metaphorical] road bump: the hostel that Sarah booked “in Minca” was actually somehow 5 hrs away from the town of Minca (thank you to the hostel receptionist for that catch). In the end, Sarah saves the day and we catch a jeep for the mountains.
The ride up was windy (like an S not gusty) but very beautiful and we knew right away that it was going to be a special town. Before parting ways for our respective hostels, the four
of us grab lunch at the Lazy Cat. We find a table on back patio overlooking the river and as Ben pulls out his chair, he’s startled by a cat snoozing on his seat. The cat stares him down then finally forfeits his nap spot. A lazy cat indeed. Our stomachs grumbled as wafts of sauteed garlic drifted our way. Ben and Sarah (being the smart ones of this lunch session) search the menu for the items that are most likely providing the pleasant aroma – the woks! Sure enough, the woks stole the show and were excellent. Though the food that Minos and I got was quite good as well. We part ways after lunch to check into our hostels and let our food settle with plans to meet up later on at a specific time in a specific location given the lack of internet access in the town (like the good ole days).
Ben and I follow directions to our hostel – Casa Loma – and after taking a few turns off the main road, find a sign next to a dirt path leading up the side of a hill. After climbing a bit, we come across a building - is that our hostel? Nope. A bit further up – nope. And so on and so on. Up and up and up. Drenched in sweat and with jello legs, we finally reach the summit of this hill where our hostel is located. The receptionist sensed our struggle and immediately offered us a cold glass of water while we caught our breath. Over the course of the next 4 days, we would learn that everyone struggled on their first ascent with their big packs on and we even came to enjoy seeing the relief on their faces as they finally caught site of the reception area. Once checked in, we were shown our hut (dubbed Casa Madera) a little ways down the backside of the hill (yes, each time we go to our hut from the main street, we have to go up and over a huge hill). The hut was small with hardly enough room to walk around the double bed but very quaint and rustic with two open doorways leading out to unobstructed views of the hilly jungle beyond. We settled in but before we knew it, it was already time to climb back down to meet Sarah and Minos.
We decide to hike to a natural swimming pool, Pozo Azul. To give you a sense of how small and rustic this town was, the directions to the trail head were “from the church, go to the junction and turn right”. It was a fairly easy hike, gently sloped, and took under an
hour, but we were still sweaty and eager cool down in the water. Most of us anyway. Minos was a bit more hesitant due to a [hopefully] overly cautious freshwater warning back home (Any signs of a parasite yet, Minos?). The water was very cold and I seemed to be only one willing to fully embrace the swimming aspect right away, though they all got there eventually. For a long while, we stayed at the pool just admiring the beauty that surrounded us and really appreciating the fact that we were in this awesome little spot in the middle of the Colombian jungle. We hiked back and rewarded our hard work with some more Lazy Cat – so delicious (but also one of only a few options in town).
We huffed it up the hill to the hostel once again (easier without our big packs, but still exhausting) and grabbed a quick, cold shower. The clouds had rolled in during our hike back so there would be no sunset viewing this evening. We meet Sarah and Minos later (at the designated time and place) for a few drinks and some live music at a cute little bar in town. The drinks were delicious (maracuya!) and the multi-lingual music was beautiful, all topped off with Sarah committing a minor crime. A great first night in this lovely town.
End of D14 cribbage score: Ben 25 (3 skunks) – Meg 18 (4 skunks)
We meet our friends for breakfast at Duni, a delicious and cozy coffee shop, before we head up to La Candelaria coffee and cacao plantation for a tour. There are two ways to get to the plantation – walk uphill for an hour and a half (veto) or hop on the back of a mototaxi - a motorbike taxi. We each hop on the back of our designated ride and hold on for dear life as the driver flies up a steep, unpaved path. There were multiple times I thought I was about to be bucked off, but we all made it to the top safely and thanked our drivers for the adrenaline-inducing ride.
The “seed to cup” tours at La Candelaria were some of the best and most unique tours I’ve ever experienced. The owner starts by showing us a bit of the plantation and the
cacao and coffee plants then takes us inside to actually show us how they are processed. Literally takes the fermented cacao seeds and puts them in a janky, homemade roaster (something hipsters would go nuts for) on the table in front of us and after about 10 minutes of roasting (accompanied by delicious smells), he grinds up the seeds and brews us each a cup hot cacao! Then does the same thing for fresh coffee beans (along with a few more old school steps to process the green beans). One of the best cups of coffee I’ve had! We also got an excellent
cacao facial scrub courtesy of Mrs. Candelaria – smelled and felt great. We explore the plantation a bit after the tour and admire the beautiful vantage points before walking back town to Minca. We head to Duni again for lunch then part ways back to our hostels for a few hours until dinner later that evening.
There’s one reason why Casa Loma is so popular and people are willing to conquer a mountain just to stay there – the sunset. Lucky for us, the skies were finally clear today. A sight well worth it. As you look out from the open-air lodge of the hostel, you see miles and miles of rolling jungle hills leading down toward the beautifully lit Santa Marta sky line with a backdrop of the Caribbean sea. Absolutely perfect and such a unique setting that I doubt it can be beat.
We meet with Minos and Sarah one last time for dinner at Burarake restaurant. Share more stories and some last laughs before exchanging numbers and saying our goodbyes. We’ll certainly miss our travel buddies.
End of D15 cribbage score: Ben 28 (4 skunks) – Meg 19 (5 skunks)
Our third day in Minca is a rest day. Meaning that we do little other than eat, read, and
cribbage. Traveling is exhausting, ya know? Fortunately, our hostel has a little restaurant area so we take advantage by staying put and eating breakfast and dinner there – all fairly good, though all vegetarian. So for lunch, Ben wants to leave the comforts of the summit to find an asadero he’s heard about. Apparently its this guy in his 50s who built a brick oven along the side of a road and just smokes all sorts of meats all day to sell to locals. Sounds right up Ben’s alley. Unfortunately, we are unable to find the place so settled from some tamales. Back up to the hostel for a slightly cloudy, but still picturesque sunset where we met an Irish pothead Shane. Shane first came to South America 3 years ago and never left. He actually just closed on a plot of land in the hills of Minca. Definitely an interesting guy to talk to.
End of D16 cribbage score: Ben 33 (4 skunks) – Meg 24 (6 skunks)
As this was our last full day in Minca, we were determined to do a more adventurous hike in the area - an all day hike up through a cloud forest to a vantage point called Los Pinos. The forecast called for a bit of rain/overcast but there would be no other time to do the hike so we pressed on. In hindsight, fairly poor decision on our part. 20/20 as they say. Anyway, here’s what happened: The hike started pleasantly. Stopped to grab a pastry “para llevar” and made a somewhat leisurely hour long hike to La Cascada de Marinka waterfall, which was the only pit stop on the way up to Los Pinos. It was just an average waterfall, pretty as most waterfalls are but nothing fantastic. After a quick break and a few pics, we take the path up for the next 2 hrs of the hike. And it was absolutely brutal. Most of it was climbing up a steep and narrow muddy slope through the jungle. No great views along the way, minimal places to stop and take a break besides pulling over into the thick of the underbrush. I internally contemplated stopping and turning around a few times and externally complained to Ben many many times. Everyone had warned us that it was a grueling hike but would be worth it as we walked through and above the cloud forest – an amazing experience, they said. Well as it turns out, doesn’t quite have the same effect when its overcast and foggy. We finally got to the top (which, by the way, we almost walked right by because it was just a few pine trees denoting the vantage point) and literally couldn’t see more than 20 ft in front of us on the Los Pinos vantage point. No cloud forest. No beautiful view. Nothing. Nothing to see after the 3 hr hike straight up. We were so angry/disappointed/tired that we ended up laughing at the whole ridiculousness of the morning all the way back down. Then it started raining on us. Hard. And the raindrops blended with our tears as we finished the last hour of the hike back in the tropical rainstorm.
Aside from being able to laugh at it now (3 weeks later), the only positive thing to come out of that hike was that the trail lead us to the asadero that we had tried to find the
previous day. Boy oh boy was that some tasty meat. Quite possibly the best flavor of steak we’ve ever had. (Minos – this was the place you kept wanting to try! Sorry you missed out…). Full, exhausted, and wet we head back to the hostel and stay sheltered from the storm for the rest of the night.
Meg: “Ben, what words would you use to describe the Los Pinos hike? I’m trying to write the blog”
Ben: “Sweaty and cold at the same time, grueling, rainy, fucked up, disappointing at the end, never-ending, tedious”
End of D17 cribbage score: Ben 33 (4 skunks) – Meg 24 (6 skunks)
Woke up to some very sore leg muscles today.
Packed up, grabbed a quick breakfast at the Lazy Cat once again, then hopped in a jeep back to Santa Marta. This time around, we stayed in a trendy coastal neighborhood of Santa Marta called Rodadero. Hostel had a nice little pool and great AC (notice a trend in our love for AC?) - a great way to relax and unwind after the adventurous day we had yesterday. After settling in a bit, we walked around to explore the neighborhood then spent the rest of the night in the kitchen doing some food prep for Tayrona National Park tomorrow. Can’t wait!
End of D18 cribbage score: Ben 37 (5 skunks) – Meg 25 (6 skunks)