Minca wasn’t in my original travel plans for Colombia, but as we were leaving Cartagena for Santa Marta, one of my Instagram followers remarked that I had to visit Minca. I had never even heard of Minca but a quick Google search revealed that it was a small mountain village close to Santa Marta. The pictures looked lovely, travelers were talking about waterfall hikes, good vegetarian food, local coffee farms, and a giant hammock with mountain views – that’s all we needed to hear to convince us to make the detour. Plus: Cooler temperatures would be welcome after Santa Marta, which seemed to be even hotter and more humid than Cartagena.
The ride to Minca was quick – within an hour of driving up a winding mountain road we found ourselves in the village, and within another hour, we had explored it entirely – yes, that’s how small it is.
The chillier weather that had been mentioned was an illusion: it was still 86 degrees! We did the only sensible thing: we grabbed our swimsuits and started the hike to the first of two waterfalls I wanted to visit, both of which were within walking distance of the village (but in different directions).
By Dani – Full Story at Globetrotter Girls
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After checking out some of Colombia’s fabulous Caribbean beaches, it was time for a break from the heat. We had heard lovely stories about a nearby mountain village in the Sierra Nevada, which promised coffee plantations (a huge draw for two coffee lovers!), waterfalls, a giant hammock with mountain views, and last but not least: cooler temperatures.
We didn’t need much more to convince us to take the detour before returning to the coast. We quickly realized that ‘cooler temperatures’ were a relative term – it was still in the high 80s (around 30°C).
The other things the tiny village had promised didn’t disappoint, though: the waterfalls made for wonderfully refreshing hiking destinations, the family-run coffee plantation gave us a great tour to learn how they make the coffee (still with the original over 100 year-old machines!), and the giant hammock?