After our epic travel, we have finally arrived in Cartagena, Colombia. This amazing town of about a million people is on the north coast of Colombia, so technically fronting the Atlantic Ocean or Carribean Sea, so the weather is warm and humid at about 32 degrees, which is apparently "cool" compared to the 41 degrees that last years' team experienced. Our ride-in was straight forward on the good roads of Colombia, but we took a little detour via the port coming into the city to avoid the more hectic traffic. It was still busy and required some careful navigation and car-avoidance. We were also conserving fuel, so as to have as little as possible in the bike tanks, for the shipping back to Australia.
Cartagena was founded by the Spanish in 1533, via Pedro de Heredia as it sat between two important rivers, the Magdalena and Sinu. Indigenous people lived here from 4000 BC and the most comprehensive records and artifacts from that period have been found here, when compared to other parts of South America for the same period. Cartagena rapidly became the principal port out of which the Spanish shipped their stolen goods, particularly gold but it was also the main incoming port for slaves from Africa, who were used by the Spanish in mining (such as for silver at Potosi) and other areas across South America. As a result it was highly fortified and withstood sustained attacks by the Dutch, French and British at different times, all without success. It gained its independence from the Spanish in 1819 and had its 491'th anniversary party last night on 1 June.
Cartagena is a walled city, and also includes a substantial fort, both recognised by UNESCO as key historic sites. In addition, there are many other Spanish buildings remaining such as churches and a cathedral. The old town is beautifully classic, with narrow streets and wonderful shops and buildings. We are staying for two nights at a Wyndam Hotel slightly out of town, but will move closer to a Hyatt Hotel for three more nights to rest and relax.
On the second day, I took my bike to a Lavandaria to get it meticulously cleaned, so that it can be accepted back into Australia after it is shipped out of Cartagena after Tuesday. This cleaning was good but not acceptional so I have a little more to do. We also re-packed everything to reduce our load. Some of it will go in to the small panniers on the bike, and some will be given away to JC and Willy. This lot includes 100 litres of bike clothes, boots and my helmet, all of which have suffered considerably over the last 24,000 kilometres. Sheryle also wanted to get some pants altered as we have both lost weight, and we found a cute "souk" or alley way, with lots of local artisans including a seamstress who did an amazing job on her trousers with no pinning or measurement, just sighting them on Sheryle.
On Tuesday I will take my bike to the Port and go through all the paperwork for it to be exported, while Sheryle took a walking tour. That will be the actual final end of the trip for me, emotionally. On one hand I will be glad its over, but on the other, I could continue riding and exploring all over South America for many more months (or though that is unlikely to ever happen as we are heading to other places with a little luck).
After our five day break here, Sheryle and I will fly north to Panama City, then to Costa Rica then to the Cayman Islands for some diving. After that we will go to NYC to see Sian and John plus Alex and Hannah too, and that should be quite a couple of weeks. We will be back in Australia on 1 July 2024.
