Day 512 – Santa Marta to Barranquilla
Today was our last day in Santa Marta. As we were having breakfast, the hostel’s staff found my travel towel! With the stolen phone, I had forgotten about my missing towel.
We had some food delivered to the hostel for lunch before we caught a taxi to the Santa Marta’s Bus Terminal.
At the terminal, we asked around and went with the company Transportes la Costena. They basically had the next bus to depart. Our bus, which was more a mini bus, left at 2.30pm with only 2 other passengers. 5 minutes later, the bus stopped on the side of the road. A whole bunch of locals got on here. There were people standing by the time we left.
The 100km journey took longer than we were expecting, as the bus kept stopping to load and unload both people and goods. There was also a lot of traffic.
Some of the slums we drove past, concentrated around what looked like mangroves 
Barranquilla
We arrived at the Barranquilla Bus Terminal at 5.30pm. From the terminal, we caught a taxi with a friendly driver, who was very talkative (in Spanish). The journey was very slow as it was bumper to bumper traffic for most of the way. As we were a few kilometres away from the hotel, the taxi’s engine died.
At first, we had concerns about the area we had stopped in, but it was deserted. It appeared to be a blown fuse and looking at the driver’s fuse collection, this was something he was used to. Luckily, we had come to Barranquilla to visit a cousin, who lived here. He ended up collecting us in a different taxi.
The original driver had contacted a friend to come help him, so we paid him and left with my cousin.
We were staying at the very nice Wyndham Garden Barranquilla. It was super expensive compared to the normal places we stayed at, but my cousin had told us to find accommodation in this area. We quickly settled into the room and went out for dinner.
A very nice luxurious room at the Wyndham Garden Barranquilla hotel
The streets of Barranquilla were very nice and we definitely got a big city vibe. Apparently the area we were in was very safe, but not all parts of the city are this safe.
We ended up visiting Porthos Steakhouse and Pub for dinner at Viva Centro Comercial, which is a shopping centre. This shopping centre has a very nice top level with beautifully decorated restaurants. They really go all out in the decorating department here. It was amazing to catch up with my cousin, who I had not seen in over 15 years. Out of all the places in the world to see him, I would have never thought it would be in Colombia.
Travelled January 2020
Main Expenses
- Lunch – Color Hostel Food Delivery – 30,000 COP (~$12 AUD)
- Taxi – Color Hostel to Santa Marta Bus Terminal – 9,000 COP (~$4 AUD)
- Bus – Santa Marta Bus Terminal to Barranquilla Bus Terminal with Transportes la Costena – 12,000 COP (~$5 AUD) per person
- Taxi – Barranquilla Bus Terminal to Wyndham Garden Barranquilla – 20,000 COP (~$8 AUD)