20th September 2018
Our original plan was to bus it from Minca to Santa Marta, Santa Marta to Medellin. We'd heard a lot about how miserable the overnight buses were, so were easily swayed to check out the flight options. More info on that later.
We, reluctantly, left Minca… but not before going for lunch at the Lazy Cat for a veggie stir fry. It was crammed with veg and sooooo tasty. *Recommendation!* We also had a great time with the locals: a crowd of skittish iguanas.
We got a Collectivo from Minca, which was, heartbreakingly, next door to Jungle Joe’s place. We didn't have to wait long before we were in a minibus being hurtled round the hairpin bends back to Santa Marta. Holy shit, did we miss the mototaxis. TAKE TRAVEL SICKNESS TABLETS and plenty of water, as returning to the city was like breaking through a wall of pollution. Our lungs were stinging. Oh Minca and your delicious fresh air!! We hopped off the bus, got our bearings in the vegetable aisle of a supermarket, then walked to the next bus stop to take us to the airport...
By now you will have realised, we decided to fly to Medellin. People we'd met previously had said flying was a pretty cheap option, and it was, until you add the cost of additional baggage. Our flights came to £65 each. (Totes worth it… there was no way we'd have got on a 15 hour bus the way we'd felt after that 20 minute one. Ew. Update March 2019: We definitely should have bussed it. I think we were just nervous as it would have been our first overnight bus in South America!).
Our flight was with VivaAir, and we had read a lot about the airline being sneaky and adding fees here and there, so we were prepared for the additional 33,000 COP on checking in our bags. Naughty. However, the flight wasn't as uncomfortable as we'd anticipated, but it was only an hour.
We then got in a white taxi from Medellin airport, 80,000 COP, and snaked up the mountains before descended into Medellin, the sight of which was incredible: at night, the city is like a gigantic bowl of fireflies.
We showed the taxi driver our hostel address once, a mere set of numbers, and one hour later were were outside the door...
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