Minca, Colombia

A few days before I left Taganga, I went to a small town in the hills called Minca. I took a collectivo over the hill into Santa Marta, walked around for a while trying to find a moto-taxi without much luck. Finally a guy took me to the central commercial district where the collectivo taxis run. I waited around for awhile until we had enough people to fill the car and up the hill we went. One guy had 3 huge, maybe 50 lb, bags of coffee beans, another looked like some sort of businessman and the third guy was a direct tv installer. And me, the gringo, pretty random passengers. The car barely made it up the hill and had to stop at one point before it overheated. The driver got some water from a house on the side of the road and we were moving again.



There wasn't much to the town....a few cafes, tiendas, a pool hall, a few small hotel and some houses. Fincas, Colombian farms, filled the hills around town. Not too long ago, maybe 3-4 years ago, this area of the country was controlled by the FARC and the narco traffickers. Most of the farms were growing cocoa and it wasn't possible for tourist to come up here. The government paid the farmers to stop growing cocoa and the FARC were run off. I wasn't really sure where I was heading, but hard there were some waterfalls and trails outside of town. I, more or less, followed the river up the hill and asked a few people which way to the waterfalls. The directions, as is normally the case for me down here, were almost useless because of my lack of Spanish. I usually get the first turn and, ideally, the general direction too head, but little else.



Anyway, I was soon on a dirt road heading out of town. Passed through a few fincas, and saw a few farmers and random animals. Most of the farmers were indigenous. After I was nearly trampled by a small stampede, I walked with a native farmer for about 20 minutes. He and his family had a finca just up the road and he was moving the horses. The conversation was limited, but still fun way to pass the time. After about an hour of hiking I found a small waterfall. It was only about 20 feet, but was surrounded by huge boulders and several small pools. It felt like a river in Colorado. I hung out there for a while, climbing on rocks and wading through the river. It wasn't as cool as I had expected, but it was a nice break from the brutal heat of Taganga.




I hiked up the hill for another hour or so and found a trail leading to another waterfall. It was about 20 minutes up the trail to the falls. They were 40-50 feet, with another higher section in the trees. I couldn't really tell how high it really was. They dropped into a small pool and not a soul in sight. I chilled out there for an hour or so. I didn't really swim, the water was kind of murky and I had no idea what was swimming around in there. It was nice being back in the mountains, especially with no one around at all. The aterfalls, the jungles, the farms and the town were really beautiful.



I hiked back into town and had some coffee at one of the cafes. I ran into a girl I met in Taganga, she was the only Gringo I saw the entire day. I got a ride down the mountain from a moto-taxi, really just a 20, or so, year old kid with a motorcycle. There were a few times I thought we were definitely going to crash, but he was good and knew every pot hole and bump in the road. He got me down to the main road, then another chicken bus into Taganga. In the month I was there, the ride through the city and the morning looking for a cab were the only times I saw Santa Marta. It was certainly more of a city then Taganga. It made me excited to head out to Medellin and be in a real city.

Taganga, Colombia

I’m getting ready to leave Taganga in few days and it’s going to be a bit hard to take off. I’ve had a hard time motivating to write anything the past few weeks. In some ways I feel like I haven’t anything interesting enough to write about and at the same time I feel like I’ve done so much this past month that it feels like I’ve been here much longer. Anyway, here are few of my favorite things from my time here...

Diving- After spending the first few days just checking out the town, I took an open water certification course. We dove around the islands and bays off of Tayrona National Park. Lots of amazing coral and all sorts of tropical fish, lobsters, eel, barracuda, etc.. One of my favorite things was just cruising around in this little boat, taking in the scenery and being on the water for a few days. I’m hoping to do a shipwreck dive before I leave. We’ll see if I have time.



Working at the hotel- It’s pretty cool seeing the transformation here. When these guys took over less then a month ago it was tired, had no restaurant or bar, and certainly no vibe. The restaurant has been pretty busy most nights and the bar gets crazy a few nights a week, sometimes until 6 or 7 in the morning. Jon and Melissa have spent a lot of time to make it happen and it been fun to see it come together. It’s also been great meeting all the Colombians that work here, practicing my Spanish (or lack thereof) with them. Lunches with them have been some of my favorite meals of my trip. I’d have a hard time finding a job with a better view and it’s been a great way to meet people around town.




Paddle boarding- I like to think I’m the first person to paddle board here since the shop just opened up and I was the first person to use the board. Even the people in the shop hadn’t used them yet. Maybe someone else has been out there, but maybe not. Anyway, it’s been so much fun cruising around checking out the bays and coves around here. The first day out I took one of the girls from the shop. She’s a local girl who really wanted to learn how to surf, she was so excited to be out on the board. It was tough with two people, though, and we didn’t really get too far. Regardless, we had lots of laughs out there.


A couple days later a friend of mine, Sean, and I paddled out to Playa Grande, another beach in the next bay. It was a holiday so there were lots of Colombian tourists on the beach. A group of kids were checking out the boards so we took them out for a ride. We each had about 5 or 6 kids on the boards, and another 15 or so waiting to try. They were all screaming and giggling. We hung out there for about an hour, letting them take turns on the boards.

A couple days later I was out alone and had paddled out of the bay and into the neighboring bay to the south. The wind started to pick up and began to blow me out of the bay. The waves were picking up and I was heading towards a bunch of rocks. I felt like I was paddling upstream, the wind spinning me around in circles. I had to lay down and paddle to get back in the Taganga Bay, after an hour and half I was back on shore. Exhausted.



The people- Everyone here has also really made this town as special as it has been. I definitely need to thanks Jon and Melissa, Felipe and the crew at the Mirador for their hospitality. Also everyone else that I have met there has been , especially Sean and Courtney, Joe, Duffy and his crew, the Israeli girls and everyone else. Also the people I’ve gotten to know around town- the woman at my juice stand, the crew at the paddleboard shop, the dive shop, the pintores, Junior and Joanne, nameless people around town and everyone else I’ve met I the past month.


Although I’m ready to move on and explore more of Colombia and the rest of the continent, it’s going to be tough to pack up and head out of town. I’ve really enjoyed settling in here, feeling like I actually live here, getting to know everyone around town. It has really started to feel like home. The past month has definitely made me rethink my travel plans. I think it’s a much different experience staying somewhere for a while, working and feeling like your part of the community. I’m hoping to find a few other towns to settle into throughout the next year. Or maybe I just come back up here and really make this home. Vamos a ver.

There are so many other experiences I’ve had and people I’ve met as well as so many things I didn’t get to do, but the month in Taganga will never be forgotten. I know one thing, even though I miss certain things and lots of people from the states, it will be hard to go back to a “normal” life there if/ when that day comes.

“You can't go back and you can't stand still…”