Visiting Minca, Colombia

On my recent trip to Colombia with my sister, we spent a couple nights in Minca, which is in the mountains a few hours north of Cartagena. It’s a small town with plenty to do!

Scroll down to see a map of all mentioned places.

Eat

Duni

Duni is a cafe serving a full breakfast and lunch menu, as well as homemade breads and ice cream, in a beautiful space. Get here early for your pick of their homemade breads, and definitely enjoy a meal if you have time. Everything was fresh, delicious, and thoughtfully presented. If you’re feeling decadent, go for their chocolate bread french toast. The staff is lean and service can be a little slow, so it’s definitely a place to sit and relax.

La Miga

Another cafe with delicious breads and coffees. The chocolate bread at La Miga, which is very different from Duni’s version, was so good. We saw some people ordering sandwiches, but breads and coffee seem to be their main thing. When we were there, they were offering generous samples at the counter. On Google Maps this is called “Crumb Bakery.”

Sailor Will

Sailor Will was on our way to our hostel, so we stopped in for lunch right after we got off the colectivo from Santa Marta. The space was beautiful, the staff was really friendly, and we could see the small kitchen from our table. We shared the menu del dia, which was a big portion of rice, meat, plantains, avocado, and beans. We didn't get pictures of the food, but obviously plenty of pictures of the Club Colombias we washed our meal down with.

El Bistro de la Victoria

El Bistro de la Victoria is the restaurant attached to Finca Victoria (more on that below). After a very steep hike up to the coffee farm, we were so happy to sit down at the Bistro with a couple of cold beers and sandwiches before our coffee tour. The sandwiches were huge and we probably could have shared one.

Nevada Cerveceria

The beers we drank at El Bistro de la Victoria are from Nevada Cerveceria, the brewery right next door to the coffee farm. You can only find their beers in a few places in this region, so I recommend trying them if you come across them. We had the pilsner and really liked it, and if you’re judging a book by its cover, the labels are pretty cool.

Casa Loma

Casa Loma, the hostel we stayed at served homemade vegetarian breakfast, lunch, and dinner at reasonable prices. We ate dinner there both nights of our stay, and some people who weren’t even staying at the hostel came for the meal (it’s about a 10-minute hike uphill from town, which should say something!). Each night there’s one appetizer, entree, and dessert on the menu, which is posted on a chalkboard that morning so you can decide if you want to sign up. The food is individually plated and served at the shared tables where you can get to know your fellow travelers. Both our dinners were delicious with generous portions and high-quality ingredients.

Lazy Cat

We didn’t get to try Lazy Cat, right across from Sailor Inn, but we heard from multiple people that while eating on the outdoor deck, a Toucan stopped by, ate some fries, and flew away. Sounds worth it just for that!

Do

Sunset

The sunsets in Minca are beautiful. Get up to any high point and watch the sun go down and the sky change colors in between the mountains. We watched the sunset from the sunset deck at our hostel both nights. Like the dinners, many people come up to Casa Loma just for that.

Pozo Azul

It’s about a 45-minute hike up the road from town before a 15-minute walk down the path to Pozo Azul, a swimming hole. The first swimming hole was packed. We crossed this area (you have to walk through the water, so we had to take our socks and sneakers off and then put them back on) and hiked up to the second swimming hole, which was less crowded and a bit deeper. We watched teenage boys jump off the high cliff before we jumped off a slightly lower cliff :). We hiked just a little bit farther up to another swimming hole that was virtually empty, where we sat and read for a bit. There are no amenities here, save for a couple ladies grilling plantains at the entrance, so come prepared.

Finca Victoria

We debated hiking up to Finca Victoria from Pozo Azul or taking a moto-taxi but ultimately walked up and took a moto-taxi back down. This hike up is very steep and challenging, but with beautiful views. We speed-walked (as much as we could uphill) and it took us 50 minutes from the start of the path to Pozo Azul.

We started with lunch at the restaurant attached to the farm (see above) before our tour. There’s no tour schedule, they just take you around whenever you’re ready, maybe waiting to see if a couple more people show up. The tour costs $15,000 pesos and includes a cup of their coffee. La Victoria has been around since 1892 and uses water and gravity to power their automatic production of coffee beans. It’s pretty impressive and we learned a lot from our knowledgeable tour guide.

Chill

Especially if you’re coming to Minca from a big city, this is a good time to relax. Life seems pretty laid-back here, and our hostel was a great place to catch up on reading, play cards, and take in the views while surrounded by nature.

Moto-taxi

As mentioned, we took a moto-taxi back to our hostel from Finca Victoria. Look for the guys in black polos with blue writing; these are the official Minca moto-taxi drivers. It’s a fun experience, just hold on tight!

We were only in Minca for two nights so didn’t get to do everything. Here are a few other activities we read about on the blog Practical Wanderlust:

• Las Piedras

• Las Cascadas de Marinka

• Finca La Candelaria

• Shopping

Stay

Casa Loma Minca

We were really happy with our decision to stay at Casa Loma. As I mentioned a couple times above, people who aren’t even sleeping there come up for meals and the sunset because they have so much to offer.

They have a number of different types of accommodations including private rooms, open-air huts, dorms, hammocks, and tents. We chose the Casa Luna hut for its views and its private bathroom (the only one offered). This hut is secluded from the rest of the camp and has a wide open view of the mountains, plus the night sky full of stars - something you don’t get in New York City! The shower has the same view, which was pretty amazing.

The hut has a mosquito net over the bed and a big wooden locker, which we put all our stuff in when not using, including toiletries, for security and to keep animals away. The hut has a curtain in lieu of a door, and the noises we heard in the night took some getting used to, but waking up and going to bed with that view was worth it.

Even though we stayed in the secluded hut with our own bathroom, we took advantage of the benefits of staying in a hostel, such as group dinners and meeting other travelers. We enjoyed sitting in the hammocks and at the picnic tables in the main lodge playing cards and reading. If you can manage the hike up to Casa Loma from town, I recommend booking a room here!

EAT AND DO IN MINCA - MAP VIEW