A Hike up to Los Pinos
A hike through a treacherous jungle to a viewpoint in the Sierra Nevada mountains in North Colombia got my adrenaline pumping! Just don’t make my mistake and read the heading of the hike incorrectly, for a while I thought I was walking to a group of pineapple trees until I arrived at my destination — Ohhhh!! Los Pinos, not Las Piñas!! Well, that made a whole lot of sense why I was walking on pine needles for so long. In saying that, this article isn’t about my pitfalls in attempting to read the hostels “what to do’’ guide, it is about the amazing experience I had, albeit the scary moments, with lessons learnt if I had a do-over.
What is Los Pinos
Los Pinos is a hike in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range, overlooking the foothills — where Minca lies — with views stretching out to the beaches of Santa Marta. The hike is approximately 6–8 hours through different terrain including a cooling cloud forest at Los Pinos. I would recommend at least two nights in Minca — one to prepare for the hike and one for a refreshing drink and a well-deserved meal afterwards. My friends in Bonda reserved two nights at Casa Loma for me — set at the top of a challenging climb counting more than 100 stairs — but the views are worth every step, especially at sunset.
How to Get There
Getting to Minca from Santa Marta has been made easier with a newly paved road winding up the mountain. The new infrastructure has increased tourism — which is great to bring money into the local community — but it is not the secluded town it once was. Regardless, it is still a beautiful place, and the Los Pinos hike will lead you through less travelled paths. Wait at the Mamatoco bus terminal on the roundabout where Calle 11 and Calle 30 meet for a collectivo up to Minca. It cost me 8mil and leaves approximately every 15 minutes (or once full).
The Actual Hike
Ok, so how to start the hike. Firstly, download maps.me ensuring you have the Colombia map. I was very impressed with the app, the entire trail was visible guaranteeing I wouldn’t get lost — the conveniently located signs to Los Pinos helped too! Casa Loma’s guide book provided brief directions for the hike suggesting two different routes — I opted for the more challenging hike up the through the jungle. After taking photos of the book I set off at 9 am with too little water and lots of cheese. Mistake 1: I needed way more than 1 litre of water — I think I sweated more than that out!
Ok, so now that we have the safety precautions over, let’s start with the actual hike. I made my way to the Iglesia del Perpetuo Socorro church and turned left (walking south) towards Finca El Tabor passing a sports ground. After about 300 metres the road turns into a dirt road/track suitable for motos and pedestrians.
For a fee, you can swim at the Cascada de Marinka but I decided to continue the walk, I wasn’t quite ready for a break. 1km further and I reached La Semilla where the terrain changed from a dirt/gravel track to a jungle hike — things just got interesting. The hike is clearly displayed on Maps.me zigzagging through a mountain range — but I did not expect what came next.
The next 2km became moderately difficult climbing over tree trunks, scaling up mini rock walls, crawling under vines, jumping over mounds of leaves and dodging possible snake burrows. Yep, that’s right, snakes! A couple in the hostel told me about the ‘veinte minuto’ snake in Minca — you have 20 minutes to get to a hospital before the venom takes over your body — yikes! Mistake 2: I did not tell anyone where I was. Usually, I am alone on walks and did not think twice on this day. Imagine if I was bitten by this snake alone on the steep climb in the Colombian jungle. Now you know why I was vigilant in watching the ground dodging anything that a snake could potentially live in; or under.
Just as my imagination of being bitten by a snake was taking over my sanity, I heard music coming from what I can only assume was Casa Elemento. I was relieved, even though I knew my screams wouldn’t be heard — I was no longer alone. At the crossroads between Casa Elemento and Los Pinos a man has a little tienda and greets everyone who is walking up the road. He looked at me with confusion wondering where I have come from with a drenched t-shirt and scratches all on me, he thought I was crazy walking up from the waterfall. Mistake 3: My running shorts and shirt were great when I was profusely sweating, but not ideal when rubbing up against flora or potentially facing a deadly snake.
The road to Los Pinos was a nice stroll through a misty and refreshing cloud forest. The adrenaline pumping through my body had exhausted me, I was ready for a rest at Los Pinos to eat some cheese and watch the cloud forest roll through the mountains with fleeting glimpses of Santa Marta.
After a short rest, I started my descent to El Campano — a little town with a few houses and a restaurant on the corner. The police patrolling the area were very friendly when I needed directions. Maps.me displays the main road with the track crossing it, I could see I had to walk straight but I came across a closed gate with a Private Property sign. The police explained that it is closed to cars and I was able to then see an easy passing point for pedestrians on the left of the gate.
I stopped at Sunset Spot for some more cheese and a quick read of my book. This place would be gorgeous at sunset, I guess the name gives that away. I was headed for La Victoria and attempted to take the shortest route on the map, the map showed multiple tracks but there was really only one I could physically see — I didn’t get lost but had to walk the multiple switchbacks I was hoping to avoid. Taking my time to walk down gave me the opportunity to listen to the howler monkeys, which was a new and weird sound for me. It was like a roar from a jaguar or tiger! Of course, my imagination ran wild again, only to scare myself while I was in the middle of the Colombian jungle…alone; great!
I made it to La Victoria which looked like a nice place for some afternoon tea and coffee, but I was nowhere near home and needed to continue if I was going to make sunset. I walked through the warehouse looking building and crossed an adorable little red bridge.
1km further on is the main road where the hike officially finishes and now I am just walking along a pretty boring road. My plan was to walk to Poco Azul for a refreshing swim but I was so far from home and felt dead from walking! After being asked about 10 times by moto-taxis I eventually caved in and got a lift home for a cold shower and rest with a beer on the swinging chairs. I went to Poco Azul the next day after my yoga class. Poco Azul is a beautiful river with multiple waterfalls the I recommend going during the week when it is not crowded with locals sitting in the pools listening to music and drinking rum.
