Colombia: Santa Marta/ Taganga/ Minca/Barranquilla

Santa Marta is about 4 hours by bus from Cartagena. It is a relatively large city with not a lot to do. But the surrounding areas are filled with some of the best beaches and nicest mountain views Colombia has to offer.

Hostel: We stayed a little bit out of town in a hostel called the Dreamer (20,000 cop or 11 US). This could be one of my favorite hostels of the trip. Set up around a courtyard, the Dreamer has a swimming pool, grass, tons of hammocks, an open kitchen and plenty of seating areas. It's really easy to socialize and many hours were spent lounging by the pool and making costumes for Carnaval.


We used the dreamer as a home base and then traveled to Taganga for a day, Minca for two, and Barranquilla for Carnaval.

Taganga: It takes about 20 minutes by bus. You ride the bus along the headlands until you come down onto the quaint town of Taganga. The landscape is very dry and looks a lot like Nevada. The ocean is scattered with fishing boats and the beach is filled with hippies. You can walk along the headlands to more secluded beaches or just for a nice view. The sunset was breathtaking and the street food was delicious.

Minca: Minca was a HIGHLIGHT of my trip. It is up in the mountains 25 minutes away from Santa Marta. The first night we stayed at a hostel called Casa Loma. It was a hike to get there but it sat on the hill over looking the mountains, the beach and the city lights of Santa Marta. The next morning we went on a hike further up the hill. First we went to a coffee farm called Valencia which started in 1890 and still runs off the original machinery and techniques.
After the coffee farm Kate and I decided to keep climbing to another hostel that lies on an old FARC military outpost which was said to have even more amazing views than Casa Loma. IT took us about 1.5 hours to reach the top. THE VIEW WAS AWESOME. So awesome, I decided to stay the night up top. I slept in a hammock that hung over a hill and made me feel like I was floating above Santa Marta. For dinner we made a fire and cooked a huge pot of soup and sang songs.

My bed at Los Pinos

The next morning I took a mule trail back down to Minca. This was the jungle experience I have been waiting for. Tons of flowers, green everywhere, and an incredible amount of trees. I turned a corner once and looked into a tree and saw 5 howler monkeys, 3 toucans, and some parrots all in the same place.

Carnaval: We took a day trip to Baranquilla to experience Carnaval. The floats were amazing, the outfits were outrageous, and again the parade was disorganized. People openly walk around with their fifths of rum and generously pass it out. While the parents get sauced the kids are playing with these canisters full of foam which are in endless supply between the busy street dealers and the parents full pockets. We spent hours having wars with the kids as well as being targeted because we were gringos. By the end of the night we became professionals each with a foam gun in our hand ready for war. It was everything Carnaval should be, bright, merry, crowded, crazy.