With the agreement between me and the emergency driver in mind I had a good sleep last night. I got up and went straight to the main street and out of town back to the exact same spot from yesterday afternoon. I did not have luck yesterday and it seemed I would not have luck today either. After 1 hour of thumbs up an old car with loud Reggeaton music stopped. The driver was a funny character; he definetely liked his loud music, his fast driving and his own stories. I understood that he would take me only to the next village; I was simply glad to be moving and did not bother about the distance. I think we had a good rapport; he started to talk about marihuana, about music, about life. We had a quick stop at the next village but he did not ask me to get off and referred to the next village. Of course I did not mind and we drove on and reached the coast. I really enjoyed the views towards the Caribbean, the good music and the good company. Suddenly he pulled over to the opposite side and parked in front of a farmhouse and started yelling the name of his friend. His friend turned up, they had a brief chat, his friend walked back to the farmhouse and came back with a leaf of marihuana. With a big smile in his face we were back on the road again, this time with Michael Jackson.

Now he pulled over on our road side at an entrance gate which led to a big banana plantation. The gate opened, we drove on a track for just 200 meters and parked the car. He asked me to take my backpack and store it above the driver cabin of a truck that was parked right opposite. I lifted the backpack up above the driver cabin and secured it the best way possible. I did not have the time to ask any questions, quickly the driver, his friend and I were in the driver cabin and we drove back the 200 meters of track, through the gate and off the banana plantation. We had just past a police control when the driver started to prepare a Joint.

The truck was his daily work and today we were delivering banana to another plantation just after the city of Cienaga. We drove passed Santa Marta and reached the intersection, the roundabout at the entrance right outside Cienaga. After an intense handshake I walked from the roundabout all the way to the other side of the city, positioned myself and was pretty confident that I would make it to Barranquilla today. I had walked for half an hour and I had waited for half an hour before a truck stopped and invited me to Barranquilla. The driver was a very chatty, friendly, basic character and we enjoyed the drive along the National Park Isla de Salamanca, the mangroves to one side and the Caribbean to the other side, windows open and the wind blowing into our faces. I would not only make it to Barranquilla, he would take me all the way to the airport, my place to connect the computer and my place to sleep. Thank you very much.

I connected the computer and pushed the energy button but the light did not turn on nor did the computer, I pushed again and again but the computer did not turn on. I was thinking the worst and saw me already at the Avianca airline counter buying my ticket home. It was still early and I went quickly to the bus stop and took a bus to the center. I asked the bus driver for a bus stop close to a mall with computer shops. I was nervous, very nervous and got off at the commercial mall “Parque Central”.

I went to the first shop; he diagnosed a blackout and referred to shop number 89. I was attended, the computer was tested, the computer was opened, the computer was analyzed and the computer was diagnosed, the computer had a blackout, 150.000 Pesos and half an hour work. I took the bus back to the airport, connected the computer, the light went on, the computer went on but did not recognize the memory card of the camera. I was tired, mentally tired but worked until midnight.

For a small understanding of the days travel, I have included a Google Earth map. The red pins mark the locations I have stopped and taken pictures. At the bottom of the page you will find a link for all the pictures I have taken. The link will open in a Google+ Album.

Please click on map to enlarge!!!

See map and distances / Siehe Karte und Entfernungen / Ver mapa e distâncias / Ver mapa y distancias

0 km      Riohacha

80 km    Palomino

165 km  Santa Marta

220 km  Cienaga

295 km  Barranquilla