CostaRica_2018.htm

Costa Rica - 2018

This is our second winter-time trip to Costa Rica. We went previously in 2016 and then to Ecuador in 2017. Trust me Costa Rica is better! It is truly an awesome place to be in February when folks back home are freezing. Both trips have been with Fred and Susan Brown – i.e. motoscostarica.com. Great people to travel with! We were in-country 13 days and traveled by motorcycle 9 days staying at a different location most nights. The riding this time was mostly sight-seeing and cultural expansion with no technical sections. Our route was 99% pavement (or at least what Costa Rica considers pavement) but was still a lot of fun. I am absolutely convinced that the best way to experience a new place via motorized transportation is on a bike. Someone once said that when traveling by car, it's like watching a movie; but, when traveling by motorcycle you are IN the movie. I like that metaphor. The downside is that unless someone is riding pillion and snapping lots of pictures along the way, the only photos you come home with are those made at stops so it's not really possible to relate to the actual experience from the photos. Oh well, the rest are memories.

The following pictures are presented day-by-day and are offered with minimum commentary. Needless to say we had a great time (again!).

^ Every journey begins with a first step. Our American Airlines departure gate in Miami.

^ The requisite picture in front of the bienvenidos / Pura Vida / Imperial sign at the airport

^ Our destination for Thursday night and “homebase” for our travels. We left our large aircraft luggage here and repacked for motorcycle travel. Tania is a great hostess!

At Villas de la Colina – that's San Jose in the background

^ Our group – L to R Jim, Susan, Fred, Ken, Lois, Tania, Christopher, Fred, Nancy behind the camera. Oh and I'm really not dead – just look that way here ;-)

^ Dinner on Thursday night. It was excellent lomito de carne (beef)

^ Friday morning – setting up the bikes with our tankbags and GPS. Afterwards I went out for a short ride alone and explored...

^ this mountain. The pavement ends pretty quickly up there and the road is VERY steep. Had to get myself a little off-pavement fix.

^ Ticos are very self-sufficient. These are the chicken coops where Tania gathers eggs for our breakfast. Note that Costa Rican chickens are different – they have feathers on their feet.

^ And quail eggs for those so inclined.

The grounds at Villas de la Colina – such a peaceful place \/

^ This is Lola – a sweet girl!

^ And this is Tyson, he likes naps, a lot – Tania has a sign up that reads “A house is not a home without a bulldog”

Soooo, Friday morning and we're getting ready to ride. \/

^ Our bikes are Honda NX400 Falcons – a fairly big bike for this part of the world as most are 125-250cc. Although it would be considered small (and probably wouldn't sell) at home the Falcon is a excellent choice for Costa Rica. Plenty of power to pass and large enough to be comfortable yet small enough to manage some of the “less than perfect” roads and paths. The national speed limit is about 60mph and truthfully there are few places one could safely ride faster so a bigger bike is more of a hindrance than a help.

^ A stop for bottled water at a roadside “super”.

And a move to Ana's Place in downtown Atenas because Tania could not accommodate us on Friday night \/

^ We will return to Ana's Place after several days of riding – more on that later

^ Dinner Thursday Night. The guy in Blue is Bevo – he came in Friday afternoon and rode with us most of the time.

^ And, an excellent breakfast Saturday morning – our first actual day of travel. A typical Costa Rican breakfast is Gallo Pinto (rice and beans plus eggs and fried plantains). Quite tasty and quite filling.

^ Our Saturday route from Atenas to near Uvita. Lots of stunning views of the Pacific

^ A cooling refreshment stop on our way to the Playa Colonia near Uvita. LOVE the chilled fresh pineapple and watermelon

^ Dinner on Saturday night at Playa Colonia and then lodging at Villas de Maria Luisa. We rode by the villas a couple of times on the dirt road along the beach front but missed the sign.

It ended up being very nice. \/

^ Riding in the central highlands is usually very comfortable with temperatures under 80 degrees F. Gets warm at sea level though. I needed a cool-down here.

^ And this gentleman (far right) is Freddie, the owner of Villas de Maria Luis. Maria Luis was his mother and this was their farm for several generations. After our walk on the beach he provided drinks for all

^ and then apparently decided we were actually OK and invited us to his private bar for some Cuban rum he said had been in his freezer for 10 years

^ Cuban indeed! It was very smooth – maybe because it was so cold but smooth none-the-less

^ Salud!

^ Making coffee the Costa Rican way. I like it!

^ Excellent breakfast tipica at la Ballerena Roja – Let's roll

Our Sunday route – almost to Panama \/

^ Much later in the day – That's Cuidad Neilly down there. Obviously we're climbing back into the highlands

^ We had ice cream here. It had been pretty warm earlier but as we gained altitude the temperatures become more pleasant

On to the Wilson Botanical Gardens where we spent Sunday night. We had a ½ mile or so hike in the dark to this restaurant for dinner. It was worth it. \/

Okay, so the story is that the Wilson Botanical Gardens started out many years ago as a “escape” for the Wilson family. After several failed attempts at commercial growth of various exotic plants, the large facility was eventually converted to a botanical preserve. It's a beautiful and interesting place. They have plants from all over the world and offer daily guided tours. We took an early morning walking tour

^ Toucans

^ Above is a Walking Palm – these will move up to 1 meter / year seeking better soil, water and light

^ Costa Rica is bird watcher paradise. These guys are stringing nets to catch some species for tagging.

^ This plant produces a strong natural dyestuff. We saw the same plant last year in Ecuador where the natives made ink for temporary tattoos from these seeds \/

^ This is an Ayouti – a ground-dwelling rodent indigenous to the area \/

^ The spikes on this plant were so rigid they would vibrate like a tuning fork when tweaked. Ouch!

^ You call that little patch of stuff in your yard bamboo? THIS is a bamboo!

The orchid greenhouse and nursery \/

^ Cause every girl crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man.

Our Monday route - On to Chirropo – This area is a haven for high altitude hikers and trekkers \/

Our accommodations here were at El Pelicano lodge. The altitude here was over 9K feet so it was noticeable when climbing stairs or steep grades. The grounds were most interesting. \/

The name, el Pelicano, came from this piece of driftwood found in rio Chirropo by the owners father. There are no pelicans up here. There were, however, many species of birds including lots of raptors.

^ Just beyond el Pelicano, the pavement ends and then not too far afterwards the motor road ends altogether. Foot travel only up on El Chirropo which soars to around 12.5K feet.

Our route for Tuesday was one of the shorter days mileage-wise but was made more difficult by a cold fog. It was a very twisty section that took us over Cerro de la Muerte (the mountain of death). So named because over 300 Ticos died building the road. Cerro de la muerte is on the Pan-american highway and is the highest paved motor road in Costa Rica at 11.5K feet.

Riding Cerro de la Muerte was very reminiscent of our Blue Ridge Parkway with constant tight turns and lots of altitude changes. It's higher of course; and, on this day, at the top foggy and pretty chilly (~50 degrees F)

Our lodging at the Hotel Valle Verde in Santa Maria de Dota. It was indeed a very green valley with lots of coffee plantations and a coffee warehouse where growers came to sell their crops.\/

^ A taste of home. This lovely barmaid spoke no English but she understood her gringo customers were from Tennessee

^ Secure parking was provided in the dining room at Hotel Valle Verde where we dined with the bikes at breakfast \/

On Wednesday we returned “home” to Villas de la Colina in Atenas. This was an excellent super curvy day. Returning to Atenas in the middle of our tour gave us a chance to wash our clothes and regroup for excursion 2.

^ Most of that green is coffee plants

Around mid-day we were getting hungry and needed a break but had not encountered a place to eat for a while. Then we came up on this little restaurant clinging (tenuously) to the side of the road. The proprietress was most gracious and the food was good. That's her house down below AND she even had a restroom. \/

A very cool 90 year-old suspension bride over a raging river. They're building a new bridge just upstream so I suspect this one will be removed or relegated to foot or light vehicle traffic at some point. \/

We needed some provisions and so we went to the BIG co-op supermercado in downtown Atenas. It was sort of like going to Ingles at home except everything was is español and the prices were in colones.\/

Back “home” at Villas de la Colina for the evening.\/

^ Nancy thought our clothes were muy sucio (very dirty)

This is comment worthy. These “on-demand” hot water shower heads are very common here. Basically one controls water temperature by regulating flow. You can have lots of tepid water or a trickle of hot water but you won't ever get lots of hot water. The other interesting thing about these is the exposed electrical connection. This one actually appeared to be grounded but most aren't and somethings the electrical wires would be easily touched. Apparently Ticos are either smarter than the average gringo or maybe it's just that all the not-so-smart ones have already reached up and touched that electrical connection while showering and are no longer contributing to the gene pool. \/

Ready to roll on Thursday morning \/

Thursday's ride down to Playa de Bejuco and the Hotel Delfin \/

Hotel Delfin at Playa de Bejuco is remote - about 25k south of touristy Jaco. Owned by a transplanted Americano, it is quite isolated and pretty dang awesome with some of the best beach frontage I've ever experienced anywhere. \/

^ I was advised that the Piña Colada here was the very best anywhere. I'm not a big fan of Piña Coladas but I figured I needed to check it out. It was quite tasty!

Nancy says the marguaritas weren't half bad either \/

^^ Had we known how awesome Playa de Bejuco would be we would have likely staid there a couple of days. But plans are plans so we're off the next morning to La Fortuna (and Volcan Arenal) \/