Category: 2019-02 US Colombia

A jeep brought us back to Minca and with the Collectivo we went on to Santa Marta. We could already leave our backpacks in the hotel lobby and so we had a little look at the city. Our “Park Hotel” is located directly at the beach. One block further is the “Park de los Novios”, where there are many restaurants and bars. We sat there in the evening nicely, ate something and looked at the street life.

A group was break dancing. Many party people and families strolled by, vendors and beggars make their rounds. You can also see stray dogs and cats. At 22:00 it is a pleasant 27 degrees. On our hotel terrace we could also sit a while in the rocking chair and overlook the promenade. In the harbor there is also a cruise ship.

Silke

This morning, on “our” coffee farm I saw a toucan from the shower. After breakfast we hiked down the mountain with our luggage. From Minca, a jeep took us a good hour’s drive to the other side of the slope to our lodging today, the “Casa Elemento”. We sleep in a room in the finca, a bit away from the hustle and bustle. The special thing about this hostel are the huge hammocks on the mountain. “Infinity hammocks” so to speak.

The house is fully booked. We met a lot of nice people. E.g. a couple from Miami, Frank celebrates his 36th birthday today. And an English couple. They are traveling by sailboat and are waiting for papers, because they entered by sea. Besides, the weather has to be right to continue the journey. The last days were quite stormy on the sea. The two had actually booked our room, but now have to sleep in the tree house. For dinner we had vegetarian curry with rice. From 20:30 to 22:00 was happy hour at the bar. Now it’s midnight and the music has just been turned off. There you can hear again only the chirping of the crickets.

Silke

ps.:there are a lot of sandflies here! We are already fully stung!

Before sunrise today we went to the neighboring farm “Mundo Nuevo”, 15 minutes away, to go among the ornithologists. We went on a 2 hour bird identification tour. It was great. We learned a lot about local bird species and experienced hummingbirds, parrots, toucans and many colorful songbirds.

After breakfast, we had corn pancakes with scrambled eggs, we started for a 11 km hike. The destination was the waterfall “Pozo Azul” where we bathed.

We took a short break in a restaurant outside Minca, with great views and good music. Totally dusty from the dirt road and sweaty from Ü 30 degrees and the climbs we were in the evening first ripe for the shower. Before there was still a liter of Agua and the sunset on the observation deck. No problem to wash the hair with cold water. Until now there were in Colombia in all accommodations pure cold water showers. As said at the temperatures OK. To the Cena there was mushroom cream soup, corn pancakes and vegetable potato all sorts. Our Colombian hostess is a good cook. With crickets chirping on the terrace Reiner and I have the evening with a glass of wine and a round of Carcassonne fade out.

Silke

Yesterday evening from 21:00 o’clock there was no electricity until this afternoon. But everything was quite relaxed, probably happens here more often and we have our headlamps. In the morning at 8:00 breakfast and then we took the coffee tour in Spanish and English. We had a fun group with 2 Canadian couples and a Colombian. The guide is here on the farm every day and comes from Venezuela currently lives in Minca. Here is grown purely organic and in rather small quantities (40 hectares of coffee) mainly Arabiata. The plants are almost all harvested, as the season is coming to an end. However, we did spot some beans, about the size of cherries, and the pickers still come from the field with full panniers and dry the beans on the concrete surface.

It is picked by hand. In the further processing the coffee is washed, the first skin is peeled off and then it is put into a basin for fermentation. Then it is dried and the second skin is removed. It is then roasted, ground and ready to be brewed. If the plants are infested with pests, the only option is to cut them down and replant them, as no chemicals are used. Cocoa is also grown and processed on El Paraiso de Tuki. We had homemade banana chocolate cake for coffee in the afternoon. Coffee and cocoa we get here around the clock as much as we want. In the evening, the landlady served us a delicious cena (dinner). We had tomato soup and risotto with grilled eggplant. We are the only overnight guests here and once the day tourists have moved on, all you hear are the birds and crickets. The red sun in the evening over the mountains was beautiful to watch.

Silke

We spent the night again very well at Martha and Lukas. After the hell ride yesterday I was completely done. Today we went by cab to the van station after the delicious breakfast , there were huge fruit plates and eggs with mushrooms and spinach. Then we went with the van bus at 11:30 in the direction of St.Marta via Barranquilla and there in a cab to the collection station Mercado Publico with a smaller van to Minca. There it was then already 18:06 o’clock. From there it went on with either bike or jeep. We chose the jeep!!! It went partly offroad up the mountain. The 4-wheel drive was not only deco! At about 18:30 the driver dropped us off in front of the sign to our hostel. 10 min by foot it should be. We with all the luggage, and once again in the dark have taken about 40 min. But we were rewarded with a great panorama and a wonderful smell of coffee. Our room is clean, with a bed made of root wood and the showers and toilets have an open wall. You even have a super view from there!

Silke

Isla Grande is very quiet. There are no motor vehicles or the like. Good for relaxing.

We started our return trip to Cartagena today. Booked was 12:00 pickup. At about 10:00 we got a call that the boat arrives already at 11:00. Finally it was there at 13:00. In the meantime the wind had freshened up quite a bit with corresponding swell. To our surprise, the boat moored for a 1.5 hour break on the crowded beach of Playa Blanca. Everyone had to disembark. I used the break for a snorkel to the reef. There was nothing special to see there.

There is no jetty on the beach, so boarding was like boarding the boat. Everyone tried to get on the bobbled boat. These (speed)boats really drive adventurously. One falls in free fall into a wave trough and immediately gets more blows from the short waves. Finally we arrived in Cartagena, sorted our partly wet luggage and went to our accommodation.

Silke disappeared into bed immediately after dinner.

Reiner

After 2 nights of fever I felt better today. In the late morning we went to the free sandy beach 15 min away. At the other beaches you have to pay to use them. The beach and the water were wonderful and also quite clean. There was a cocktail bar where I drank an agua de coco – coconut water from the coconut.

Although we were only there for one – two hours , I got sunburned away. Since it is very windy, you don’t notice it so quickly. For the evening meal we got fresh fruit for me. The food in our hotel is a paradise for fish and lobster lovers. Unfortunately not so for vegetarians. But the pineapple, banana and mango was perfectly adequate. After dinner Reiner and I walked again on our own to the lagoon. 30 minutes there and back with flashlight through the mangrove forest. The bathing island was also very dark and wet. We were there all alone. The glow of the small plankton particles was magical. This time Reiner tried to take pictures, but unfortunately the pictures all turned black. It was still great.

Fortunately, we found our way back to our eco-hotel.

Silke

Silke didn’t feel so well yesterday and today, so I went alone on an exploration tour over the island. You can find great contrasts between the closed tourist facilities and the local population.

Nature also has a lot to offer: Mangrove forests, lizards and pelicans. I had still booked a night snorkeling tour to look at the glowing plankton in absolute darkness. Already a special experience. Unfortunately I was not allowed to take any photos. Too bad.

Reiner