MINCA
We’ve made some pretty good friends on this trip. We’ve been to numerous dinners, pot-lucks, sundowners, and family get-togethers. Recently, we went on our first ever overnight with a good boat friend family. We left the day after I got sick, so my stomach wasn’t 100% quite yet. We loaded into 2 taxis and the 10 of us made our way to Minca, a small town that is known to house many backpackers. The cab ride took approximately 45 minutes through some scary turns, hundreds of motorcycles, and near collisions. The scenery was gorgeous as usual and everything was green and growing.
After we got off at the “iglesia blanca” or white church, we waited for the man to show us to the house we were renting. He arrived and we were off. The walk was about 10 minutes but with all of our bags and not knowing where we were going it felt much longer.
The house was super comfortable, it had three bedrooms, a few nice couches, a full kitchen, and two adorable kitties that lived there. Willie, surprisingly, did very well with the cats and didn’t bother them at all. We set our stuff down into the rooms and right away hit the road. The wife of the man who led us to the house showed us a nice short cut that took us to town much faster. It included crossing a river that could get super strong after rain so she warned us not to take that path on the way back…if only we had listened. Haha just kidding, we took the road.
We scouted out a nice place for a super late breakfast/early lunch. This nice place included of what might be similar to a gas station but without the gas. Everyone who thought they could keep the food in them (aka everyone but me) found some good fried food. All fueled up, we started hiking/walking on a paved road, towards a waterfall spot that was supposedly an enjoyable spot about 45 minutes off the road. We kept walking and walking, passing many cute hostels and small restaurants.
At one point, my stomach decided that it was time to stop and I was quite close to stopping at a hostel and waiting for our group to come back. But! Mom had Advil in her First Aid kit and all was good, that stuff does wonders.
We finally made it to the spot. Lots of doggos spotted the scene, Willie again did great with them. I decided to take it easy and rest while everyone went swimming. Swimming is a stretch. It was apparently quite chilly and lots of ‘it’s cold it’s cold’ dancing was fun to watch. We stayed here for a bit which was very fun, I made friends with a puppy and attempted having a conversation with a lady who’s Spanish is probably better than English.
We wrapped up and headed towards home. We decided to stop at a smoothie/juice spot on the way back. I was brave enough to try one and after three days of not eating anything, it was the best thing ever. I had a passion fruit, ginger, and mango juice. The lil restaurant was super super cute and very photogenic with an amazing view.
The rest of our journey was not very eventful. Until the rain kicked in. It came down pretty hard and really fast. Thankfully, we made it home not too too long after the downpour and we had dry clothes waiting for us at home. Our group spent some down time drying off and preparing our next move.
Later, we headed out to find some dinner. We first stopped at a restaurant called The Lazy Cat for some drinks. Again, feeling confident I ordered a drink–and kept it down. Phew!
Once we were done there, we headed to a different restaurant for food. My dinner wasn’t super exciting, I played with a cat that liked to hang out under my chair. From what I heard, it looked like, and smelled, it was really good.
We went home, and went to bed. The next morning, Mom, Dad, Fenton, and the dad from the other boat, got up way early to go birdwatching. They saw a toucan!
The next day was pretty similar, we got up went back to The Lazy Cat for a breakfast smoothie, and started hiking to another waterfall. This one was a bit more like hiking, muddy trails, and at some points, pretty steep. Again, I wasn’t feeling up to swim so I watched a lot of tourists plus our group splash and play. What I really enjoyed about this spot, was the hammock that they had. It was a huge hammock that went out over the cliff. Nice and relaxing, right?
We made our way back down the hill and into town. We stopped for lunch at a Greek spot and still not feeling comfortable with putting solids in my body, watched everyone eat. Soon after, the dads ran back to the house to grab our stuff, check out of the house, and then head to the bus to head home.
We made it back to Santa Marta and rested until bedtime. Super awesome, quick trip with some good friends.
Till next time,
Heidi
P.S. My stomach felt much better two days after and I was eating like normal–thank goodness.