Today is the day we first set foot in South America! After a quick breakfast on deck of cornflakes and porridge, it was time to start offloading the bikes. Offloading was similar to loading, with the sketchy winch-mast setup and a couple guys in a small boat to catch it. The other travellers on the boat were able to help us too, because the passports weren't ready yet so they weren't allowed to enter the country. One bike at a time, with only a few minor mishaps, we got them all to shore. By then the passports were ready and everyone came to shore. We said our goodbyes and headed on our way. To import the bikes, we had to meet at customs at 2pm. Until then, we were free to go to the hostel, have a shower etc, and enjoy all the other benefits of dry land. After a bit of a strange route, we made our way to Mamallena Cartagena and set up camp. After making ourselves at home, it was time for customs. This time at customs was pretty easy: a bunch of sitting around in an air conditioned room waiting for buddy to finish typing away on his computer. A couple photocopies and an inspection later and we were legally in Colombia! Next stop was the car wash next door... Salt isn't too friendly to motorcycles. The Lithuanians opted for only a rinse, but we went all out and got the whole soap scrub treatment. With clean, legal bikes, we did what we do best - went to the hostel and cracked into the cervezas. The restaurant across the street had some sports channels so we went to check out if they had the Blue Jays game on... Success! We saw them head to victory and move to the ALCS. After that, we were just hanging out at the hostel when we saw the Swiss and Texan bikers we had met a couple times before! Them, and some other bikers, had come across to Colombia on a different sailboat called the Stahlratte. Five of them were still in town, so we all sat down and had a few drinks together. We heard the inside scoop on the Stahlratte, and shared the details of our sailing voyage, then called it a night. Good to see so many other bikers doing such a similar trip!
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