Saturday, March 8, 2014

{Colombia} Minca

Minca is a small farm town located in the mountains of Colombia, about 45 minutes away from Santa Marta.  Known for it's breath taking views and local coffee farms, this place was a breath of fresh air. 
You bet we had a brownie with our breakfast. So good.

New friends, Barney & Lucy from London. Great people.

Awesome sunsets.

Amber and I made plans to stay at Casa Loma Minca, which is a small tree-hut hostel that is situated on a mountain side in the small town of Minca. The directions that we found online to get to the hostel itself (once in Minca) where wrong. There are no roads that take you right to Casa Loma - a little "hiking" is in order. 

When you get to Minca, get dropped off by the church - don't worry you can't miss it. To get to Casa Loma from the church, you have to stay on the main road, take the first left just after the church and walk up the road for about a quarter of a mile. Take another sharp left where there is a trail leading to where the hostel is - there will be a sign at this point and smaller signs leading you the whole way up. Pretty much a no-brainer from here. Be advised that the trail heading up to Casa Loma is somewhat steep, but well worth the effort.

We arranged to stay for 2 nights in our luxury tree house suite. I can actually say now that I have slept in a tree house. The set up of Casa Loma was pretty neat and very laid back. With hammocks, lounge chairs, cold showers, toilets, a small number of people (only about 13 or so can stay at one time) and amazing views, it really was an exciting place to stay.

One thing I was disappointed about was the food. How it worked was, if you wanted dinner you would tell the cook in the morning and then around 7pm-ish, you congregate with everyone and eat together (I liked that part - getting to know people over food). I thought the food was just so, so and a little pricey for not being so good. I get it that they have to charge more because getting the food up to Casa Loma takes time and a lot of energy. They served only vegetarian food (which I prefer) but it seemed to be lacking flavor or something. Not my cup of tea. Luckily, there was a wonderful cafe and a few small restaurants in town that made up for it.

Minca is great when you want to escape from the hustle and bustle of the city and just get up above it all. Stay tuned for our adventure's in Minca and making our way to a local coffee farm, La Victoria. 

Until next time,
Happy Trekkin'.