Our last few days in Colombia were spent in a finca close to the small village of Paso del Mango. This involved a five and a half hour bus ride from Cartagena to Santa Marta and then a one hour car ride up the foothills of the Sierra Nevada that definitely required a 4 wheeled drive vehicle. The hills and mountain sides around the finca are wonderfully lush and even in spite of some rain, it was a beautiful area to visit.
Finca Carpe Diem
The finca had these cute little cabañas built in the traditional style but with some modern amenities (though sadly, not hot water!). They didn’t have much space other than the bed and the bathroom so when it was raining, school time involved huddling on the bed under the mosquito netting.
We also enjoyed the views from the upper pool area and spent a lot of time in the open common room, at times playing some online board games with friends from home (so long as the internet decided to work).
Hiking
The finca had a few recommended activities to do in the area, including hiking and a tour of a cacao farm. We decided to try part of a 12 km loop for as long as the rain held off and then visited the cacao farm on the way back.
The hiking followed the river that went past the finca up the mountain and though there was a bridge for the first crossing, everything else required either creative rock hopping or careful wading to cross.
Everything was so lush and beautiful and the trail initially followed the “road”. Definitely motor bikes when up that path, but at times we would walk past a house and there would be a car parked there. I have no idea how they got up some of those narrow and rocky paths.
There was also plenty of opportunities for science lessons along the way. We watched these ants carry cut pieces of leaves down the hillside on one side of the road and then down the opposite side of the road. There was so many of them they had even worn their own path through the woods.
A year or two ago at an online engineering camp, Annika was told about the “shy” plant and given a seed to try and grow one. We weren’t very successful at getting it to grow. I happened to see what I thought was the right plant and sure enough, it was one so she finally got to see one in action.
We eventually left the “road” and got into narrow mountain trails up the mountain sides.
The weather switched between hints of sunshine and threatening rain. We reached a point where the path led right through someone’s yard and we could hear pots rattling in the house. Having hiked about five and half kilometers already we decided we should head back down. It was a simple dwelling with the only access being by horse or walking, but their view was amazing.
Cacao Farm
On the way back down, we followed the signs to the organic cacao farm and there was this beautiful garden path down to the river, with the farm on the other side. However we were unsure at first on the best way to cross.
While we were still figuring it out, the farmer saw us and came down to help us cross the river by taking our shoes for us. This freed up our hands to hold the guide wire while crossing. He, of course, went hopping from submerged boulder to boulder going no handed the whole way across.
We really enjoyed the farm, but between our limited Spanish and their limited English, we decided to not do the full guided tour which was only in Spanish. Instead we communicated enough to order hot chocolate and a chocolate bar. We liked it so much we came back the next day and the wife had made chocolate cake which we of course had to try as well!
They also had a pair of tamed macaws that flew around the farm and also posed for pictures which made Annika’s day.
Waterfalls
The next day we took a guided waterfall tour provided by the finca along with a few other finca guests. This entered private property so we couldn’t go by ourselves and needed the guide. We saw 5 waterfalls and got into some back country hiking with the need for some climbing ropes. We also had to cross way more rivers and creeks and it started raining halfway through so we definitely got wet. However, the scenery was worth it.
Sunset Trail
Right from the finca was the sunset trail but each night we were there it was threatening rain so we always ended the day with “maybe tomorrow”. On our last night, we set off with our rain jackets and a “now or never” attitude. We are so glad we did as the views were amazing and the weather rewarded us with a double rainbow.
It of course did rain lightly on our way back down, but as with the rest of the days, we were still glad that we could experience this beautiful area and country.
The next day we travelled back down the muddy road to Santa Marta airport. This is a really small airport with only one international gate (and four domestic) so there was limited seating at the gates and all the restaurants prior to security. In spite of its small size, this airport has the best views of all the airports we have been in so far. From one direction you could see the Caribbean Sea and in the other the hills and mountains of the Sierra Nevada. It was a great last view of Colombia!
