Why Did We Wait So Long To Come to COLOMBIA (so underrated!!) – Minca & Tatacoa Desert

Why Did We Wait So Long To Come to COLOMBIA (so underrated!!) – Minca & Tatacoa Desert

Continuing on a month long adventure exploring one of the most underrated countries in the world, Colombia. In this episode, we want to show you just how diverse the landscape here can be. From lush green jungles in small local villages to remote, isolated, alien like desert landscape that feels like a fairytale. This is a side of Colombia almost no one talks about and exactly why it deserves so much more attention. Good morning here from the beautiful northern coastline of Colombia, facing the Caribbean ocean. We’re in a town called Santa Marta, which is a small town along the coastline of Caribbean. And today we actually going on an adventure to one of the most underrated region called Minca, with a lot of underrated waterfalls that a lot of people don’t know about. But actually we’ve arrived this town two days ago already. And when we first came here we were genuinely shocked that here in Colombia when you fly domestic, your dogs are allowed to walk onto the flight. It’s like, you know, usually in other country, right? Like you need to put in a small bag and a dog cannot be coming out of the small bag. People cannot see your dog, you always need to hide your dog. But in Colombia it’s so different and first time seeing that. So dog friendly country. I love it. Anyway, this morning we woke up and we have to drop our luggage at the Airbnb Just because today’s adventure actually requires bit of transportation, that luggage might not be that suitable. So that’s why we switch to our mini backpacks. Here inside is probably like 10-15 kg. We are proper backpackers now and we’re going to go on a proper adventure. So we just got off the van and that was quite zigzaggy. I swear there was like a hundred turns of zigzaggy. So we got really busy. But nevertheless, we have arrived this jungle region and I feel like the climate here is slightly cooler than when in town just now. But now we’re just going to walk to accommodation. Everything I want to know, it’s go eat, go home, eat, drink and sleep. This time Justin booked for us Airbnb for two days in this town. I don’t even know how it’s going to look because he didn’t show me. So it’s going to be surprise not only for you guys, but also for me. It’s going to be outdoor camping. We’re going to sleep on a tent on, on someone’s backyard. And I saw the reviews, they said, they said there are not a lot of insects, just a lot of mosquitoes. Wait, what? I’m just kidding. You I trust you. And this one. Wow. Looks like abandoned house. Oh, not this one. Oh. Oh, wow. Okay then. Never mind. This looks good. So just now we leave our things in our Airbnb and turns out it was really good. Airbnb looks so nice, like a Bali vibe. But around here you can see it’s almost like nothing. So now we’re gonna go get our lunch. On the way to Caf. Yeah, we just suddenly saw this guy, he catching mango from this tree. He was just whacking it down. Looks like. Like throughout this town, there are a lot of mango trees around as well. And the locals just can just pick them up. We’ve arrived this cafe and it’s actually called Duni. This restaurant, from what I’m gathering is that mostly they serve vegetarian and vegan options. And we order some like, food for lunch. Avocado toast, smoothie and just an order, falafel. It kind of reminds me of Bali in a way. Like the design and everything is very aesthetic with all the greeneries surrounding the space. We already finished our dinner and just now we’re walking in the town back to our Airbnb and suddenly we saw a lot of bees. Turns out this is mango tree on top of me. And this is a lot of mango just lying down here. Crazy first time seeing so many free mango. There’s so many of already become kind of bad. But see, this one is. This one is still good. Three mango. Amazing. It’s a mango town. Mango paradise town. Should we try it? Bring it home? Okay. In Airbnb, they collect a bunch of mangoes as well. Apparently in the garden there’s mango tree. Wow. Super soft, super sweet. Tastes like normal mango. Yeah. Can you imagine? Just mango from the street. Guys, if you come to this town, don’t forget to pick up a lot of mango. Free mango. So today we’re gonna go to check out one of the waterfalls called Marinka Waterfalls. Some people online also say you can walk there for one hour, which in this weather I don’t think is feasible. So I think we’re gonna take a motorbike taxi. Let’s go. Let’ go wow. Oh, you’re so sticky. Oh, you’re so sweaty. You’re so sticky. See here, local people, even if they study in the school, they drive so big motorbike because the roads here is really tough. Bike to waterfall. Oh, how much? It’s 15 each. 15 each? Yeah. Look at this. So scared. It was so scary. I think you were like, we are paying for a skilled driver. Driving through the very slippery mud road just then. That was crazy. It’s like a roller coaster waterfall named Marinka. Alinka. Marinka. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Wow. I see it. Oh, this is like a point of view. Viewpoint. I mean, point of view. Pov. POV for the waterfall. Wow. Wow. Why no one’s swimming. Wow. You know, so far I feel like I’m very impressed with Colombia just because the landscape here is so diverse. You have all different kinds of nature sceneries. You know, in Colombia, it looks like Bali. I thought like only this kind of nature, this kind of jungle you can find only in Asia. But it’s so surprising, so nice, so peaceful here. So nice to sit here in the middle of jungle. And the waterfall is that loud, so you don’t even hear other people. It’s like you’re completely Alone here. I’m just glad that I get to spend time with you, that’s all. Because sometimes I feel like, you know, when we live in the city, it’s all about hustle and bustle, the speed and also like how we work hard, focus on editing and everything. But the fact that we get to just sit here for one day and enjoy sceneries and have these peacefulness to ourselves. It’s a good memory. Guys, we arrived to our second waterfall. It’s just 100 meters from the first waterfall. And I feel like this is looks much beautiful. And also here’s no one, no one at all. You know, this is the kind of nature when you look at it and you’re just like, wow, Mother Nature. Colombia is so underrated. That’s why he’s not a lot of tourists and nature like this without tourists at all. Justin love Colombia, but Colombia obviously don’t love Justin at all. Every time when we go to forest, he get a lot of bites. Now apart from the waterfall, there’s actually a small nature cafe in the middle of the jungle. So this cafe is actually on the side of waterfall on the left side. Here we are actually looking at the waterfall directly. And there are some hammocks on the side as well. Some people are just sipping on their drink and at the same time also enjoying the view. The special thing here is this kind of hammock that you can sit or lie down and enjoy sunset. Nice sleepy time to sleep. You can leave me here. Leave you here? Good morning. Today we sleep really bad because this room don’t have aircons. So it was super hot when we arrived. But after that we on fan and this morning it has become cold. So we get jacket or blanket. So now our plan is to wake up and go to drink coffee. And after, after that go to beautiful place, nature place. And finally Alina got ready. We left the house and started walking. And then this happened. Guys, just now we walk and some bird poop on. Just. What the. I see this bird. She’s there. You. I don’t know what to do. Well, I need to go home and wash now. Go to cafe. Wash in cafe. No, not showing up, just to cafe. In Russia we’re always saying if bird poop means it’s for luck. That’s an optimistic way of saying it. No, thank you. I’d rather have bad luck. I think sometimes it happen, you know? It’s okay. It’s not okay. Luckily. Not on me. Racist. So we’ve arrived our breakfast place today it’s called Amora Cocina Cafe. It’s a very local cafe just on the side of the road here. And we are having some. Is it called acai or akai bowl which is a very healthy fruit bowl, like a smoothie bowl. And inside apparently there’s a fruit bringing from Brazil. We’ve never tried this fruit but it kind of tastes like a healthy yogurt mixed ice cream. And you can see Justin clean already. He’s lucky. Lucky morning today. Bird poop is really for luck. So you’re gonna get super lucky today. Just now the road was more bumpy than yesterday. I was so crazy. I was so scared. I. I hold like this driver like this. You see the road just now they were passing rocks like this and it’s just like going up like that. It’s like a proper mountain bike. That was so exciting though. Anyway, we have arrived our second waterfall here in Minca and this one looks as promising as the one yesterday. Might even be prettier but a lot more people. Let me show you. So Justin read blog and they said that that you need to arrive to this water pool early in the morning because here will be less people. I feel like everyone read the same blog. Our strategy is reverse psychology. People say come in the morning and we go come late morning. And then now people are actually leaving. So we came at the right time. See the sign there? It says please no poop out of everything. I know, so weird. No, someone like I sit here in poop. It’s so weird. What is this? Wow. There’s just some random chairs facing the waterfall. It’s like we’re in a full cinema watching the waterfall. Welcome to Blue Lagoon. This doesn’t really look like Blue Lagoon but water looks clear. Bye bye. Yeah, Justin’s so brave always. Antarctica. The water here, it’s like Antarctica level. It’s like Titanic when you sink. That’s that kind of freezing temperature. There is one thing Alina is absolutely terrified of. It’s cold. She’s like a cat. It’s ice cold. Go swim. It’ll be better. You get better. So cold. This is so cold I can’t breathe. We spent maybe an hour there just swimming around while enjoying the nature. And that’s the thing about Colombia that most people don’t know. One moment you can be in waterfall hopping like this in a jungle and next second you can be in a desert in the middle of nowhere. Like you’re on a different planet. So that’s why we travel to another town in the heart of Colombia to show you how diverse or Contrast Colombian landscape can be. Good morning here from the beautiful remote quiet town of Vilavieja here in Colombia. This is a very local town with not a lot of tourists around and we’re starting our day strong, spending time in nature because this time we’re staying at a bungalow here surrounded by nature greeneries. And what a way to start the morning, you know, just listening to the birds humming and just wake up to this greenery view. It is so amazing. Now obviously we’re not going to sit around here all day because we’ve got an adventure jam packed itinerary for today to see what Colombia desert looks like. We started the day by hopping on a local tricycle who took us there. So we have arrived what they call the Tatacoa Desert. Apparently this desert right here, you can see it’s like an alien landscape. It doesn’t look like a traditional desert where there is sand, but rather you can see a bunch of red valleys like this with not a lot of greeneries around. This place originally was like a forest full of greeneries, but over millions of years of erosions like you know, water, wind, because the material here is clay and clay itself doesn’t absorb a lot of water. So when rain comes down it just slides on both sides. So gradually you see a lot of triangles like this is because water just slides. And over the years it formed this dreamlike landscape. And the good thing about this place is there is no one here. Yeah, I love that here is not a lot of tourists, almost none alone with this so beautiful background. We’re like in a Mars. Yeah. You can see like the land here is so dry, the clay, it’s so dry that it cracks up and you can actually take the whole piece out. Actually just now I’ve been inside this desert like right there and there was no air completely so, so hard to breathe. Like you in sauna. So beautiful here. It’s like a, just like a Pinterest photo. Amazing. Just wow. When will you ever see landscapes like this? It’s so interesting because at some parts you can see closer to the bottom of these valleys. The soil itself is very soft. So that’s why I was explaining, you know, the water runs down from the top of this hill and then it forms these narrow gullies and it slides down to this floor. So it’s quite muddy here. But on top you can see it’s so dry that it can crack up. And the craziest thing is I’m here all by myself without anyone obstructing the view. And of course in the desert we have cactus. And you can see even the branches are so spikey. And because of the dry climate here, you can see a lot of species like cactus has adapt the environment here, which is very suitable for growing because they trap a lot of water inside. I’m honestly first time in my life seeing this kind of cactus in real desert. Usually only inside some kind of botanic garden. Oh, cactus you can eat. Really? Wow. He just pick up the cactus from this one. You can see it’s a flower here and he eat it. You want to try? Yeah, go for it. Okay. I’m scared. Wow, looks so juicy inside. Is it tasty? Yeah, it’s like dragon fruit. Yeah, like dragon fruit. Oh, I want to try. I want to try. I want to try. I want to try. Inside a lot of small seeds. It tastes like a sour dragon fruit mix. Passion fruit. Wow. So interesting. It’s like a pink chili. See, this looks very interesting and suspicious. This is a kind of fruit that is going to get you into hospital. But wow, so sour. So very appetizing. Cactus in real cactus. Yeah. In real desert in Colombia. Bucket list ticked. Trust me, the weather here actually is way hotter than it looks like on your side screen and that really drains your energy. So we decided to head back to our bungalow and rest up a bit. And after that, we’re going to walk around the local town that we are staying at and show you what local village life looks like so that tomorrow morning we could go to the great desert with full energy. So this night today we spend in this tiny bungalow. Let’s go, I’ll show you. So we sleep here. I sleep here. Justin sleep here. It’s a super small and cozy bungalow. I usually love to spend time in bungalow. And this, this reminds me a lot of Bali. So this bungalow have toilet outside. And here don’t have hot shower. Super wild experience. When I’m inside this hammock, I feel like, you know when you’re young and your mother put you to some small bed and do like this. Yeah. And you immediately feel asleep. I feel like this. No, we go. That’s it. So nice here. Oh, yes, do like this. Why do I feel like I’m going to the doctors? Like, show me your tongue. So we actually rested up a little bit back at the hotel. Just because here in Tatacoa desert the temperature can actually get up to 40 degrees in summertime it is really hot. And in this town right now it’s actually winter, but it’s still around 30 degrees. Anyway, we thought now the weather has slightly become colder. So we’re gonna just show you around this town and show you what it’s like to live in a village here in Colombia. Villavieja is a tiny, small village town where everyone seemed to know each other. Since there are only about 1,700 people who live there, There aren’t many cafes or restaurants for tourists, so the prices are surprisingly high, around 15 to $20 per person. Even more than in bigger cities, simply because the locals, they don’t normally dine out at restaurants. And the tourists are left with not many options. During the day, the town feels almost like a ghost town. Everyone hides indoor from the heat and only come out in the evening when it cools down. That being said, we felt completely safe walking around, but sadly we didn’t get a chat with many locals since they don’t really speak English and we don’t speak Spanish that much. And the Internet is not really working half the time for translation. But we did make a new friend, this street dog here that just kept following us around all afternoon no matter where we go. Oh, and one thing we wish we know are these tiny little insects called no see um, they’re super tiny that you won’t even notice them at all. They are super annoying. Like, I mean, look at my legs. We got absolutely eaten alive. Like I’m some kind of international delicacy for these insects. And here we still didn’t know that. Their bites are super itchy, even more than mosquitoes. And the worst part is that regular mosquito sprays, they don’t work. We have arrived what they call the valley of the ghost, the grey desert, because I don’t know if it’s because there’s absolutely no one here. Or maybe the subtle grey color that surrounds these canyons gives the impression of like a ghost ghost town. So now you’re probably wondering why is this desert here? Millions of years ago, this land was under the sea. But because of climate change and water slow disappeared. The ocean floor was left behind to dry and baked under the sun. But unlike the nearby red desert, it is not rich in iron, but instead it was made of light colored clay and limestone. Then over time, wind and rain slowly transformed the land into this strange grayish colored ghost like canyons that looks more like a surface of the moon than a desert in Colombia. You know, being here makes me feel like I’m in a movie set or something. Feels like I’m in Alice in Wonderland or even, you know, Narnia. It feels like it is a very unrealistic landscape that doesn’t exist in real life. But in reality, if you look at this, it’s actually just weathering water coming up from the top go from both sides. And that’s why you’d see all these like gullies formed and formed this unique landscape. Some people even call this place the valley of the ghost. And honestly it makes a lot of sense when you see it in person. The canyon walls actually looks like these classic Halloween ghosts with white sheets. You can probably imagine at night it would feel a little bit trippy, like they’re all watching you. So that’s probably how it got its name. See it really looks like so many ghosts here. Like they covering with blankets and like woo. It is even prettier than yesterday. The red desert. I like the gray desert more I can say here is more calm and peaceful to walk inside. And it’s not too hot like yesterday. Apparently here somewhere in the middle should be a big huge swimming pool. And we want to find it. But we read in Internet that people saying it’s actually super dirty. So they not recommend to swim there. But I want to see my own eyes. Maybe they clean it this time. Every time I trust Alina, we go the wrong way. If he likes that way. No. Does he hear feet? No. How do you know it’s feet? Maybe it’s just mud, I don’t know. Where are the shoe marks? You see? Well, guess what? We didn’t find the exit, but we found a goat in the middle of desert. Ah, looks like that’s a sign to the swimming pool. That’s a trick. You walk so sweaty. And after that they lure you into a swimming pool. That’s true. Pay a fee. Moment of truth. Let’s see. Is it. Oh, people swimming? Actually yeah. Looks I guess looks good. I think it’s nice place to swim. Looks super clean. Testing water. Wow. Water is so nice for swimming. Oh yeah. I’m regret that we didn’t bring swimming dress. This looks super clean and I’m happy to go and swim. But we didn’t bring swimming dress. I could just go home and take a cold shower. It’s the same thing. No. So nice. No swimming in the middle of desert. Look at this. I was actually told the water here is actually from the reserve of the local town. So that’s why the local people are not very happy about it. Because you know, using up their water for so simple. Like that’s one thing. Why. Why we chose not to swim here? I chose not to swim here. I’ll swim if I have swimming dress. Colombia for me before, it was something like, unbelievable. Something super far away way. It’s like a space, you know, going to space. And now we’re here. And the nature in Colombia, it’s super beautiful. Yeah. I just feel like Colombia had such a bad reputation and I really hope that more people come to this country just because there’s so many hidden gems that no one knows about. So underrated. I think that’s it for this episode. I hope you’ve enjoyed this peaceful adventure. And if you like this episode, make sure to give us a like and comment. Comment End means a lot. And we’ll always reply to your comments. See you guys next time. See you guys next episode.

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Colombia surprises us in every possible way. How can one country have such a diverse landscape, from Minca’s hidden waterfalls surrounded by lush green jungle to the remote, alien-like Tatacoa Desert and the surreal Grey Desert of Villavieja? Join us as we show you the untold side of Colombia, and why it’s one of the most underrated countries in the world to visit.

📍 Places Featured in Minca:
1. Marinka Waterfalls (the more lowkey one)
https://maps.app.goo.gl/c9oKjhpRXYZHz7T66

2. Pozo Azul: Blue Lagoon
https://maps.app.goo.gl/uZkjF49CVei5SNBf7

3. Duni Cafe
https://maps.app.goo.gl/k38nS7FsUsKaohMB6

4. Amora Cocina Saludable (delicious Acai Bowl)
https://maps.app.goo.gl/dSfGbsaL25uCNoGX6

📍 Places Featured in Tatacoa Desert:
1. Nature Bungalow: Avani del desierto
https://agoda.tpk.lu/HhMsVzJY

2. The town that we are staying at (Villavieja):
https://maps.app.goo.gl/HZkD6q7XTtcG7wmL8

3. Tatacoa Desert:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/kgxgrEwarTaS4oGW7

4. Grey Desert:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/iEMvQCaYLmEXuRwDA

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About us:
We are Justin and Alina, a travel couple from Hong Kong and Russia. We first met on Tinder in Bali, fell in love and began our travel adventures around the world together. Now, we are chasing our dreams as full-time travel vloggers to inspire others to chase their dreams, step out of their comfort zones, and travel more!

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