It was another 740 kms (445 miles) from Medellin to Cartagena. After having said goodbye to Dennis, it was time to start on those last kilometers in South America.

After a few hard days with a lot of climbing it became a lot easier. The mountains turned into hills and there even were flat parts. And we returned to the enormous tropical heat.

During the first flat part we had the feeling that we were cycling at home again; flat, dairyfarm land with some trees and grazing cows.

The scenery was beautiful over there too; first mountainous and then tropical again with tropical plants, trees, animals and heat.

We saw some very large iguanas, right beside the road.

And many snakes, but sadly they had all been killed by traffic. The flat parts were (dairy) farmland and swamps, there was water everywhere.

We hit the Caribbean coast in the little town of Coveñas. The last coast we saw was in Chili, apart from the small pieces of sad looking coast in Peru, and now we finally saw a beautiful blue sea and white sandy beaches again. A few kilometers further lies the town of Tolú, where we enjoyed sunshine, sea and beach for a few days before we started the very last 180 kms (108 miles) to Cartagena.

In Tolú public transportation is executed by bike cabs. Some have little umbrellas, some have roofs and some have music. It was fun to watch them.

We cycled to Cartagena in 2 days and we were interrupted by tropical downpoors twice. After a last little climb, we could see the city beneath us. We were really there! The whole trip, Cartagena always seemed so far away, even from Medellin. But after 10,5 months and 12.270 kms (7360 miles) this really was the end of part one of our trip; South America.

Cartagena welcomed us with a blasting and spectacular thunderstorm and we celebrated that we made it with some wine/beer and tapas.

Cartagena is an old city and was founded in the 16th century. It was an important harbor and  was attacked by pirates multiple times. To protect it from the pirates, a big wall and some forts were built around the city. That part is the current old town with colonial buildings and narrow streets.

Tommorrow, November 5th, we will leave Cartagena, and therefore South America. We’ll cross to Panama on a sailing vessel.The bikes were brought to the ship this evening.

That also is a short vacation because we will stay at the San Blas Islands for a few days to do some snorkeling, bbq-ing and enjoy pristine white beaches.

Cycling through Colombia was absolutely great; the scenery is beautiful and the people are very open, friendly, nice and helpful. We sometimes felt like the King and Queen; we cycled through the country waving, returning ‘thumbs up’ and answering (the same) questions. There are a few countries where we liked being, but Colombia is the first country where we really enjoyed being and would have liked to stay longer.