After coming back from the Guajira desert and spending some time at Palomino Beach (sorry no pics) I decided to go on with my travels and do a last stop before leaving Colombia behind.

I went to Santa Marta to meet up with Manon in Minca, a territory up in the hills surrounded by tropical forest and a lot of nice flora and fauna.

Santa Marta is the base for transport up to Minca.

The best way to travel up there is in one of the Cootransminca collective jeeps that leave from the central market area. The price is COP 8k one-way, and the jeeps leave regularly, as soon as they are full. A taxi costs COP 40-60k so if you to fill it, could makes sense time wise.

Minca is THE destination for ecological and coffee tourism in Colombia! It is a small town of two thousand inhabitants located at an altitude of 650 meters above sea level, nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, a park that has 383,000 hectares of territory and lost among the lush vegetation.

It is home to 19 species of endemic birds of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, of which nine are endangered, and seven species of threatened amphibians, including two critically endangered species, the Stubfoot Toad (Atelopus nahumae) and a species of Harlequin frog (Atelopus laetissimus).

Observations recorded an extraordinary number of 415 species of birds in the El Dorado reserve. The reserve is important for the stop and wintering of neo-tropical migratory birds, such as the Blue Sky Warbler (Dendroica cerulea) and Winged Warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera).

It is located in the tropical humid forest with trees of high heights - up to 40 m - and various species. Lianas, palms, ferns abound and others.

The fauna is still greater with bears, deer and smaller species such as armadillos, urchins, ocelots and monkeys. Thousands of birds, insects, and butterflies, make concerts of songs, buzzes and chirps.

What many don´t know is that Minca has history and is an archaeological paradise with the river GAIRA of crystalline waters and its immense green vegetation that keeps the archaeological wealth of its ancestors under the earth.

This wonderful scenery served in the past as a habitat for the Tayrona culture and nowadays the indigenous people belonging to the Kággaba (Kogui), Ika (Arhuaco), Wiwa (Arzarios) and Kankuamo, the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is the heart of the world and they are the guardians.

For me it was a really energetic place to be!

Once you get to the little town it´s only possible to go further up by hiking or taking a motorcicle. Many of the Hostels are up there in the middle of the vegetation too. Here a little map of the area:

We decided to take the motorcycle and explore the "pozo azul" waterfall, the "victoria cafe finca", the "mirador"(viewpoint over the area) and "las piedras" waterfall before we would be brought with our luggage to Casa Elemento, where we spent the next 2 days.

So of course we found some guys of the village that were happy to bring us to this points by bike!

It was really fun to drive uphill on this wild muddy way through wild vegetation!

Getting there we took a quick bath at the waterfall and enjoyed the space a bit. It was a bit crowded though.

Some people jumped from the top into the water.

After that we went on to Finca Victoria to have some lunch and get a Coca - beer ;)

From there we went way further uphill to get to our next stop: El Mirador

This is a cozy viewpoint over the city of Santa Marta! We stayed here for a while and learned some things about the area.

The most we got uphill was Casa Elemento!! This is a famous Ecological Hostal in the middle of the cloud forest. Most of the people working and living here are enjoying the nature and peaceful ambiente without any internet or lots of electricity!

I always wanted to go there because a friend of mine founded it with some others a few years ago. They have the biggest hammocks ever with an awesome view over the surroundings

Here we left our luggage for later and went to the last stop of the day before we would come back and enjoy an awesome sunset: The waterfall las piedras

This one was way less touristy than Pozo Azul and also harder to reach because we had to walk a small path uphill before getting to the stairs! The water was really cold but nice and the ambiente peaceful.

After that last nice bath we went back to our hostel Casa Elemento, ate something and enjoyed the view from the wonderful hammocks. The fog had passed away and it was just beautiful!

As always I hope you enjoyed reading my post and I am grateful for every Upvote, Resteem and Comment, as you are supporting my travels with it!!

Cheers,
Liz

Colombia Part 1: Bogota D.C. - A city full of history and culture!

Colombia Part 2: Guatavita Lagoon, The Muisca Civilisation and The Legend of "El Dorado"

Colombia Part 3 - The Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá (Fotos + Video)

Colombia Part 4 - Adventure time at the Natural Pools of Guejar River in the Jungle (Photos + Videos)

Colombia Part 5 - Flying to Macarena National Park being a Copilot

Colombia Part 6 - The Rainbow River at Macarena National Park

Colombia Part 7 - Riding Motor Bike and Chilling in the Pools of the Tatacoa Desert

Colombia Part 8 - Enjoying civilization in Cali!

Colombia Part 9 - Living with the president of the orchids club,helping her out at the green house

Colombia Part 10 - Hiking and Feeding Hummingbirds in the middle of the impressive Flora of Montanitas

Colombia Part 11 - Visiting the typical colonial city of Salento

Colombia Part 12 - Learning how to make coffee at a real coffee farm in Salento

Colombia Part 13 - Horseback riding to a waterfall and hiking at Cocora Valley

Colombia Part 14 - Swimming at the hot springs of Santa Rosa de Cabal

Colombia Part 15 - Doing an adventurous Graffiti Tour through the Favelas of Medellin at Commune 13

Colombia Part 16 - Ziplining, hiking, blow jumping and jet skiing at the lagunas of Guatapé

Colombia Part 17 - Paragliding over the city of Medellin

Colombia Part 18 - Arriving in the capital of the caribbean side: Cartagena de Indias

Colombia Part 19 - Trekking in the Tayrona National Park, Day One: The Jungle

Colombia Part 20 - Day Two at Tayrona National Park: A wonderful Day and horrible Night at the Beach of Cabo San Juan

Colombia Part 21 - Our Way back by boat visiting 3 beaches of Tayrona National Park in just one day!

Colombia Part 22 - Our first day discovering the Guajira Desert!

Colombia Part 23 - A one day trip Crossing the Guajira desert in Jeep

Colombia Part 24 - One day at Puntas Gallinas, the most northern Part of Southamerica!