By 8:10 this morning we were in the office of the customs agent, and then out to the port for a customs inspection and other formalities that we did not understand. It took all morning with Nina and I sitting in the waiting area while Betty (the agency representative) talked to various officials getting papers signed and stamped. Back in the agency office just before lunch we found out that the customs officer decided not to physically inspect our vehicle and that all we needed now was one more signature at the customs house near the agency's office, Columbia car insurance, and then we could get the Tiger. So come back after lunch.

So as instructed we arrived back in the agency office at 2:10. Betty was out trying to get the last signature but the official she needed was not in his office - so just wait. It was around 3:30 when she finally got back, too late to get the insurance, so we headed for the port to get the Tiger. Get the insurance tomorrow suguro, manana. At the port more officials to talk to and more signatures to get. But at 4:50 we headed into the unloading yard. Oops - one more signature. While Nina and Betty were off doing that the Tiger was driven out and I could give it a look over - no damage. But - someone had written a shipping number of the side of the house in permanent marker !!!! a great addition to our white motorhome.

Sitting beside the Tiger in the unloading yard was an old class C motorhome with Mexican plates. As it happens it belongs to a young Argentine man we have seen a number of times over the past few days. He and his girl friend have travelled through Central America also and are heading for Argentina. We think his name is Ceza.

With that last signature we were ready to leave, but Nina, the owner, had to drive the vehicle out of the yard. So Betty and I went back through the pedestrian exit and waited in the parking lot for Nina to come out. While we were waiting it starts to rain - a tropical downpour. Ceza got out first so we sheltered in his vehicle for a while and then the Tiger was free.

But - Betty is not coming with us, so how do we find our way back to the part of Cartagena that we know? Follow Ceza for a while and then wing-it. As a result we found ourselves at 6:30 in the dark, in rush hour traffic, surrounded by buses, in one of the poor parts of Cartagena driving over streets that are covered - and I mean covered from one side to the other - in 1.5 feet of water. A crazy hour navigating by guess work but we eventually found a part of the town we recognized and then back to the hotel. Pheh!!!!! But a successful end to the day and the process.

The man in the first photo is Luis, the manager of the Customs agency. He is holding locks for the doors of shipping containers. They are called OneSeal made by a Danish company that he represents in Colombia.