So the journey continues with a broken bike once again. I noticed my bike was making a bad noise in Ometepe, Nicaragua, but rode on it because I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. Now the noise is so bad I was able to pin point where it was coming from. So I took apart the poor stead and gave her a look over. My rear sprocket wore out the rubber boot that hits in the wheel, and is making a teeth crunching noise. But lucky for me it will make it to Panama City where I can attempt to find a Kawasaki dealer. Anyway, on a good note the rides have been fun and adventurous like always. After staying in San Juan Del Sur for a few days, we pushed though Costa Rica, but ended up staying in the coastal town of Dominical, Costa Rica, for Christmas Eve and rode Christmas day. It was a nice beach town but unfortunately we had to take off and head south in order to make it to Panama for new years.
The ride through Costa Rice was beautiful and full of rainy cold weather. 3000 meters up on a mountain pass gets pretty cold especially when it is down pouring. We pushed through to make it somewhere nice for Christmas Eve. It was worth the push, after leaving Dominical and having a nice dinner with the guys Christmas Eve, we rode the beautiful coast of Costa Rica. The beaches were nice and clean, the roads were smooth. The tropical forest there and here in Panama comes straight down to the water, so when you look down the coast line you see nothing but unspoiled beaches, for the most part. We would have stayed longer in Costa Rica if it had not been twice as expensive as every other country in Central America. In some cases it is more expensive then the US. So with money being of concern we pushed to Panama. It felt great to get into Panama, the last leg of Central America. I felt pretty accomplished having made it this far.
Panama has been great so far but you cant really say bad things about spending time on a tropical island with beautiful beaches. I am now in Bocas Del Toro, a group of tropical islands off the Caribbean coast of Panama. Getting here was an adventure in its self. After we crossed the border we still had a ways to go in order to make it to the ferry. Everyone was tired and it was getting late, so Miako suggested we stay at a cabin along the way, we saw was for rent. Mark and I wanted to keep going but I was also ok for staying, because the cabin and scenery reminded me of Vermont. So Maiko and Mark got into an argument and so we headed into the dark to cross the mountains in order to get to the coast. Once we neared the top of the pass it was almost dark, the wind was whipping hard, it was raining, and the fog was so thick I couldn’t see Maiko in front of me. Water was rushing over the rode, there were cones in the rode around parts where the pavement has been washed out and down the sides of the mountains. The road was in horrible shape, we took it slow, riding through it all. Maiko took off way ahead of us and Mark and I didn’t see him until the next morning on the ferry. Mark and I rode into a sketchy town, were people were celebrating Christmas by drinking and smashing bottles and being sketchy. We looked for a hotel but no luck, getting worried about our safety under the shadows of night I found a police officer and talked to him. He escorted us to a hotel, but it didn’t have any parking, so he told us of a place in the next town over, right next to the police station. When we arrived there we happily parked our bikes and took a room in order to get out of the rain. Wet and tired we both just hopped in bed, wishing of sweet dreams that never came. The power kept going out because we had the fan going and every time we wanted to turn on the light the breaker would blow. Needless to say the hotel we slept at was not the Hilton by any means, but hey I am in it for the adventure. The next day we got up rode through another downpour, but made just in time for the ferry. Had we stayed in the cabin I don’t think we would have made it in time for the ferry, so we were lucky to have caught it when we did. Bocas Del Toro is amazing, and we plan to stay here until January 2nd then head to Panama City. The last hurdle for Central America is getting to Colombia, that is going to be an adventure. I can already tell!
