We arrive in Cartagena the day Colombia elects Juan Manuel Santos in the 2010 election. The event translates into a closed DIAN (customs) office and means offloading the bikes will wait. To pass the time I head to Casa Mara with a few of my Stahlratte shipmates to wage war on some cuba libres, a great drink if sloppy drunks and sugar highs appeal to you. We collect the bikes from the ship a couple days later and after a few attempts John’s 12GS bump starts to life. Unfortunately the DIAN folks don’t like that we took John’s bike to a shop prior to coming to the aduana so our paperwork is delayed another day. I spend the remaining days walking off my hangovers in the humid Caribbean air of the walled city as I take in the sights. In a fit of sobriety I escape the siren song of Cartagena and point the bike toward Medellin.
