Costa Rica 15th August 2009
We seemed to have gone through Costa Rica in a blink of an eye. The main reason for us cycling through so fast is that Costa Rica is one of the most expensive countries in Central America and way out of our cycling budget.
We had a very smooth crossing from Panama into Costa Rica and no sooner had we crossed the border, the heavens opened up and we experienced another tropical storm. This made cycling on the roads quite dangerous and so we called it quits early on in the day and booked into a hostel in Rio Seco, this was when we found out first hand just how expensive Costa Rica was going to be - double the price of Panama, but at least we were out of the deluge, which continued into all afternoon and into the early hours of the morning.
The following day, we had an early start and decided that we would hug the coastline. We had heard that the roads in Costa Rica were terrible for cyclists with no hard shoulder and the tarmac in poor condition. However, we found that it wasn't as bad as we had expected as the road towards Uvita were incredibly quiet. I couldn't shake off the feeling that Costa Rica felt deserted somehow. The roadsides lacked the hustle and bustle that we had become accostomed to seeing in South America and many of the villages were hidden from the main road. As it was so quiet on the road, we made good progress and arrived into the small resort town of Uvita. We camped in the grounds of Hostel El Tucan and made good use of their offers of free coffee and internet. It was nice to chat to other travellers, many of whom had come down from the States.
The following day we knew that we had an unpaved section, but this only turned out to be a very very small part as the road had been recently tarmaced and we had an incredible smooth run, probably one of the best roads in Costa Rica. We tried to distinguish how Costa Rica was different from Panama and decided that it was definetely a lot greener, and made up of lots of National Parks. The jungle and woodlands grew right up to the roadside, making cycling past it an interesting experience. Strange sounds echoed through the jungle and we were able to stop to spot different types of parrots, observed tapirs running across the road, dodged snakes warming themselves up on the roadside and we caught glimpses of enchanting waterfalls and streams.
What struck us as odd though was that the whole of Costa Rica seems to be for sale. We were flabbergasted at the number of signs beside the roadside advertising land, condos, villages and jungle for sale. Many projects seemed to have been ground to a halt and looked desperate to sell. We wondered whether this was due to the global economic crisis?
Past Quepos, I was just about to tuck into my sandwich when I spotted a couple of touring cyclists coming down the road. I quickly gave Kelly my sandwich as I sprung out onto the road to catch their attention. The couple were from Switzerland, in their 60s and had been on the road for two years. Kelly and I were inspired to hear that they had travelled through Europe and Asia and were now on their way down to Argentina. It is great to meet people like this who are spending their retirement in such an adventours manner. www.joergersvelotour.ch
Just after lunch, the heavens opened again which spoiled our intention to camp. We were beginning to get used to cycling in the afternoon rain, but it is quite annoying as we have found that our pannier bags are now not waterproof. Our sleeping bags, mats and clothes were soaking wet. Repairs to the bags are needed!
We stopped at the surfing resort of Jaco, this area had just hosted the World Surf Championships, however, neither of us were impressed with the place which had really seedy undertones, so we decided not to linger too long there. On our way out we were both mulling over the over use of the word "eco" here. Costa Rica is an eco-friendly country to visit, here you can stay in an eco-lodge, visit the eco-beaches, take an eco-tour, eat eco-friendly food and even stay in an eco-boutique hotel. We wondered what deems a place to be eco-friendly, especially as many of the people visiting these places were whizzing past us in their 4x4 gas guzzling trucks and not being very eco-friendly to us -the eco-cyclists who were using the road too. However, it is a country that is really trying hard to protect and promote it's flora and fauna and we have been impressed with the amount of wildlife that can be spotted beside the road. In one day we stopped to look at crocodiles lazing around in a river and then admired about 6 macaws playing around in some trees above our heads.
Both Kelly and I agreed that Costa Rica would be an amazing place to come with your family. For a two week holiday, with a bigger budget it would be really easy to hire a car and go off to explore, there would be something for everyone here, from surfing, beautiful beaches, conservation projects, whale watching, adventure activities to hiking and biking...perhaps when we win the lottery will will treat ourselves and our family to a visit here.
I managed to crack my bike frame again, in the place where the previous weld had been. However, this time, I recognised the noise and the strange movement of the bike and so stopped riding before any more damage was done. As Costa Rica is more densly populated that Peru, all we had to do was turn back 2kms and easily found a welder. Within 30 minutes, we were up and running on the bikes again. Hopefully it will hold for another 4 months.
Later on that day, we also met another Swiss touring cyclist who had taken 14 months to cycle down from Alaska, he too shouted to us as we past and we ended up stopping and staying the night in the same hotel as him. He had not seen any other cyclists in about four months, so was quite pleased to see us! It was great to hear about all about the road ahead. (www.muco-velo.ch)
It took us just under a week to cycle through Costa Rica, and now that we have just entered Nicaragua we are planning to take things slower. We have been averaging 100 odd kms a day and only had one rest day since leaving Panama City. Although we have had rain most afternoons, the humidity and pace had begun to take its toll on our legs, which are now feeling like they are made out of lead!
We are very excited to be in Nicaragua and Kelly is wondering where we will be spending her 33rd birthday...will update you in the next blog!
