The last 3 months in Central America have been great but it's time for something new...South America is calling.

We have become very used to our comfy bed and it was a struggle knowing we were getting out for the very last time, especially when we were awake earlier than normal. After a quick shower, David went down to the bakery next door to the hotel and bought breakfast. The girl in the bakery knew the order by now - 2 croissants, 1empanada and 2 coffees to go. This was probably the best bakery in Central America and will be missed.

We took a shuttle, instead of the metro and the bus, from the hotel to Tocumen International Airport. We decided before we started the whole adventure that we would always make sure we were in good time for flights. In the city, our driver skillfully avoided the commuter traffic by taking a few back streets towards the main highway and then it was a clear run to the airport.

We arrived in plenty of time, we checked in our bags (David's now weighs 18kg and Maria's only 12kg - doesn't seem right!!) and went off looking for the gate. There was no where to get an visa exit stamp in our passport which caused us a bit of concern until we were advised there are no exit stamps when leaving by air. We actually looked through our passports to check that even New Zealand doesn't put an exit stamp in your passport, we felt a bit better after that.

The plane was late in boarding but once comfortably seated, David was quickly moved. We had exit row seats and it's a rule of the airline that you must be able to speak fluently in the local language. David moved to the row behind so we both had window seats so not a bad thing.

It was a really quick 50 minute flight, no sooner had a sandwich and drink been served by the cabin crew, the plane started its descent into Colombia.

On the ground, it was one of the most painless immigration procedures - "What is your profession?" and "Why are you here?". Nothing about how much money we have or onward travel, he just stamped our passports for 90 days and we were on on way.

The taxi ride to our our accommodation was a bit more entertaining. The driver wasn't exactly sure where Patio de San Diego was and neither were we. We had a rough idea and pointed vaguely on a map of Cartagena's old town, the driver probably had sight issues or maybe couldn't read either maps or words. We headed off in the right direction anyway and he was actually a very nice guy who chatted the whole way. Once we entered the walls of the old town, it got way more interesting. The old town is like a rabbit's warren of very narrow streets that are, because of their size, all one way. Maria had to navigate because the driver didn't speak English and wouldn't have understood David, to a place we thought was correct. We were inching along the streets much to the frustration of the following cars but we made it first time, to the relief of everyone.

Our room is not much bigger than the bathroom we had in Panama City, and we're paying about the same price even though this is one of the cheaper places to stay. The bed is OK, it has AC and a TV so I guess we shouldn't complain.

We took an aimless wander through the town in the afternoon. The plan was to do the sightseeing thing tomorrow but we managed to get round most of the western part today. The streets are pretty much the same in the whole town over, brightly coloured colonial style buildings with wooden bars over windows and balconies with colourful flowers.

The sky was dark and threatening a storm but we held off going for a coffee until the rain really started. We knew it was coming when we saw the forked lightening streak back and forth the sky a couple of times before the thunder rumbled loudly for what seemed an eternity. We sought sanctuary in 'The Library' - a book store (Abaco) that sold coffee and also had a big screen showing the football. We watched the second half of the game where Ecuador's 10 men were very unlucky not to beat France and take a place in the next round.

We went to Bacco for dinner, a small pizza pasta restaurant. Everything on the menu looked delicious and we had pretty much decided on what we would eat when the chef came out to 'help' us choose exactly what we wanted. David was keen on the Quattro Formaggio pizza but the chef 'suggested' that Gnocchi with quattro formaggio would be so much better. Fortunately the chef was correct -the gnocchi was amazing and so too was the Salmon Fettuccine that Maria had. We may have to make a return trip tomorrow to taste the pizzas.