Heaven is a Place on Earth

Thank you Belinda Carlisle!

I was chatting to a guy who works in Taganga one evening and asking him what he thought of Minca, a small town in the mountains outside of Santa Marta.  He got very excited and told me I had to go because his favourite place in the world was there.  Now, that's a big claim by anyone's standards and it got me very interested.  He told me about a small unadvertised hostel in the mountains, he got so excited he got his laptop out to show me pictures ... I was pretty convinced by it being his favourite place but after seeing pictures I was sold.  The pictures showed paradise, heaven, a magical place and there was no way I was missing out.  So, with a map drawn on the back of a receipt I planned my trip to Minca.


I had a few hurdles to conquer first; my first bout of food poisoning in 8 and a half months, then my first taxi break down which included my first taxi towing, south american style (as dangerous as it sounds!) followed by the mother of all thunder storms!  (I don't think that it was a coincidence that it was also Friday 13th!)  By the time I reached Minca I was starting to wonder whether anywhere could be worth it.  But I had one of my moments of sheer  determination, so hand drawn map in hand I set off up a muddy hill and eventually reached Oscar's.  A beautiful house on a ridge in the lush mountains of the Sierra Nevada.  It was everything that had been described to me and more.  The scenery is so spectacular it is almost overwhelming.  It takes your breath away.  Oscar's is one of the places that I've been to on this trip that reminds me why packing up my life as I knew it was totally worth while!

The view from the bathroom!

But it wasn't just the scenery, Oscar has created the most perfect places to appreciate the mountain from... my bedroom for example...

Sunk into the ground on the ridge, I went to bed gazing at the lights of nearby Santa Marta and woke up to the sound of the birds and the sun coming up over the mountains.  I'm serious!  I'm not poetic enough to make this up!


Day and night, this place was beautiful.  Vibrant colours during the day and some of the most beautiful sunsets that I have ever seen at night.

View from the dining table

And it's no surprise that the area around Oscar's was equally beautiful.  I was able to explore it on Mule-back!  Oscar took me out on a mule to the top of one of the nearby mountains to get an even better view of the area and to see the sun setting.

And there are waterfalls and natural swimming pools only an hours walk away.

Dragonfly out in the sun!

 Not surprisingly I stayed here longer than I should have done as well!  But once my bliss levels were fully topped up is was time to hit the road again and see what other heavenly places Colombia has to offer.