The Nomads

Day 63 Wednesday June 11

Left San Isidro del General, Costa Rica
Temp: 28 degrees C
Sunny

We were joined by Melvin on his Shadow for the ride out of town towards the Panama border. He was the first rider we had join us on the ride for over fourteen thousand kilometres! It was a fun hour until Melvin had to turn back and we were on our own again. He wants us to stop in on the way back and hook up with him. He’s planning to ride with us towards El Salvador for two or three days for the fun of it.

The ride out of Cost Rica was an olfactory treat! We rode for hours through coffee, agaves, and cucumber plantations and the air was fragrant with their respective scents. Wonderful!

Coffee plants

By about one thirty the rain hit (“hit” being the operative word).

cloud forest

It was too thick to see through so we pulled into the first gas station we came across and waited for about a half hour until we could see through it and started off again.

We drove beside the Rio Grande de Terraba all the way from Palmar Norte to Neily

We were prepared for “a four to six hour ordeal” at the Panama border according to the web and the lonely planet book, and if we didn’t go right then, the worst case scenario had us riding two hours in the dark looking for the nearest city, David, and the hotel we had planned on staying at.

Well, surprise!

We were through the Costa Rican exit procedure in about ten minutes and the customs and import and immigration for Panama in another twenty. That had to be a record time, and we were rolling in Panama laughing and astonished many hours before we had anticipated!!!

Joel and Jose - our border guides

We pulled into David around four and were settled into our hotel before supper time.

I saw my first peccary today. Unfortunately, it had just been killed in the road and the vultures were still waiting to be sure it was done before getting too close. What a strange looking creature…..not as big as I had expected though.

Tomorrow will see us on the road to Santiago, and if all things go well, on to the canal and Panama City.

Kilometers - Daytrip: 279 km total: 13,496
Gas: $ 25
Lodging: Hotel Alcala $ 35

driving along the coast




Left Alajuela, Costa Rica
Temp: 28 degrees C
Sunny

A rough start….our clothes were still soaking wet so we had to send them out to a laundry service for drying.

I had been trying since San Jose to confirm my suspicions that we were given bad info on the type of road running from Quepos to Dominical, but the embassy assured us it was paved, the waiter at breakfast assured us it was paved, the government map shows it paved and a policeman I asked in Playa Hermosa said it was paved. The police in Quepos said five kilometres were crushed rock, but he rest was pave.

We didn’t have any real choice regardless as the Pan-American was closed in the area of the Cerro de la Meurte due to serious mudslides and rockfalls.

So off we went down the west coast to Quepos where we turn inland for the high mountains and San Isidro del General. Imagine our disappointment when we turned off at Quepos and were faced with forty five kilometres of loose gravel, mud and sand! Someone stole the paved road!!! I’m sure it was there yesterday, at least everyone said so! Three miserable scary hours later we were back on pavement and looking like mud wrestlers! What an “adventure”!

loose gravel road and 'touring' tires do not mix well
No spills though -due to Richard's expertise!

We crossed 3 one-lane bridges like this, slated steel with plates laid down for 4-wheeled vehicles

mud-rock slide with only 1 lane cleared

We arrived in San Isidro around supper time and lucked into a nice hotel. The owner, Melvin Madriz Picado, has a Honda Shadow Sabre and we got to talking about bikes and travel while I was washing the mud from my bike.(he provided the bucket and hose….) and he insisted that we have a drink together later.

After supper I went off to the reception to get the keyword for the wireless internet and as I was returning the owner came out and asked me to join him and two friends for a nice bottle of Chilean red. The conversation was mostly about travel, bikes and the attractions and wonders that Costa Rica has to offer. My Spanish was sorely taxed but I was relieved to find that it was considerably well received and generaly understood (a tribute to Melvin’s graciousness and patience that I never felt any embarrassment in spite of all my gaffes).

Susie was sad tonight to find that a jade and red coral necklace I had bought her in Samara had come unclasped and fallen off somewhere on the way here. Too bad. It really suited her and she was quite fond of it.

Kilometers - Daytrip: 237km total: 13,217
Gas: $ 30.25
Lodging: Hotel Los Crestones $ 55