Minca - Coffee in the mountains

Mist rising over the mountains in Minca

Minca is a small village about 30 minutes from Santa Marta. It is famous for its coffee and beautiful mountain scenery. Sadly, on the day I went it rained heavily for most of the morning, so I was forced to enjoy it's coffee from a café rather than the coffee farm.

Lots of rain and lots of coffee while waiting

By the time the rain had stopped, I lacked sufficient time to go to the lookout or the coffee farm so I decided to walk up to the local swimming hole - Pozo Azul.

The walk is basically up one of the few roads in Minca until you reach the well marked turnoff to Pozo Azul.

From the end of this road there is a short trail until you reach the river.

a fairly rickety bridge over the river

As there had been a lot of rain the pool wasn't particularly 'Azul' (blue) and the river was more a torrent.

More brown than blue

The swollen river

On the way back from Pozo Azul, I discovered a sign for a 'nature trail', so having an hour or so to spare, I decided to investigate.

The trail

The 30 minute round trip is well marked but steep and slippery. It takes you up into the jungle for views over the valley.

Halfway up the trail

View from the top

Descending the trail

As the light was beginning to fade, I had to hurry back to the main road - just in time to see the sun set over Santa Marta in the distance.

Sunset over Santa Marta from the top of the road

Santa Marta from Minca

Trekking in Parque Tayrona

Beach at Tayrona Park

The Tayrona national park is around an hour by bus from Santa Marta. The bus drops you off at the entrance to the park where you must pay the entrance fee of $COP16,000 (about $A8). From here you can take a $COP3000 ($A1.50) minibus to the trail into the park. 

The trail takes about 1.5hrs over fairly flat terrain to reach the campsite.

View from the trail

At the campsite you can hire a tent for $COP25,000 ($A12.50).

The campsite

The campsite is right on the beach where you can swim

Swimming at the beach

Watch the local wildlife

Pelicans

Lizard

And enjoy the sunset with a quiet beer from the overpriced restaurant on site.

Sunset over the beach

There are several walking trails near the campsite - one leads high into the surrounding hills to an archaeological site.

This trek is very steep and difficult in the hot sun as much if it is exposed.

The trail

View from the top of the trail

Once the trail reaches the top of the hill it descends into a small valley where there are several ruins.

The ruins

And reconstructed buildings.

Reconstructed buildings

The entire trip takes a good part of the day so there's time to make it back to the beach for another stunning sunset.

Sunset

Cities of the coast: Santa Marta

Sunset over Santa Marta beach

Santa Marta is a city In the coast known for it's beaches and the nearby Tayrona national park.

The old city near the beach is a relaxed place with a mix of old colonial architecture, narrow streets and open air markets.

Santa Marta church

The nearby beach is a perfect place to enjoy the sunset or a swim, although the nearby Tanganga beach is better for swimming.

Santa Marta beach

Taganga beach

Cocktails on Taganga beach

Also in the city of Santa Marta is the Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino - a restored hacienda which was the place where Simon Bolivar died.

The hacienda has now been restored and is a unique tourist attraction showing the history of Bolivar's last days.

The hacienda

Monument to Simon Bolivar

Statue of Simon Bolivar inside the monument

The impressive gardens in the hacienda also have a large population of iguanas - who seemed quite sanguine despite the large number of tourists eagerly taking photos.

Iguanas

Iguana climbing a tree

On the other side of Santa Marta is the upmarket area of Rodadero, lined with upscale apartments along the beach. The beach here is perfect for swimming but lacks the charm of the Santa Marta beach...

Rodadero beach

... which is a much nicer place to enjoy a quiet cocktail at sunset.

Sunset over Santa Marta beach

Cities of the coast: Barranquilla and Puerto Colombia

Puerto Colombia beach

Barranquilla is a town on the Caribbean coast of Colombia between the popular destinations of Santa Marta and Cartagena. Sadly, although this city is undergoing a construction boom of apartments on its fringes, the city itself is a disappointment. The historic centre is dirty and dangerous (the only place in South America that I've felt unsafe during the day) and all of its "attractions" are either closed or damaged and vandalised.

The Cathedral built in the modernist style would be beautiful if it wasn't so heavily vandalised (hence the photo from distance)

Thankfully a 30 minute bus ride brings you to the little coastal town of Puerto Colombia (which is still part of Barranquilla city). This town is a fishing village that has the potential to be a destination in itself, but needs some investment in something other than the apartments on the way to the town.
The Malecon is a tired and broken street with nothing on it until you reach a set of wooden walkways through the mangroves which are a nice way to reach the main restaurants and bars near the beach.

Puerto Colombia beach through the mangroves

The town also has an impressive pier, which like many things in the city of Barranquilla is broken and under repair, which is a pity since it would add greatly to the natural beauty if this town.

Puerto Colombia pier

From the section of the Malecon near the pier you can watch the fishermen taking in the afternoon catch on the beach and enjoy a quiet beer in one of the many bars on the beach.

Bringing in the nets

The town centre of Puerto Colombia has several buildings from the 1800's which give the town a historic feel, much more so than Barranquilla itself whose historic buildings are in disrepair.

Puerto Colombia church

Puerto Colombia town hall

Puerto Colombia has real potential to become a tourist attraction for both local and foreign visitors but sadly lacks the serious investment that it needs, much like the city of Barranquilla itself. Considering the huge concrete jungle of soulless (unsold) gated apartment developments that are occurring on the outskirts of the city, it makes one wonder about the priorities and interests of the Barranquilla government.

Cali - the capital of Salsa

Cali city

Cali city is known mainly for being the centre of salsa dancing in Colombia and, due to my two left feet, I was unable to indulge to heavily in the city's favourite pastime. And thankfully no video exists of my horrendous attempts to salsa.

However, the city also has a lot to offer for sightseeing as well. There is a teleferico from which you can see all of the city.

Cali from the teleferico

As well as beautiful views from the statue of Christo Rey.

Christo Rey

Cali city

Another view of the city

And a beautiful place for sunset too

Sunset over the hills behind Cali

The city itself is fairly modern, without the historic centre of many other cities, however it's main boulevard is an excellent place for a quiet beer at night - many of the locals come down to the boulevard to socialise.

The boulevard

Cali Cathedral

Also worth seeing in Cali is the park of cats - a park filled with interesting cat sculptures.

The entrance to the cat park

A cat sculpture

Just outside of Cali is the Museo de caña, a museum documenting the areas sugar growing history. The colonial house was also the setting for a Colombian telenovela - so there's lots of information about that too :/

A carriage in the stables of the mansion

The mansion gardens

The weather in Cali is often very hot and humid and unfortunately the coastal area is somewhat dangerous - so locals often go to the river in the little town of San Cipriano to cool off on the weekend. You can take a bus to Córdoba and from there you use the very innovative transport system to San Cipriano.

My transport to San Cipriano

Basically there are no roads to San Cipriano, so the locals use an abandoned train line to drive platforms hooked up to motorbikes to transport people to San Cipriano.

Traveling to San Cipriano

The town itself is tiny, but there are several restaurants with excellent cheap seafood dishes to eat (it's quite close to the coast)

The Main (and only) street of San Cipriano

and many trails to the river where you can swim to escape the heat

Swimming in the river

before heading back to Cali for a night of dancing - or in my case, watching others dance and trying to avoid being a total gringo on the dancefloor.