In his younger days, Simón Bolívar swept the Spanish back to Europe, liberating South America with his youthful vitality. But lonely, embittered and sickly at the age of forty-six, his power has dwindled, coups abound and it's time for The Liberator to send himself into the exile of retirement. Wending his way down the Magdalena River towards the Caribbean with his faithful servant, José Palacios, Bolívar's journey is hindered by his own reluctance to let his power go. Despite the assassination attempts, jeering and humiliation he encounters, his fear of fading into the shadows keeps him clinging to the man he used to be . . .