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Unexpectedly my last day in Monteria was very much fun!

As soon as I dropped my luggage to the hotel concierge, I went for a walk back to the marvelous linear park Ronda del Sur determined to meet the Monos (monkeys)!

I walk through the park for almost an hour with my head up towards the tall trees but nothing.. no monos! I did not give up and started to ask local whether they could see them or it was not really the right period and I’ve finally met a nice fella who offered to drop me to the perfect spot to see the Monos.

Meantime we were walking I’ve managed to meet more Iguanas and I was almost stepping onto one of them actually… you got to be very careful!) and I suddenly was in the right spot, just 10 meters away from the big Iguana monument.

My new friend spotted soon one of them up on a tree quite far away (good sight, yes) and started to call the monkey but clearly, the monkey could not be bothered. So I have thought we could try with some food and I luckily got some biscuits on my backpack. I’ve pulled them out and we’ve started to call the monkey holding the biscuit.

It was the right move! The monkey took 10 seconds to come down towards us and in a flash grabbed the biscuit.. that was quick, wasn’t it?

The good thing is that in less than 1 minutes all the rest of the monkeys’ band, started to walk down on the trees curious to check who was feeding their friend! That was a nice catch as I could then feed myself the monkeys and even gently touch them.

I have felt like a kiddo in a candy shop: I’ve got to admit that I kept my excitement for so long, the whole afternoon! Hey, you do not generally feed monkey in your city, right???

I hope you can enjoy the video though, as much I did enjoy the moment.

The fun did not stop there: I have met a girl on a city bike and asked her for info: funny enough there was a bike spot right in the park and we (meantime my dear friend Louis reached me) went to get  2 bikes.

INFO TO GET THE CITY BIKE IN MONTERIA WITH “BISINU”

What you need is to find a spot (around 12 in the whole city) and show your identity document, a passport will do the job. You also need to fill the registration form on their website Biciudad , it takes literally 1 minute.

Then you can get your bike for as much as you like and the very good part is: THE BIKE IS FREE! yes, you get it, you do not have to pay a penny for it. How cool is this?? Thumbs up for Monteria!

Louis, who did not know about the bike plan until I’ve met him and literally dragged him to get the bikes, was eventually very pleased to get on the bike and to be the perfect bike guide: we got a real good time to cycle for the whole park.

But the fun has to come to an end.. and the end of my day was at Terminal bus of Monteria where I got on my night bus Expreso Brasilia to Medellin.

MONTERIA: tips and info

Public Transport: you can grab bus from 1900 to 2200 COP, they have many routes showed on the windscreen and they stopped if you wave them everywhere

Bike service: free of charge, do not forget your passport and the registration

Taxi service: for almost all the route the cab driver should not ask you more than 6000 COP

Where to eat: is a very small town, and you can find many restaurants on the calle 41, and also Fonda ( a private house that will cook homemade food for you) in every street. I really suggest you one Fonda in particular, CR 2 #39, the owner of the house will host you in her open space garage with tables and seats and fun, and amazing home made food.

Where to go out in the evening: drop a visit to some bar at Avenida 1, not many so you will easily sit down and get a nice drink or a refreshing Cerveza

Where to jog in the morning or night (as otherwise too hot): definitely by the river path either the Ronda park or the northern part of the city.

Bus to move to other cities: Terminal Bus Monteria, better to reach there with a taxi. It is only one and quite small, with all the agency each other, so you can keep and choose the right for you. In the terminal, you will find also restaurants, fast food and bars.

Is the town dangerous?: No, it is not and you can get your accommodation wherever you prefer with no issue. Of course, keep some common sense you would use in a city that is not yours most of all in late hours.

Where to sleep: I stayed at Hotel Casa Dorada in the center and 2 blocks from the park. I really liked it. Close by you will find many other hotels option if you want to be central. I also suggest calle 41.

ON THE WAY TO MEDELLIN

The journey to Medellin was actually more pleasant than I’ve expected: first of all Expreso Brasilia offer a good kind of vehicle, and the Premium version gives you also high standard facilities.

The bus offered:

Reclinable and very comfortable seat, with a very large legroom

Toilet

WIFI

Digital tablet on each seat with full entertainment *like you might get it on some plane

Complimentary snack and drink

Well, I guess you cannot ask for more right?

The cost of the ticket was 80000 COP, and you can easily buy the ticket at the terminal and choose your seat.

I actually suggest purchasing the ticket at the terminal as, most of all in low season, all the other company might not have sold all their seats and they might also offer the ride for a cheaper price! Up to you, either you can book it on their website.

Little issue with Brasilia is you cannot purchase the ticket online with a No Colombian card, but you can actually do it with another company called Rapido Ochoa.

Rapido Ochoa has the same quality of Brasilia, maybe slightly more expensive and run many routes in Colombia.

I recommend both of them, for the long journeys through Colombia, but bear in mind that not all the bus of Brasilia offer WIFI, only the Premium category.

You can also visit this website you find more rides through Colombia and different prices : Pinbus 

My night journey went down very well, although the road from Monteria to Medellin is not the one of the easiest and if you can, grab a middle seat as the further on the bus you sit the more you can feel the road.

Here I am now in Medellin: a very big city which I am sure will offer me many new adventures, so.. do not stop to follow me 🙂

Mari