(Nota: These posts are backtracking a
week or so, for processing time...ya know how it is)
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| Gordo kitty, the welcoming committee |
How wonderful to be back in the
mountains! We arrived in Minca after a hairy bus ride from Camarones-
we held on to our seats as the bus driver sped along the road,
passing on solid yellow lines around blind turns. Arriving back in
Santa Marta we hopped a cab up to the mountain town of Minca, which
was about 30 min up a winding road from the coast. Being without
internet for a number of days we hadn't booked anything in advance,
so we found ourselves a cafe with wifi (and lovely local Toucan
beer!) to do some research. Lucky for us we met a very friendly
British couple who recommended their hostel, the Casa Loma, which was
walkable from the small downtown, but felt far from it. They warned
us it was a climb, but with our backpack sandwich in full force, the
stone steps, up, and up, and up felt rough! All 310 steps in turns
out (sheesh!) but sooo worth it! This place had to be one of the best
hostels either of us had ever stayed at, anywhere.
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| Amen |
Out of breath and
sweaty, one of the staff was there with a glass of water on hand for
us at the top. And from there we could admire the view of the
mountains, and busy city of Santa Marta down below. There was a main
building with an open common area, and up more steps behind it were
little huts, hammocks to sleep in, and dorms, but all with a cozy
forest setting. Amazing chill vibes, great people, staff, and did we
mention all veggie food?? Ahh yes we do believe we could stay here
awhile.
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| Chocolate masks- we were more beautiful afterwards so we were told! |
Minca was a lovely place to stay, for our 2 days that
stretched into 4. It was just our speed, places to hike, laid back
feels, a few nice cafes, and excellent fruit smoothies :) In our time
there we hiked up to an organic coffee and cocao farm, complete with
chocolate mask for our faces. We learned about how they grow cocoa
here, and how it compares to the big farms where it's sources in
Africa (although it is native to the Americas), where child labour is
often used to pollinate the plants by hand and then harvest it.
Organic is where it's at, damn you Hershey's and the Reeces I love!
We tried some roasted cocoa nibs (very bitter but still a tasty
'superfood'). From there we hiked over an hour to the
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| Glorious coffee! |
Pozo Azul, a
little swimming hole under a waterfall. We followed the red and
yellow markers as we were told from the farm, but with a 45 minutes
to hike down a tiny trail we doubted ourselves a few times as to
whether we were going the right way. We'd also been warned that
locals sometimes charged admission to get in even though there isn't
one, but we didn't expect the locals asking for money to be 7 and 8
year olds. A few boys found us early on in the trail and followed
along with us for a bit, first asking for money, and then candy. They
played as they went, pretending to be monkeys and then trying to
scare us as they ran ahead down the trail. Turns out they were little
hustlers, and the little guy blocked our path at a narrow fence
demanding that we had to pay. Teacher voice came out and we carried
on- another 30 minutes as it turned out! So far from the gate but you
can't blame them for trying. Pozo Azul was chilly and refreshing, and
very much welcomed in the heat.
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| Pozo Azul, Minca |
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| Biggest Hammock ever |
Our next days in Minca brought
more hikes, first to Marianka waterfall (closed for swimming due to
step construction, boo!), and then up to the viewpoint at Los Pinos
(yes 3 very tall pines), and past another hostel to lay in one of
their giant hammocks- which was a terribly long tiring hike mostly
down the road we shared with motorbikes carting tourists to the far
away mountain-top hostels. The good part was of course the mostlyyy
clear view, the troop of howler monkeys we heard in the forest, the
toucan Brian saw (I saw it's very lovely black behind, sigh), and the
glorious river.
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| Sunset over Casa Loma |
Time was well spent at Casa Loma, where
we ran into terrific luck on the eve of the Super Moon. As we arrived
at the desk after a lazy morning, we crossed paths with a French
couple checking out a day early, and who, bless their hearts, offered
us their little hut they stayed in for free! We just couldn't believe
our luck, it was such a treat, and one that we thought best to extend
for two night. We had our own balcony, where we saw under the light
of the full moon a very loud owl perched for a good half hour in the
tree above. So dreamy! The last night we shared in happy hour
cocktails and the communal meal at the hostel with a couple of young
Danes, an Aussie and a German who were all good fun. We were indeed
sad to leave this lovely place!
Ciao for now lovelies :)
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| Hard life for a postie |
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| HooHooooo! |
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