On to Minca

Another early morning as we took a collective taxi to Santa Marta. The hotel told use all sorts of departure times, so it was very confusing. But eventually we made it on the road. The highway was in very good condition, better than some places of the U.S. even! It was a sunny day with good views of the ocean and some major rivers.  The taxi was a tourist van with seven passengers. I sat in the front.  At Baranquilla (where Sofia Vargas is from) we stopped some passengers and four of us switched into a car.  That was more cramped. The other two were from New York. We've run into a handful of Americans along the way.

Once we got to Santa Marta, we had to switch to another local taxi to head up into the mountains and Minca.  We're in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas.  When we got to Minca we had to hike up a very steep path with our very heavy bags in order to get to our hostel.  This hostel feels like one. It's far off the beaten path and it appears that a lot of random people have stumbled here. The place is definitely the most rustic and simplest place we've stated at. Hopefully, the bugs won't be too bad.