September 7, 2008

COSTA RICA!!!








Two little boys see us from miles away, running down the dusty road along with millions of truckers.
"COSTA RICA????" one says to me, "you want to go to Costa Rica??" The boyz were ready for business.
Every time we cross borders, it's business, Little Antonio was going to be our paper boy.
Photocopies, more photocopies, $20 here, $20 there.... more copies more money... hours go by and you wonder when you will
actually cross and get it over with.
Running in one office, then to another office, It's always an adventure on its own. The bikes are the most paper work.
3 hours later and $85 US cost... we were on our way into Costa Rica.
As we drove down the road, lined up truckers for over 2 KMs waiting to cross made me feel better that 3 hours of waiting was better then 3 days!!! We had never seen a border with that many trucks. All coming from Panama, making their way into the Americas.

The windy paved road, music blasting in my headphones, already it felt good, GREEN, VERY GREEN, as I always imaging Costa Rica, but an hour later down the road, we realized why they call it " THE RAIN FOREST " as the rain started to come down just after sunset. Then heavier rain hard enough to hurt you threw you jacket! It was getting a little scary driving with all the giant trucks zooming by at 120 kms / hr so we quickly started to look for shelter.

We spotted a some kind of restaurant with a big open terrace. Seems like a good spot! Lets check it out.
We pulled in, soak to the bones, the owner was sitting in front looking at us confused. " Hay Comida aqui?" we asked the guy.
"si - si - claro " So we took our wet layers off and ordered a couple of cold beers and some warm food. Already the food was better then Nicaragua. It felt good to eat something tasty. We asked the guy if we could stay under his porch in our hammocks and told him we would be gone in the morning. The men accepted us with open arms, so we set up camp, had a few more beers and fell asleep under the roof listening to the sound of poring rain.

Adios Nicaragua...








Leaving San Juan Del Sur at our usual *crack of noon* we decided to check out the lake site of Isla De Ometepe were 2 beautiful volcanoes- Maderas (1394 m) and Concepcion (1610 m) create this island of lush green pristine forest, culture, wildlife. Sitting in the middle of Lake Nicaragua.
We had plan to go to the island and drive around for a few days then the possibility of crossing to the other side and make our way to Costa Rica threw very remote road and border crossing of San Carlos.
But since we are in the middle of rainy season and due to Hurricanes on the Caribbean side. Heavy rain made us think about it twice. Dengue fever is at high risk right now on the island, also chances of malaria.
The road on the other side is BAD as locals say...* mucho Lodo!! * puddles of mud. I was ready for an adventure, but with our visa expiring a week later, we could afford having any Epic and the border is also only open several days a week.
Plan B - drive straight to Costa Rica on the Panamerican highway.

Nicargua was nice, very remote places to discover, dirt roads all over the place, makes it adventurous in the rainy season!!! But after getting a little sick in San Juan ( got some kind of Parasite from food) I was ready to be in a new country.

We've been looking forward to Costa Rica since day one of this trip. I've travelled all over the world in the past decade but Costa Rica
was a place I always wanted to see. Travelers have told me about all these great surf spots, Rain forests, crazy wild life.
Costa Rica..... Here we come!