MINCA COLOMBIA, A MOUNTAIN TOWN IN COLOMBIA, IS THE PERFECT PLACE TO ESCAPE IT ALL

Three months had passed since I left Central America and headed south. I had just spent a week in Medellin, visiting Pablo Escobar’s old haunts and paragliding through the Andes Mountains. After a brief stop in touristy Cartagena and a visit to Pablo Escobar’s old haunts, I wanted somewhere quiet and relaxing.

Santa Marta is a laid-back seaside town located in Colombia. I can reach it by bus within four hours from Cartagena. Santa Marta is nestled between green mountains and picture-perfect beaches. Santa Marta is a beach town, but it has a population over 500,000. It’s more like a tropical metropolis, not a relaxing vacation destination.

Santa Marta was not my final destination. Minca, a tiny town in the Sierra Nevada mountains of Santa Marta, is my escape from it all. Minca is not a traditional “town”, but rather a steep mountainside with a variety of eco-lodges and hostels. Boutique hotels, glamping sites, and ultra-chill backpacker hostels are also scattered around. What is the one thing they all have in common? The stunning mountain views, a horizon that lingers beyond the distant lights Santa Marta or the Caribbean Ocean.

When choosing my accommodation, I put the most importance on total relaxation and peace. I chose an ecolodge that served breakfast, lunch and evening dinner from the gardens. The room was equipped with a queen-size bed draped in mosquito nets and a large open-air window overlooking the jungle. The cell service was non-existent, and the wifi was at best spotty. This was perfect for my 3-day escape (i.e. nothing).

The first thing I noticed was that getting to my accommodation wasn’t relaxing at all. Santa Marta’s hotels and hostels are a great place to store larger bags, as it is the starting point for many trips including Minca and the Tayrona National Park. The Lost City Trek (the Colombian Machu Picchu) can be reached only by a 3- to 6-day hike. So, I whittled down my luggage to just the essentials and took the collectivo to Minca from a street corner that was not clearly marked.

The lodgings are scattered over large mountain ranges, so you will be dropped off in the small town of Minca. After I unload, I am greeted by men on dirt bikes who ask where I’m staying and if they can give me a ride.

With a paragraph of “directions,” I politely decline the ride. I throw my daypack in the back and set off to “take left at the policestation and follow the dirt roads 4km uphill.”

It’s a much longer hike than I expected, and with the sun rapidly fading, the flashlight on my phone is all I have to use for the last 15 minutes. The next morning, I awaken to a bowl full of fresh fruit with coffee beans that were grown in the mountains. It was worth the effort.

The hammocks are a great place to relax with a book. I share organic, vegetarian meals with other travelers. On my exploratory treks, I stumble upon indigenous villages. They’re empty. The nomads are not currently at the home. There are only a few roosters walking around, happily pecking at the ground.

Every evening, about an hour or so before darkness fell, the best part of our experience was always around that time. The guests would make their way through the gardens to the sunset spot. Couples shared a blanket with a bottle wine. A ukulele singer was softly singing to groups of people. Many others, including myself, were seated in peace and watched the brightest colored birds that I had ever seen fly across the sky. A haze settled on the mountains at sunset. It gave the impression that the pastel colors of the sky were still lingering all around. As the darkness spread, people would all make their way uphill in silence and perfect peace.