After going back and forth about whether to even go there, I eventually decided on spending two nights in Minca. Casa Elemento was my first choice for accomodation, and to be honest it was the only place I really wanted to stay. Sadly it appeared to be fully booked. I contemplated skipping Minca altogether, when I suddenly found a booking site with one bed left on offer at Casa Elemento after all. I quickly booked it, repacked, as I only cared to bring a small backpack for the two night stay, and got going.
Getting from Santa Marta to Casa Elemento
I'm getting quite good at getting around to the places close to Santa Marta, and quickly located the colletivo to be taken from the "Mercado" (carrera 9, calle 11). I payed 8000COP for the 1 hour long ride. When I got to the centre of Minca I knew I would have to take a motorbike to get to the hostel, but had no idea what kind of ride I was in for. I probably should have suspected it when I heard the price of 20 000COP. This is a lot by Colombian standards, but I still expected a nice 10 minute ride.
In reality Casa Elemento is a 45 minute motorbike ride away, and is basically located on a mountain. The ride was scary to say the least, but oh so worth it when I finally arrived at the hostel. Casa Elemento is probably the most amazing place I have stayed in my entire life. I arrived there around 5 pm. Shortly after we were rewarded with the most incredible sunset, taken in from the comfort of a giant hammock. The night was spent having dinner with all the other travellers before chilling around a camp fire. It does get really chilly in the evenings. Going to bed in an actual bed was also nice after spending the past two nights in various hammocks.
An exhausting waterfall hike
The morning after the amazing view was all gone due to intense fog. I spent the morning reading in one of the hammocks, before being lured out on a hike to one of the surrounding waterfalls, called Cascadas de Marinka . We spent about three hours getting to the waterfall. The hike was mostly downhill, and therefore uncomfortable but not really tiring.
The hike back was a different story, when ee had to hike back up all of those hills. As so many times before in South America I was drowning in my own sweat, but the heaviness of my legs was a new experience. The hike definitely qualified as a decent workout session, both for us humans and the adorable black puppy that decided to grace us with his company. Getting back just in time for lunch was just perfect, and the shower I took after, despite being ice cold, was equally needed.
This world has some amazing places
Afterwards I spent a few hours reading in a hammock whilst watching the lightning light up the sky and the surrounding mountains. It was actually quite beautiful, and I kept on getting amazed by this magical place located in the middle of nowhere, in the jungle in Colombia. I could have stayed right there forever.
Casa Elemento serves excellent meals, and always with a vegetarian option, which I obviously appreciated. The veggie burrito with guacamole and a tomato and onion salsa was my favourite by far. We ended the evening with a few drinking games in the bar, before I made it an early night as an early wake up the following morning awaited.
Back down by jeep
My decision to not go by motorbike on the way down was made about five minutes into the ride up there. I asked my driver how long it would take me to walk down. He told me three hours, and I figured that would be manageable. When two of the girls in the hostel asked if I would rather share a jeep down with them at 6.30 in the morning for 30 000COP (vs 28 000 for motorbike and colletivo back to Santa Marta), I quickly jumped at the opportunity. I won't say that it wasn't a bumpy ride, but it was way more comfortable than the alternatives.
I could easily have spent more time in Minca. Actually I could've spent hours just lying in a hammock and taking in the view, whilst feeling incredibly lucky to be able to visit such places. On the other hand there were more places to be discovered, so after the early morning jeep ride back to Santa Marta I prepared for my first night bus experience.
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