Day 41 Cartagena

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International borders crossed: 1

Today we finally left Panama City and flew to Cartagena, Colombia. This is the first time in over 5 weeks that we cross a border through an airport, rather on land with a motorcycle. The difference in the time it took to clear immigration and customs is significant. It took Zoe and me a mere 10 min to enter Colombia at the Cartagena airport earlier today. In contrast, Central American border crossings with a motorcycle have taken 3+ hours each, not to mention the 3,5 days we needed just to get the motorcycle out of Panama. In Cartagena we have opted to stay in the so called Zona Hotelera, which is the strip of hotels in front of the Caribbean coast next to the historic Cartagena center. We plan to stay here for the next 3 days, until the container with our motorcycle arrives from Panama on Monday.

The city of Cartagena was founded just a few decades after the conquistadors arrived in the Americas. As such, Cartagena can claim to be one the very oldest cities in all of the American continents. One of the main attractions in Cartagena is its historic city center, which is surrounded by a sturdy wall to protect against pirates and other annoying forces that were constantly present in the waters around the city during the 16^th, and 17^th century. Cartagena's colonial city center and fortress become a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984.



In the coming days, we also plan to visit the fortress of Castillo San Felipe de Barajas, which is the largest fortress ever built by the Spaniards in all of their colonies. It is said that the tunnels of the fortress were built in such a way as to make it possible to hear footsteps of the enemy as they would approach. We also hope to be able to spend a few days on the beautiful and very accessible beach just across the street from our hotel, before we embark on the remaining 8,000 miles / 13,000 km of adventure motorcycle riding. Something tells me that we will fondly remember these beaches when we are at the high altitude Bolivian plateau towards the end of July!

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