Colombia: Carribean Coast - Taganga, Tayrona and Minca

After a hectic couple of days in Paisa country we headed up north to the warm Caribbean coast to explore some of Colombia's famous tropical coastline (see map below). Our first stop was a little fishing and diving village, Taganga, nestled in this tranquil little bay just across the "koppie" from the much bigger Santa Marta...

Map of the popular Northern Caribbean coastline

We decided that we needed to stay put for at least 3 days after the grueling 17 hour bus trip from Medellin to Santa Marta, just to find our feet again!

Now the town itself is no 'postcard', but it has its own unique charm and authentic feel! We booked into a nice little hostel called Villa Mary, with a very friendly owner, Davide and helpful team of staff!

Taganga is renowned as a very good value for money place to do some scuba diving, and sitting right next to the Tayrona national park, it has a massive marine conservation area to explore and thus a whole bunch of cool dive sites! 

Kristi ready to embark on our Scuba expedition from Taganga bay

We signed up for two days of diving which equated to 2 dives per day - I went on my own the first day, and Kristi worked in some much needed beach time, and then we both went the second day. 

Good to go!

It was really good fun, the water was nice and warm, which for us two "Weskus kinders" is a foreign concept, our dive center, Reef Shepherd, was really professional, it didn't cost much and the marine life was plentiful! Well worth doing if you find yourself in the area!

Underwater exploring around Isla Aguja, Tayrona marine conservation area

Our next trip was a three day outing to the beautiful national Park of Tayrona, also situated on the northern Caribbean coast and renowned for the its lush jungle and pristine beaches...

The setup in Tayrona is pretty unique - you can easily find transport to the park, either from Taganga or Santa Marta, and it's only an hour drive or so. They then drop you off at the park entrance and off you go...

You can stay in the park at the various different beaches but you can't book the accommodation online, so it's first come first serve. Also you can't swim at all the beaches due to hectic currents and such, which makes the "swim friendly" beach accommodations notoriously popular! There is one main trail that runs through the jungle and alongside the beach spots, with some offshoots if you wish to venture deeper into the jungle.

Tayrona National Park, Colombia

Regardless of what you heard or discussed prior to starting the walk, the minute you set foot in that jungle, you will only want a swim beach, because it's flippen hot - the tropical sun is strong and relentless, and the jungle very humid! So we decided to take our chances and head to the only "swim friendly" beach with accommodation (that we knew of), Cabo San Juan, which is also the most popular place to stay in the park...

Cabo San Juan, Tayrona

When we got there after a beautiful yet scorching walk, drenched to the bone in sweat, we were greeted with a long line of fellow travelers waiting to get allocated a place to sleep - which are either hammocks or tents...Having arrived a little late we only had the option of tents but with a backdrop of palm trees and lush jungle, it wasn't the worst place to camp in the world!

"Tente-dorp", Cabo San Juan

After dropping our bags in the tent we ran straight for the water, which was delightful, it's warm but still cold enough to cool you off, so you feel like you can stay in there for ever! I almost did!

Cabo San Juan first beach with its amazingly cool and refreshing water

Cabo San Juan is really a beautiful setting, the camp area has two beaches, one straight in front and the other slightly to the left...

Right in between the two beaches there's a small hill that juts into the ocean, and on top of the hill there's a double story rondawel lined with 16 hammocks and the most insane views of the bay area! 

Second beach at Cabo San Juan, with the 'hammock rondawel' on top of the hill

When Kristi saw that place, and I saw the look on her face, I knew there was no way we couldn't not stay there during our visit! Apparently you have run like Usain Bolt to the reception cabin just before 11:00 am in the morning and if you're lucky and in time you can get a spot at the top! Which is exactly what I did the next day and fortunately snuck in to get two of the last open hammocks! Brownie points!

All you can do here really, is chill out, work on your tan (or lie in the shade if you're already 50 shades of brown!) and enjoy the cool crystal clear water! 

Tanning session at 07:30 in the morning

If you are really ambitious you can go for a hike to some other spots in the park but after 10 minutes in the balmy jungle you'd want to run straight back to that wonderfully cool water! We met a very cool Canadian guy, Marc, and we hung out with him for most of our time there...

Our mate Marc from Toronto

There's one big restaurant where all the people eat so around breakfast and dinner it can get jam-packed, but the food's pretty decent, not too pricey and the beer is cold so we couldn't complain!

Some of our American friends - Justice, Shaun, Louis and Stephanie
and a random German couple at the back

Our night up in the hammocks was also quite an adventure, firstly up there it's quite a bit cooler than down in "gen-pop" and we didn't bring any warm clothes, but we managed to curl up in our beach sarongs and cocoon ourselves in the hammocks which worked quite well...

Room with a view!

Swinging lazily to sleep in the cool ocean breeze and waking up to the sun rising over the ocean was definitely one of the coolest things we've experienced! And it was actually quite a comfortable sleep!

Our last day there we again just chilled out on the beach with Marc, me dozing off under a palm tree, Kristi working on her tan and looking amazing in her new one piece swimming costume, and of course lots and lots of swimming - that pretty much sums up our time at Cabo San Juan! Very relaxing!

Princess Kate spotted on the beach at Cabo San Juan

After a sweaty early afternoon walk back to the entrance, we were picked up by a shuttle that took us back to Hostel Villa Mary in Taganga (where we left our big bags).

It was a great three day outing and unless you're really into chilling out on the beach all day, I'd say that two nights are more than enough for such an excursion - we were pretty beached out when got back to Taganga!

The next day we headed in the opposite direction, towards the nearby Sierra Nevada mountains that rise abruptly from sea level to close to 6000 m in altitude! We were heading to a small mountain town, called Minca, just an hour's drive up from Santa Marta...

Minca town

When we arrived in Minca, we immediately looked for a couple of motorbike taxis to take us up to our hostel, Casa Elemento, which is still quite a drive up the mountain. We quickly found two hombres that could take us and after a couple of minutes of them fighting it out over who could have Kristi to sit at the back and who would be stuck with me, we saddled up and got going up the mountain. A massive thunder shower hit the town earlier that day so the road was an absolute muddy mess! Thus when we intercepted a jeep that was going up to Casa Elemento our bikers advised us to jump over into the back for the rest of the trip up.

The beautiful Minca valley - hard to believe that it is only an hour
from the dry and desert-like Santa Marta

It was about an half hour's drive up to the hostel, which is situated at one of the highest points in the valley, so the views are just unbelievable! It's probably the hostel with one of the best settings that we've been to so far. 

Just one of the many insane viewpoints from Casa Elemento

The owners have constructed the premises with a clear appreciation for the stunning views of the lush green valley below. Nothing demonstrates this more than the humongous hammock, in front of the hostel, that stretches out into the clear mountain air, and can support up to eight lazy bodies at a time...

The biggest of the four giant hammocks at Casa Elemento

Kristi and I made an effort to get up each morning at 05:30, drag our blankets out of the room, climb unto the hammock, and just enjoy the views and the tranquil sounds of the waking valley below us...

Not a bad spot to watch the sunrise

Also since there was a group of close to 40 British university students staying at the hostel, early morning was a safe bet for some quiet time and some space on the hammock! It was so nice up there, the sky would change from a cold blue to streaks of soft pink and red as more sunlight escaped the shadows of the Sierra Nevada mountains...

Something different to the spectacular views that we got to enjoy in Minca was the company of our two old travel partners, Simon and Joh-nell! Ja they met up with us at the hostel and also booked for three nights before heading to Tayrona...It was really cool to see them again even if it has only been about 3 weeks since we last saw them!

The four South Africans united again - at a viewpoint overlooking the Mica valley

Kristi and I booked in to a 7 bed dorm which was at least not too close to the bar area (and the Brits) so we could get some decent sleep.

However there was a slight incident that occurred on our first night there. When we went to bed our dorm mates were already asleep, which normally bodes well for getting a good night's rest as there shouldn't be anyone entering the dorm after you clocked out...

In terms of our dorm setup, just to your left as you entered the room there is 3 tiered bunk (which is quite unusual) where Kristi was at the bottom, then there was another (normal) 2 tiered bunk against the far wall, and my freestanding bed right next to the double bunk, directly across from Kristi, and then another freestanding bed next to mine and opposite to the double bunk...

So like I said, the night ahead looked pleasantly auspicious and for all we knew it was going to be a peaceful sleep...if only...at about 01:00 am Kristi and I both woke up to the sound of liquid splashing unto the floor, almost like if a pipe burst in the ceiling or something like that...

Startled by the sound I automatically looked up, only to see the Israeli guy who was sleeping in the top bed of the double bunk, sitting on the edge of his bed, feet dangling down, and vomit just pouring out of his mouth! It took a couple of seconds to register what was going on but Kristi who is probably more accustomed to such episodes, quickly looked for a bag to hand the poor lad...I was practically clinging to the wall like a gecko since I saw that my bed got tagged by some of the projectile (not that far from where my head was!)...but wait it actually gets worse!

After he filled the bag, he wanted to climb down from the top bunk, and just as he got to the last few steps on the ladder he gave a little jump to get down, but he obviously wasn't thinking straight because he landed right on top of the mess he had made on the floor, slipped, and fell flat on top of the bag filled with vomit, which exploded causing even more of a mess! 

The commotion then woke the girl on the bunk right below him, who after seeing the spectacle next to her looked like she too was ready to blow! So she started "bokking" and that's when I knew I had to get the hell out of that room, because things were aiming to go very south very fast!

Shame the poor guy must've picked up a bad bug, and did manage to clean most of the mess afterwards, in the dark, and everyone managed to go back to sleep...I went to sleep on a couch in the common room which was actually not too bad! But what a night! It's all part of it I suppose!

The next day we had a really good day, the four of us hiked down to this waterfall where you could swim as well...The walk down the mountain was really cool, we went through coffee plantations, and swathes of thick jungle, saw many exotic birds and the most beautiful butterflies! The walk back up was a bit more strenuous but we found a wild mango tree along the way with some ripe fruit which offered some much needed fuel!

While Casa Elemento might not be the cleanest place in the world, and while it is a bit of a party hostel, we have to say that the food was really really good! After our 4 hour hike we were able order the most delicious lunches and cold beers which together with the company and setting went down really well!

And because of the massive British contingent, who everyone kind of stayed clear of, the few other nationalities actually banded together and we had a very nice time, talking about our different backgrounds and the travels that still lay ahead.

The second day we did another shorter hike following a contour path that runs from the hostel all along the higher reaches of the mountain. If you continue with this trail it can take you all the way to la ciudad perdida or the lost city which is a famous Tayrona ruin situated in a remote part of the Sierra Nevadas...

On our last evening we enjoyed yet another splendid meal, one of the best lasagnas I've ever had, and enjoyed a couple of drinks with some friends that we've met previously and who arrived that afternoon at Casa Elemento. The following morning we had to say goodbye to the cool mountain air and the far stretching vistas and ready ourselves again for the relentless heat of Taganga where we had to spend one more night before we head to a place far off the gringo trail, a forgotten place, that still lingers in the memory of years gone by...we're heading to a town called Mompox...

All good!!