After arriving a few days ago, we’ve finally settled into our newest long-stay Airbnb in Taganga Colombia! This small fishing village is a real departure from the large cities and towns we’ve stayed in over the last four months. But we think it is just the tonic we need after living in the bustle of the city for so long.
So how did we get to Taganga Colombia and how do we like our new home? Let’s find out!
Getting From Medellin to Taganga Colombia
Actually, it was a pretty straightforward travel day, but not without its little quirks!
On December 27 we were picked up at our Medellin Airbnb at 11 am (our mandatory checkout time) by our chartered shuttle ($90,000 COP/$19.03 USD including tip) and were whisked away to Jose Maria Cordova International Airport without any issue…is what I would like to say.
But there were some harrowing moments during the ride!
Our shuttle was super comfy and the driver was very kind and professional. And we were the only passengers! But at about the halfway point of our 25-kilometer ride, we started having engine problems. From the sounds that were being made in the engine compartment, I suspect an engine vacuum hose became detached and caused the shuttle to start having all sorts of performance problems.
ALL the check engine lights came on!
The driver called his company, and apparently, it was decided that it was OK to continue limping to the airport at 50% engine power. Thank goodness the speed limit on the toll road we were taking was not very high!
We ended up white-knuckling it to the airport without issue, arriving at the airport only about 10 minutes later than normal. No big deal considering our flight was scheduled to depart at 5 pm.
We opted not to check any luggage as the lines were extremely long and made our way through the domestic departure security gate.
Jose Maria Cordova International Airport was quite busy!
Thankfully the lines at domestic departure security were not long at all.
But there were issues.
Rhonda made it through unscathed. But after six months of successfully traveling with them in my luggage, airport security confiscated my resistance band handles (affiliate link) because they could be considered deadly weapons.
Security was actually very apologetic and they even asked their supervisor if an exception could be made. But to no avail. I guess I’ll have to exercise without them for the foreseeable future.
Irritating, but in the whole scheme of things, a minor setback.
So we consoled ourselves by checking into the VIP Avianca Lounge Medellín to wait for 4 hours until our flight boarded. Luckily, we were able to use our Capital One Venture Card (affiliate link) to score two free lounge passes. So at least we were able to spend the time in relative comfort.
We had almost the entire place to ourselves!
We scored the comfiest chairs!
The free food, drinks, and Wifi were greatly appreciated.
Sadly, it was too early to get free cocktails at the food/drink bar.
I actually got quite a bit of work done!
The 4 hours went by very quickly in this environment, but eventually, we had to leave our cocoon and mingle with the peasants.
This is where we would have waited if we didn’t use the lounge pass perk on our Capital One Venture Card!
We were flying from Medellin to the Simón Bolívar International Airport in Santa Marta, Colombia by LATAM Airlines, the closest airport to Taganga. The cost for two tickets was $156.80 USD.
If you want the Capital One Venture Rewards card and want to simultaneously support Two Travel Turtles, it would be great if you used the affiliate link above to apply! Two Travel Turtles get a handful of travel points as a kickback, at no cost to you, which helps support our travels. Much appreciated!
Our flight departed and landed without issue, and we definitely noticed the extra 3 centimeters of legroom and seat padding! It felt luxurious compared to the budget airlines we had been taking up to this point, even though we knew LATAMAirlines was nothing special.
Beautiful view during the flight!
We landed at Simón Bolívar International Airport in Santa Marta, Colombia at 6 pm. We then hired a taxi to take us on the 45-minute journey from the airport to our Airbnb in Taganga Colombia ($55,000 COP/$11.62 USD with tip).
Our Airbnb host Jose met us, checked us into our apartment, and we could finally relax!
Let us show you around the place.
Welcome to Our New Apartment
Disclaimer: We booked this Airbnb knowing that it was likely going to be a diamond in the rough. And it is! But for Two Travel Turtles, this was a very good thing. Lots of value in this place, considering how expensive the hostels are around here, many of which are less private and less well equipped. This was a fairly new listing, but the host had an extensive record as a Superhost at his other property, so we decided to roll the dice and give this place a chance.
Our apartment is in a building deep in the part of Taganga frequented by locals but is only a 500-meter walk to the shore.
We live at the end of this street furthest from the shore. Only 500 meters away!
There are two other apartments in our building, each inhabited by locals. Each apartment is on its own floor, with ours at ground level.
Our kitchen is actually a new installation with a new refrigerator! But a couple of kitchen essentials were missing (spatula & bottle opener), so we’ll likely purchase those. Stuff like that is cheap, so we don’t usually bother Airbnb hosts with those requests.
Entering the kitchen area and turning 180 degrees, you see our dining/TV area. The table is fine, as are the white plastic chairs. The metal chairs, however, were deathtraps. We repurposed them into bed nightstands.
We have extensive experience with camping, so the furniture quality was no big deal to us. Especially considering how much we paid (see below).
Moving into the bathroom, it is also well-appointed. Like the kitchen, it is a relatively new installation! But the shower is cold water only. This sounds horrible, but it gets hot and humid in Taganga Colombia (highs of 91 degrees F/32 degrees C), so the shower actually feels quite good.
Next to the dining room, the bedroom space is spartan but functional. And it has a NEW AIR CONDITIONER installed, as well as reasonable shelving space for our luggage.
The air conditioning is actually a huge deal, as many rooms for rent in Taganga do not have that luxury. And in places 3 – 4 times the price.
And we have our own private back patio area as well. We will be using this area to air dry our laundry, but not much else.
So for all of this including utilities, we are paying $15.65/night (with 27% long stay discount)!
This also includes access to the shared building internet, which is pretty slow. At 2 – 3 Mbps download speeds, we can’t do much internet-intensive computing. Although surprisingly, YouTube streams quite well on our devices. I’m even writing this blog, including image processing, without too much of a hassle.
I checked the prices of private double rooms (with a private bathroom) in local hostels, and at this time of year, prices are ~$50/night or more! And most do not include air conditioning at that price.
So for us this place really is a steal, considering how easy it is to access the shoreline from anywhere in Taganga.
The sunsets here are pretty spectacular!
Until next time…
Thanks for reading!
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3 thoughts on “Moving Day – Our Airbnb in Taganga Colombia”
Yay, YouTube, and its clever low-bandwidth tricks. Videos can be surprisingly watchable at 480p resolution.
This place definitely looks a bit more rustic than the previous locations. Still, near the beach, that’s awesome.
Very rustic. Touristy in very concentrated areas, but those areas are limited to the shoreline.
I think I’d like Playa Grande too!