As we got closer to the Colombian coast the waters finally calmed down and we could see the lights of Cartagena just as the sun set. Early the next morning the boat’s crew started unloading the bikes at a nearby dock until the workers decided to stop the process because some of the papers where not in order. After about half an hour, a lot of discussions and a couple of phone calls the situation finally got resolved. Our bikes were on land now but the Boat’s agent did not show with our documents as promised. Instead we had to drive through Cartagena to get to the customs office without insurance, passports or having officially immigrated to Colombia yet. 6 hours later after waiting around for the agent outside the customs office, our bikes and us were finally official registered and ready to roll!
After a couple of days in Cartagena we headed off east together with George to visit Minca, a small village which lies in the hills above Santa Marta and has a lovely climate – a nice change after hot and sticky Central America. The next morning we took all the bags off the bikes and set off for the trails that head into the mountains. Since there had been a lot of rain in the week before the ground was soft and muddy which made for fun riding. After crossing a few landslides the trail changed from mud to rocks. It took us 4 hours to cover the 20 kilometers to the top of the mountain and we started the slippery descent back to town.
Heading south we stayed in the lovely highland town of Zapatoca where George and Flo got a stomach bug. Lucky for them our host provided a killer chicken soup and even went to the pharmacy with Kate to get drugs. Timely for the first light-up of the Christmas lights on the main square the two were up and running again – and swore to stay away from roadside chicken skewers for the next couple of weeks or so.
The following days onwards led through amazing mountain scenery, ending up in small beautiful highland villages from Guadalupe on to Villa de Leyva. From there the plan was to head west direction Medellin.
