Monday 29th August - Minca (Sat 27th-Tues 30th)

I'm writing this sat on the terrace of my hotel in Minca, overlooking the forest and hills, listening to the river flow down below (though you can't see it from here) with hummingbirds flying all around. Could spend hours watching them dart about and trying to capture them in a good photo, which is hard as they move around so quickly! So, I came to Minca on Saturday. I think I was just finding the heat and humidity down on the coast too much, added together with the bat in the room on Friday night, I wanted a change of scene, well, more like a change of climate really….I came to the right place! Minca is a small village in the hills of the Sierra Nevada mountains above Santa Marta- it's 600m up from the coast and the climate is cooler here J Getting here was my first little transport challenge of the trip, not even really very far or complicated but was made more complicated by the fact I didn't know where the transport for Minca left from! The collectivo mini bus which does the Taganga-Santa Marta journey dropped me near and pointed in the general direction…..after I'd asked about 5 people who all pointed me in the vague direction but not exactly, I found the corner where the collectivos leave from. I was expecting a mini bus type transport (though really I wasn't sure what it was going to be!) but no, what I got was the oldest banger of a car I've ever travelled in! After I'd been waiting about 5 minutes this old car pulled up, a guy standing outside the shop (kiosk) on the corner asked if I was going to Minca and if I was I should go in this car. I have to say I was a little dubious and asked myself if I really wanted to get in this car with a stranger not knowing whether it was legit or not….I decided it seemed like I would have to and just have to trust that it was going to be ok! I felt relieved when 2 other people turned up and then we could leave- collectivo transport usually works on the principle of going once it's full. But we didn't leave the city straight away! We stopped off somewhere that one of the other passengers requested to collect some things, including about 30 bottles of yogurt! I think she explained that it was cheaper in Santa Marta but I'm not sure…….We ended up leaving Santa Marta about 45 minutes after I'd first put my bag in the boot! I wasn't sure that the car would make it up to Minca, it was so old, at times it seemed we may need to get out and push, but it did make it! J 45 minutes or so later at about 2.30 we'd arrived in Minca. Anyway, on arrival in Minca I decided to go to the hotel where I knew Michele, the French lady was staying. She was sat on the terrace and what a lovely view the terrace had (the one I'm sat at now). I decided to stay at the same place and we chatted a bit, catching up on what we'd been up to. The rain came in the afternoon, which is typical here. After the rain stopped we went for a walk on one of the paths to the river and also stopped for a drink at this lovely little café-restaurant, where Michele had been in the previous days. I also had a banana and chocolate crepe since I'd had no lunch- delicious! The owners were very friendly and welcoming and they have a small terrace at the back of their house with two tables- it's very nice and has a homely feel to it. (Eí mox muica). Next we went up to a viewpoint and as she had previously chatted with the owners of the hotel there we stopped and had a beer (my first Colombian beer, as most of you know I'm not really a fan of beer, but it was ok) overlooking the view of Santa Marta, its lights glowing because it was dark and we caught the last bit of the sunset too- a very nice view! We then decided to go for pizza so we went to a pizza place, it was almost like pizzas out of someone's house- they were very tasty. It was Saturday night and the village centre, which is very small, was quite lively, with people out and about, music on, people playing pool. We almost went for a game but decided we were too tired. The evening is quite cold here, jumper and trousers needed by late afternoon but as I said, for me it was a welcome relief from the heat! As I hoped I slept really well, no noise of the fan and not baking hot….I fell asleep to the sounds of the forest. Was woken at 6 by some birds but managed to sleep til 8. The cold shower was not very nice- I only like them when the weather is really hot otherwise they are horrible but when there is no hot water there's no choice! Lovely breakfast on the terrace though and a slow start to the day. Michele used my netbook to research her plans and I used her Colombia Lonely Planet (which I should have bought) to get a bit more detailed info on a few places. We had vague plans to go for a walk but then a French family (who are living in Santa Marta) arrived so we chatted to them, then it was almost lunchtime, which we'd arranged to have at the hotel. At about 12.30 the rain started but it was rained a lot harder than yesterday and the wind was strong. We had to go inside to eat and watched the storm from there, with wind blowing through the open parts. Cloud covered the hills and it was heavier rain than they said they've had before. Luckily the heavy rain and wind didn't last all afternoon, and as it eased we walked to the village to see the river which was flowing pretty quickly after all the rain. We stopped at a little café for a drink, tea and cake for me! It was a café with a terrace, part of someone's home, again a nice little place to stop with friendly owners. A bit later on we went for another little wander and stopped at the little restaurant I mentioned from yesterday. Michele wanted to say goodbye to Andrea and Andres and we decided to eat there. I had a very tasty crepe filled with vegetables. Chatted some more with the family, including the very cute children. Found out that they want to be a doctor, a sculptor (like his Dad) and the friend who was there a fireman. They are only 5 and was nice chatting with them, but they speak very quickly so hard to understand everything.They were drawing so I drew them my infamous rabbit- I explained it's the only thing I can draw but they were impressed- ha ha- 'que bueno!' they said! J

Today was Michele's was leaving back to Taganga so after enjoying another breakfast on the terrace we took the path from the hotel down to the river. I had my flip flops on…bad idea!! The first part was concrete steps and I slipped on a slippery one, falling down a few steps before I managed to stop myself! I had to laugh; it was funny, but also hurt. Luckily no serious injury, although I did bash my knee and I have scratched up my leg quite badly, though the grazes are not deep. Could have been much worse! Since we'd started going down thought we may as well continue….Once I'd cleaned it up and she was packed we headed to the central village area (this village is very small, with only one 'main' (but not really main) road). Waited a bit for a collectivo, after about 15 minutes a taxi arrived with other tourists in and took her and someone else back to Santa Marta for the collective price of 5,000. I've enjoyed the past few days with Michele, and who knows we may meet again in Bogota, depending on how both of our plans work out....I mentioned other tourists before, well, we haven't come across that many here, though I have seen a few who have come for the day from Santa Marta. I went for a wander in one direction and after I'd asked a man who was mending his fence if there were waterfalls in that direction we got chatting. Just another example of how friendly the people are in Colombia, we were talking for about 15 minutes before I bid him goodbye and headed off in a different direction. I went up the hill to where you can see the view of Santa Marta (though it was a bit hazy), stopped for a drink at a little place overlooking the view then headed off down a trail. It was so peaceful just wandering, looking out for butterflies and different flowers and hearing the birds in the trees. After about half an hour I decided to turn around and walk back as actually I had no idea where the path was going (I didn't have any water with me either), but just before I walked back I saw a lovely bright blue butterfly flying about- it didn't stop anywhere so no photo but it was nice to see- reminded me of a type I'd seen in Australia. I walked to the village and stopped as what could be described as a corner shop but was more a kiosk and sold drinks, crisps, sweets in tubs (a bit like penny sweets), types of bread (rolls, pan dulce- sweet bread), some hot food. As I decided I was going to have a cheaper lunch today I choose 2 patacones (made from plantain), a cheese bread(though tasted more sweet to me!), a sweet bread and a coca zero. It all came to just 3,000 pesos, approx. £1. I feel like surely she made a mistake as the coke itself cost 2,000. Oh well, I'm not complaining, it was an ok lunch and very cheap! The afternoon was spent on the terrace, updating blog, using Skype, etc whilst enjoying the view and the hummingbirds. I'm off for dinner now at Eí mox muica, think I'll try one of their pasta dishes today…

Tuesday 30th- Once again here I am sat on the terrace! Blue skies today and the tree covered mountains look even nicer. (See the photo!) Dinner was really good last night- pasta with lots of nice vegetables. They took the time to sit and chat with me so I had a good opportunity to practise my Spanish. Then a French couple arrived and I stayed chatting to them (mostly in English). They are doing a similar route to me but in less time, heading back to France just before Christmas. It turned out they're heading in the same direction as me and said they'd been told there are nightbuses. These aren't mentioned in the LP, but I have decided it could be a good option to save spending a whole day sitting on the bus. It also solves my dilemma of whether to stay here another day as I didn't want to have to leave really early today to try and get the bus. If I try for the night bus option it means I can still spend the day here, which will be nice! There are lots of walks you can do here including to las cascades (waterfalls) but I'm not sure I'll be doing that as my knee hurts from yesterday, not all the time, but when I'm walking so not sure I'd manage a 3 hour return trip walk….may just go for another wander and spend some time going through my photos, doing a bit of trip planning whilst making the most of this beautiful setting because it really is lovely! J