Minca

We went for a walk to the river. On the way there we saw mangoes on the ground, unfortunately most of them were rotten or covered with insects. We did not give up and kept searching.

There is something about eating fresh handpicked fruit, full of taste and juice. It reminds you of the good old times spent in grandmothers garden. The taste of childhood that you can hardly find anywhere else. We felt like little children eating mangoes that we found on the ground directly under the tree. For the first time in our lives we tasted real fresh mangoes. It was a magic experience - sweet, juicy, soft and full of flavor, incomparable to mangoes that you can buy in Europe.

Wandering under the trees, looking for more mangoes a local approached us with a big smile and in his hands he was holding four big, ripe mangoes. Surprised as we were, we almost pulled out money to pay him. Minca people are friendly and forthcoming and they make you feel like home.

Transportation

If you want to relax and run away from hot and busy Santa Marta, go to Minca. It is 40 minutes drive from Santa Marta. Since Minca is in the hills the temperatures are a bit cooler.

To get there, go to the market in Santa Marta and ask for a car/jeep to Minca. They leave when the car is filled with passengers and they charge 7000 COP. Don't forget to take enough cash with you, as there is no ATM in Minca.

About

Minca is a unique place to live. In the morning you can swim in the sea, for the lunch you can enjoy the rain forest and in the evening you can go for mountain biking in the hills. The mountain peaks of Sierra Nevada are covered with snow.

It's one of the most beautiful places we've seen in Colombia. The flora in Minca has emerald green color and you can hear birds singing and the river flowing. It is a quiet and peaceful place. Sierra Nevada has a huge biodiversity and it is home to toucans, skunks, jaguars, monkeys, caimans and hummingbirds.

Indians consider Sierra Nevada to be the center of the world, or as they call it "pachamama". It is understandable, the nature is very rich and provided the indigenous people with food for centuries.

Minca is also a well known coffee region with many coffee farms (fincas). Furthermore the cocoa plant grows wildly in Sierra Nevada.

This is a small town 650 meters above the sea level. In the past it wasn't the safest place, since F.A.R.C. (guerrilla group) was controlling this area. The locals told us that the police station was destroyed twice by bombs. The guerrillas were growing marijuana all over the area to finance the organization. The plants are still growing wildly in the forest and you can make out the distinct smell of it.

Nowadays everything is different. Minca is a safe place, visited by tourist every day. Several expats settled down here and build up hotels and restaurants in this little town.

Attractions

Finca Victoria

The finca is located 8 km from the village. You can either take a mototaxi (8.000 COP) or you can walk, like we did. It's a bit difficult hike up the hills, especially in a hot day, but you will be rewarded with amazing views and if you are lucky you will see some animals on the way. We spotted a small armadillo in the bushes.

The coffee farm was founded by an English family in 1892. Later on a German family, escaping from Europe because of world war II, took over the finca.

The finca is also home to a small brewery. The water comes from the river, the barley from Germany and hops from Czech Republic. They make two types. Happy tucan is a red ale and happy jaguar is a pilsner.The young German guy that owns the brewery knows how to make good beer. We give it a thumbs up.

The most important business of the finca is coffee production. They will explain you the whole process. From the harvest to cleaning coffee beans and sorting them by quality. At the end of the tour you will taste their coffee and you can buy some coffee. Astonishingly the whole farm is operated by 120 years old machines and a water turbine. They are not thinking about replacing them, the machines still do their job and the generated electricity powers the finca and the surrounding houses. The tour takes 40 minutes, it's in Spanish and cost 10.000 COP p.p. Recently a group of French people opened a bistro in the finca, where you can buy beer from the local brewery and home made sandwiches.

Cocoa workshop

Arriving from Santa Marta to Minca, there are two houses on the right side. It's a cafeteria serving home made cakes and coffee and selling chili sauces and chocolates. We bought a spicy mango-chili salsa. Next to the cafeteria is a small information stand. The guy there told us so many informations about history of Minca and about the local products (honey, salsas, coffee, chocolate products). It was a long but pleasant conversation and he didn't force us to buy anything.

They are offering one day tours around Minca and Sierra Nevada. They will take you to Finca Victoria, Palo Alto (a view where you can see two highest mountains of Sierra Nevada-Colon and Bolivar), the waterfalls and a chocolate workshop. It costs 55.000 COP p.p. You can go by yourself and visit the places for free. The loop around minca is cca. 20km long. Ask for a map.

Jungle Joe is offering bird watching excursions for 25.000 COP p.p.. There is a good chance he will be around since his office is also in the same house. Bird watching is every day from 6 a.m. and finish at 9 a.m.

The cocoa workshop was interesting. Firstly he gave us to try raw chocolate seeds and shells (they have high content of theobromine, a substance making people happy). Then he mixed grounded raw beans with coconut oil (it helps the product to stay solid, as coconut oil has solid form up to 25 degrees) and then we could choose the flavor. From three organic fruit marmalades we choose the blackberry one. Then he mixed everything, grounded the paste, put in a form and let it sit for 15 minutes in a freezer. It was delicious.

Pozo Azul

This waterfall is located cca. one hour walk from Minca, on the way to Finca Victoria. You can swim in crystal clear water, but we have to say that it is very cold.

Where to stay

There are a few hostels and hotels in all price categories. We heard that Casa Loma is a really cool place, they have amazing view, but the double rooms are very expensive. We chose Casa Colibri, which is just few minutes from Casa Loma. The owner is French and his wife Venezuelan. They are very friendly and we felt like at home. You can have a rest in a hammock and observe hummingbirds. Their breakfast is good. We had pancakes with fruits. The hostel is very clean and rooms have enough space. We paid around 60.000 COP per night for a double room. The breakfast is 5.000 COP.

Food

There are plenty of restaurants to choose from. On the way to Pozo Azul, just 15 minutes walking from Minca, is the restaurant Asador. We didn't try but we passed by and it looked amazing. The chef was cutting big pieces of meat for the bbq.

Finca Victoria - French bistro

They have homemade cakes, we tried their coffee cake. It was very good especially the topping with coffee flavor. We had the club sandwich with chicken, vegetables and egg and a croque-monsieur sandwich with dark bread, bechamel sauce and cheese and salad on the side. The bread is of European type and home made. With two happy tucan beers we paid 30.000 COP. A very pleasant change.

30 July 2015