Costa Rica

My arrival in Costa Rica brought with it the rains, and although I know this is the rainy season I was not quite prepared for the fury of some of the storms and the resulting swollen rivers, mudslides and destruction that were the results.

Having been told by a couple of locals that I should have no problem crossing this river I thought it wise to wade across first. Well it was thigh deep in places with large rocks that were getting washed down by the very strong current. Plan B —walk back and see if the said locals had any interest in getting wet and helping me push my bike across. It took all four of us to ford the river successfully.

I had planned out a route from Arenal Volcano to Monte Verde on backroads as I could cut off, in theory, about two hours from the trip. As you can see the result was an adventure of epic proportion which certainly did not save any time.

To back up a little, my first stop in Costa Rica was the town of La Fortuna which is the epicenter of the Arenal Volcano and Lake Arenal tourist area.

I stayed a couple of nights at this very colorful hostel which was fantastic with spotless rooms and private bathrooms - certainly not what one envisions when the word “hostel” is used.

Here are some photos of the Arenal Volcano and surrounding area

Angel's Trumpet

Kapok Tree

Arenal Volcano -1683 meters

From here the “backroad shortcut” took me to Monte Verde and the town of Santa Elena. This reserve in the cloud forest was created by a group of Quakers who had settled in this area in the early 1950’s. I decided that it would be wise to take a guided tour of the reserve as there was no way I would be able to identify all the birds and fauna myself. My guide Richard was the son of one of the original founders of the reserve and had grown up in a Quaker family in the immediate vicinity of the park. Having worked as a guide for 30 years he was a wealth of information and I finally got to see my first Quetzal which had been eluding me since Guatemala.

Cloud Forest

Monte Verde Reserve

Hot Lips

The beautiful elusive Quetzal

A little South African humor found on the trails

 Saying good-bye to the cooler temperatures of the high country I plunged down into the sweltering heat and humidity of the Nicoya Peninsular and the little hippie village of Montezuma.

Montezuma

On the way to Playa Grande

A river crossing 

Stunning Shell Strewn Sand

Wild Red Crab

Wrapping Up Nicaragua

If I had to describe Nicaragua in one word it would be ”surprising.” I did not expect the incredible beauty I found here, the friendliness of the the people, the very good infrastructure and services and the pride the people had in keeping their country clean. All this and prices on accommodation, food and beer were especially good. Oh, and did I mention that beer was cheap.

Here are the places I enjoyed the most.

Leon

Great Murals -- usually scenes from a revolution

Laguna de Apoyo

Ometepe Island in Lake Nicaragua

Conception Volcano

Road to the waterfall

Waterfall below MaderasVolcano

Hotel Xalli

Granada

I made a run for the border down the east side of Lake Nicaragua, a distance of nearly 300 km. This was an agricultural area comprised mainly of small farms but it was absolutely spectacular and felt like I was riding through somebody’s garden the whole way.

 I did encounter a major rainstorm on the way and nearly met with disaster in the form of a cow. The verges of the road are about 30 to 40 ft wide and the grass is closely cropped by animals. The cows are usually well behaved and have a couple of hombres looking after them and keeping them off the road.I was riding at about 40mph in the rain when a bull decided to get frisky and chase a cow into the middle of the road.

El Toro

She was not at first interested in the advances of the bull and stood in the middle of the road as I was battling to slow down and not skid on the wet surface. Right at the moment I was about to make contact with her she obviously had a change of heart and decided to further explore the romantic possibilities presented to her on the side of the road - PHEW!! 

Costa Rica here I come

Granada Nicaragua - City of Colors

What an amazing city which I have named City of Colors was established a long long while ago on the shores of Lake Nicaragua, shortly after this momentous historical event - I think that was around 1524

Garden of Eden - you're outa here!!

I wanted to capture the grandeur of this beautiful place with a lot of photos rather than trying to describe it through a few inadequate words.

Granada Cathedral

I always wanted to build a tree house

Outdoor exercise machines

My kinda place

Jimi Lives

Hats for Sale

 Entrance to my hotel - Only secure parking to be had was in the inside courtyard that required a wheelie over the curb, through the gates and into the lobby