Minca, Colombia

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Minca is a small town close to Santa Marta and Taganga, but more inland and up the mountain at 600m altitude. It's a great place to get a feeling for the countryside and get away from the beaches.

Don't miss El sendero poso azul, a nice place to go and have a swim or jump in to the river from the rocks, about 20 minutes walk from the road. After having a swim in the river you can go and have a nice feed in one of the cool restaurants by the river (try the free range chicken soup).

To get there, take a pickup truck that leaves regularly from Santa Marta's market (45 minutes), or just arrange for a taxi to take you.

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Places to stay:

Hostal Sans Souci (0 comments) Tel: 075 421 99 68 Email: sanssouciminca at yahoo dot com Cheapest night: 12 US$/night. Private rooms available.
A great place to relax, run by Germans (yes, that's a contradiction in terms I know ;)). You can work on the farm and get a discount. Rooms are about 25000 to 30000 pesos. It's really a good place and way off the beaten coastal gringo track.

Posada del Camino (0 comments) Cancha de Futbol Tel: 095 421 9947 Tel: 315 256 0256
Charges 15,000 pesos / night including breakfast.

Sierra Round (0 comments) Tel: 3126153850 Email: sierrasound at gmail dot com Private rooms available.
A new place run by an Italian guy. He charges 35,000 pesos a night with breakfast and he cooks freshly prepared pizzas and pastas (7000 pesos).

 

Reviews

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A Small Mountain Range Village Named “MINCA”

By (Deleted user) on Jul 18, 2009, 12:48.

The good: A great day trip away from the beaches of Santa Marta and Rodadero
The bad: If you are looking for excitement, this is not the place.

A recommended trip for anyone who wants to get away from the heat and the beaches in Rodadero/ Santa Marta for a day is to take one of the transport companies It is located about a half an hour from Santa Marta. The cost is 5000 pesos if I remember right. This is using a transport where you are sharing the fare with others. You can also take a taxi.

"MINCA" is a small village of under 700 people that is located in the rainforests of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains. The temperature is about 70 degrees. What is unique about this little village is its surrounding forest is inhabited by Kogi Indian tribe. The village does have a couple of restaurants, hotels and hostels, so it can be a nice little peaceful get away from the city life.

What to do in Minca:

*****This area is noted for its coffee, and supposedly has some of the best coffee in the world. You can see coffee brewed here over all things, "charcoal". I had never heard of this before! It is pretty interesting to see to say the least.

***** It is also very well noted for its Kogi Indian ruins and history.

***** You can walk to an area called Las Piedras, which means rocks. This is about a 15 minute walk from the middle of the village. You walk past a church, and a couple of restaurants, one being called Dona Ana I think. You continue to walk and you will run into where two rivers come together. What is unique about this is the temperature of the water in each of these rivers. One is very cold and the other is quite warm. They then come together forming one, with the water passing quite rapidly over the rock formations. It is a real beautiful area, and those that like nature will love it. The people that usually visit this area like to relax in the water, letting the water massage your body and relax your minds.

****** You can take a hike to see a waterfall that many years ago was used by the Indians for there religious ceremonies. Now days people swim at the bottom of it. To get to the waterfall it is about a 40 minute hike, but the trail is very easy to walk on. I actually got lost trying to find the place, so it might be best to follow another group, or make sure you get directions from someone in Minca. I relied on someone who just told me the general area that it was in, which was a mistake on my part. The name of the waterfall is Arimaka.

***** For you hiking enthusiasts this is a super place to be, for there are many trails and interesting things to see in the rainforest. It is also one of the more popular areas in all of Colombia for bird watching, so it is a interesting place to spend a day enjoying all that nature has to offer.

***** Hotels/Hostels: Those interested in spending the night in this tranquil village, there are several places to stay, from the economical end, ($13 to $15.00 dollars a night, which included breakfast,) to renting a 4 bedroom house or cabana with quoted rates of $50.00 to $100.00 dollars per night.

http://www.casasantander.info/index.html this is a nice place I would definitely stay at.

Sierra Sound is a also a nice place and would have no problem staying here. It is beautiful.

Posada del Camino is an economical place to stay.

Sierra Round is another economical place to stay.

Hostal Sans Souci is also an economical place to stay.

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Comments

Peter (Moderator) (Trustee board) (Dev team) (☼Travelguide writer) says on Nov 11, 2008, 10:21: Just as a comment - this section is just way better than what's in the Lonely Planet, which only mentions the sanssouci :) Poor but snappy 0 funny, 0 helpful.

Edy Gusano says on Feb 22, 2009, 02:48: Mince is high up in the mountains above Santa Marta, and it is a tiny village with really bad leadership. The roads and infrastructure is quite bad, but the bird life is excellent. Bring your binoculars. You want perspective on how big things are over here in South America? take a bus from Barranquilla down to Argentina and back! 0 funny, 0 helpful.

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