The Day Cartagena Became One Big Party: World Cup Dispatches From Colombia

Against our better judgment we moved from the temperate awesomeness of Medellín to the sweltering Caribbean heat of Cartagena for Colombia's second match.

Our game day locale may or may not have been product of human error (okay, we totally got dropped in the middle of nowhere by our taxi driver), but we caught the match from a lightning-paced, open-air market selling everything from fish heads to power cords.

For one day at least, the place was all about soccer, as Colombia's 2-1 victory sent car horns and vuvuzelas into frenzy for miles along the merchant strip.

Two matches down, and the Colombians are already marching into the second round for the first time in 24 years. Keep your eyes out for these Cafeteros, they're the real deal. In the meantime, we're heading back out into the craziest soccer nation in the world (yeah, we said it, Brazil.)

Joseph Swide and Kade Krichko are traveling throughout Colombia during the World Cup. You can follow their travels even closer on Twitter here and here.