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| church in center of Minca |
A quaint little community nestled 40 minutes into La Sierra Nevada above bustling Santa Marta, this place was a great getaway for a few days after our Lost City trek and a nice escape from the heat. We stayed at Casa Loma Minca in a treehouse - most people reviewed the hostel poorly due to its location requiring about 5 minutes of stair climbing from the center of town (really, people?!), but I loved it!
Sunset views, hikes to nearby waterfalls and coffee plantations, good food, and a nice trail run accompanied by new friend Barney from the UK and a random stray dog rounded out our 1.5 days here. I highly recommend La Victoria Coffee Plantation (a little over an hours walk from Minca, or a short moto ride); we took the tour which still boasts original British machinery from the 1800's, a community fare-wage approach to labor including housing/medical care/childcare/education support for employees, door to door direct fair-trade methods of delivery, bottomless coffee refills (some of the best I've ever had!), and a very candid conversation with the plantation owner, Micky, who is from Germany. Micky had animated stories about bringing up tourism and the coffee industry despite local paramilitary threats over cocaine land (now not an issue) and is very passionate about eliminating the middle man and getting his quality coffee directly to the consumer.
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| patio view from our hostel |
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| mosquito nets and tree houses |
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| Casa Loma Minca |
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| the grounds - Finca La Victoria |
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| don't miss their delicious breakfast, brownies and coffee! |
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| Finca La Victoria |
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| Finca La Victoria coffee plantation |
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| guided tour inside La Victoria coffee plantation |
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| Finca La Victoria |
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| with Micky, plantation owner |
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| sunset view from our hostel |
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| new friends Barney and Lucy |
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